“What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a well" ( Antoine de Saint Exupיry," The Little prince")

Good Morning Phoenix- good night Albuquerque!

It was the second day of driving yet it was the first since the way from Carlsbad CA to Tempe AZ was for us some kind of a routine. We used to go there three times a year and visit with my brother and his family. The only family we had in driving distance. Now it will not be anymore.

For Phibi though it was the first time in her long life for going through such a long drive and Thunder shirt or not she was bit when we finally arrived at my brothers'. I always look at her trying to put myself in her "shoes", trying to figure out what is going on through her mind and what does she sees in her eyes. What is she thinking? What would she say if she could talk? Will she say "What the f…?" or will she say "Leave me alone please I am too old for this".

But she cannot talk and I try to explain to her what is going on hoping being such an intelligent dog she will make something out of it. I want to believe she enjoys herself a little bit.

As one who was born in the desert, the small desert called Negev in Israel; I love the desert and feel most at home in it. The dry air, the metallic blue skies, the ever astonishing miracle of the desert's plants, the mountains, the dunes, the emptiness so full, the never boring endless yellows, browns, grays, reds, sometimes greens. The place to ever see the bones of the land! The wonderful rocks.

 The second day was all deserts, big vast colorful, wonderful desert, even the forest on the mountains first contains the bands of Saguaro cacti on the lower slopes and then different pines and cypress on the higher picks are part of the complete whole huge desert now starting to bloom as spring comes in.

Desert or not, "The painted desert" of Arizona was where Phibi first met with snow. She wasn't a bit amazed as I was. For me the Petrified Forest within the pained desert was…I can't find enough superlatives to describe a place so beautiful, unique and inspirational. Thanks to Menachem's photos I don’t have to talk much. They are doing the talking for me.

It got late already and we had to step harder on the gas in order to get to Albuquerque, our destination for that night, so we joined in the nonstop trucks convoys along the I-40 that so sadly yet necessarily took the place of Historic Rout 66.

Without meaning to do it our rout east was most of the way along Historic Rout 66.

the old powerline along Historic rout 66

The passage from Arizona to New Mexico was felt only due to the welcoming singe.

 Otherwise it was the same stretching desert from one horizon to the next. In the last light of the second day we arrived to the hotel and had a good night rest.