Things started off in Phoenix. Phoenix is definitely a Southwestern town. Visually, it's pretty cool, I mean cactuses and palm trees: yes! Not only that, but it's surrounded by mountains. Yay! The thing I find frustrating about it is that it's super sprawled-out. I like to be able to stroll around town, walk and get lost to savour a city. Not quite possible with the world's second largest city by area (last time I checked). Regardless, we were on a road trip, we weren't going to stay there.

From Phoenix, we headed over to Sedona. We took the scenic route via Wickenburg, Prescott and Jerome. Lots of eye candy, especially on the way up to the plateau. Sedona was quite charming, what with its buttes and all. There was also a lot of new agey stuff. If you're into such concepts, you'll be quite pleased. If you're like me, you'll simply ignore such things. Lots of hiking to do. We took a little one to catch the sunset amidst the rocks and enjoy some of the moonshadow. It was here that I realized that I really have to come back and do some extensive hiking in Arizona.

From there, we were off to Navajo County. We had rented a convertible Jeep. This really came in handy since it meant we could drive into the Canyon de Chelly. This was actually awesome since it gave us amazing views and allowed to drive through rivers and stuff. The canyon itself was beautiful. Also, another place I really want to hike. In the second picture, you can kind of get the effect of how steep the walls were. The darker parts are on the other side of the canyon. I'm actually really scared of heights, but the rock was really grippy. Yes, I know I cut a fine figure.

Next up was Monument Valley. This is actually in Utah, but hey, it was right next to Arizona. This where the driving got long, but cool in a way, as everything started looking really exotic, like Mars exotic. You'll have seen Monument Valley in a great many westerns. It is indeed quite impressive.

From there, we headed over to the Grand Canyon, but not before driving by Tuba City, which is one of my favourite city names. The Grand Canyon was well, grand. This was actually my third time. Every time I go, I'm like, "whatevs". The I get there and I'm more like, "goodness gracious, that is some engrossing eye candy cocaine." Thinking about it actually makes me a little sad, because I wished I had had the time to hike there. Ah, there's always a next time, right? Here's a small section of it.

Afterwards, we headed South to Flagstaff via the San Francisco Peaks. In late May, in Arizona, we actually got caught in a snow storm! Shows you how important elevation is with regards to weather. Luckily, the Jeep came equipped with an experienced Canadian driver no stranger to snow, me. It also made me realize how rich Arizona was in weather diversity.

Flagstaff was a fun little college town. We then headed over to Bisbee. Bisbee was a mining town in the wild west days. Still pretty decently preserved, it is charming and cute. We stayed in an incredible motel that was essentially a recreated trailer park from the 50s. All authentic. Must see. My girlfriend and I stayed in a converted bus, complete with a yearbook from 1961. Being surrounded by so many cactus, just made it better.

That was the road trip in a nutshell. All I can say to Arizona is "Wow"!

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Bar Harbour, Hiking and Micro-brews: Holidays for the Weary

Romania, a Latin Island in a Slavic Sea

Justement, ça fait depuis longtemps que je me posais ces questions. Avec Google Earth comme guide, je restais fixé sur les coins Nord de la province. C’est devenu une obsession. Alors, en août dernier, quand je me suis retrouvé avec un peu de temps libre, j'ai décidé de prendre des vacances. Impulsivement, j’ai pris la décision de trouver l'extrémité nord du réseau routier du Québec.

Est-ce que vous vous être déjà posé la question de ce qu'il se trouvait dans l'espace vide ?

Je me suis dit que je prendrai tout simplement l'autoroute 15 Nord jusqu'à sa fin. Une fois l’idée en tête, il m’a fallu moins de deux heures pour me préparer. J'ai chargé ma tente, des vêtements chauds, un bidon plein d'essence, de la nourriture, un réchaud, un GPS, et bien sûr, mon canot. Quel que serait mon trajet, j’espérais me trouver du bon camping sauvage. J'ai loué un téléphone satellite de Roadpost (www.roadpost.ca), avec livraison express. J’ai aussi emmené le numéro de téléphone de Nordair, que je croyais pilotait toujours des avions de brousse dans le Nord. Attendre le téléphone me semblait long, mais c'est un outil qui peut très bien te sauver la vie. D'ailleurs, j'en aurais besoin si jamais je devais me faire ramener à ma voiture. Je ne savais pas si je trouverai une rivière à pagayer.

Compte tenu de l’absence de toute planification, je m’attendais pratiquement à ce que le voyage soit un échec total. Logiquement, j’avais envisagé une longue conduite monotone. Je pensais finir par me perdre sur des routes de plus en plus obscures et revenir de mon voyage indifférent.

J’avais tort. Ce fut un voyage épique et peu coûteux que je recommande à tous ceux qui aiment l'aventure.

Jean-Yves Domenjoz

A part of Arizona

The idea was complicated, not simple. My grand-mother used to live in Phoenix. She moved recently to be closer to the family. She still has her home and car there. The car however, was not running properly. My Dad brought it to the mechanic's and was given an estimate of 5 000$! That's a lot of money. Especially for a 20 year-old car.

As luck would have it, my cousin Frank dropped by one day and we started discussing the problem. I was eager to get his feedback as he's already taken a Toyota 4Runner apart, only to rebuild it. This, in my book, makes him a car expert.

This is what a car expert looks like

He said we were getting taken advantage of and that everything that had to be done was rather easy and the parts plentiful on the internet. With my family, we concocted a plan to go over there with him and have him do the repairs. Yes, it would cost less to fly him over 3500 km than to go to the garage. Not only that it was a great quid pro quo. We'd save money on the car and he'd get a free trip! And anyways, spending time with the family is always a good thing.

It turns out that it cost less than 1000$ to fix the car, plane tickets included! It took Frank about a day and a half to do his job. With the car fixed, there remained only one option: ROAD TRIP!

You sometimes take pictures like these on a road trip

And thus we travelled Arizona from North to South. In between we visited Sedona, the Grand Canyon and Mexico. Since we were based in Phoenix we also got around there. Join me as I take a look at the state of Arizona. Part of a weekly mini-series, we'll start off next week with Phoenix, metropolis of the state.

Juan cadré

À la fin du printemps, je suis parti en Europe pour célébrer le mariage de mon ami Michael alias le Danois. Vous ne serez pas surpris d'apprendre qu'il est Danois. Mais ce n'est pas pour ça que j'écris. Par un heureux hasard de circonstances, nous nous sommestapé un road trip scandinave. Oh oui, je me frottais les mains et me léchais les babines à l'idée d'une belle tournée en Scandinavie.

Et je n'ai pas été déçu. Ben, un tout petit peu. La Suède est très belle mais le problème c'est qu'elle ressemble étonnamment au Québec. Je ne me suis donc pas senti  très dépaysé. Ne me méprenez pas, la Suède reste jolie.  D'ailleurs, on n’appelle pas le Québec "la Belle Province" pour rien. Mais ce n’est pas grave puisque les fjords ont été superbes.

Une belle place pour se recueillir?

Ben oui!

Je m’attendais à du spectacle et j’en ai eu! Même qu'à un moment donné, je suis certain d'avoir souffert du syndrome de Stendhal, ha ha! C’est surtout la variété et la constance qui m’ont le plus affectés. Vous me direz que ce sont des concepts assez contradictoires, mais pas en Norvège. Il y avait une constance de beaux paysages qui eux se démarquaient par leur variété.

Ça a l'air d'un dessert!

En plus, la fin du printemps étaient un temps idéal puisque le bas des fjords et vallées étaient verdoyants tandis que le haut était encore enneigé, précédant un beau contraste.

Vert en bas, blanc en haut; essentiellement le contraire d'un oignon vert

Dans tout voyage, on aime accomplir quelque chose. Je suis content de vous rapporter que je suis allé le plus au Nord de ma vie. À Lom, nous étions plus au Nord que Kuujjuaq. Et ces derniers se disent dans le Grand Nord, de vrais amateurs je vous dis!

Le ciel? C'était le plus foncé qu'il serait de la nuit. On était BEN loin de l'équateur.

Et avant de partir, nous étions conscient que notre horaire nous forçait à faire beaucoup de route. Mais les huit heures et plus de route que nous nous tapionspar  jour passaient inaperçues tant le décor nous divertissait. Le soir, nous campions, ce qui nous permettait de bien rester dans l’atmosphère. La prochaine fois, c’est à vélo que je compte y aller, question de mieux dévorer la beauté naturelle.

On était pas pressé pour que le traversier revienne.