Day 1-2: West by Southwest

The hard core shortened summer of Austin '06 is quickly coming to close so my dad and I once again jumped in the Accord and hit the ground driving. Without a specific plan or a map from the last 15 years it took nearly two hours to even enter the hill country. However, into the 80 mph speed havens of west Texas, the Grand Canyon became a goal, grail, and brass ring of our desert spirit journey. In the race against time and raising gas prices, we arrived somewhere on the other side of Phoenix by day two. Places to note: The Tucson area Furr's Family Dining and their undercooked fried chicken and underrated overhead speaker version of Sting's Desert Rose. And then there's Taliesin West, the winter home and hemiannual campus of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. It was my first Wright building to see, and I can say it's all true. He was a short Welshman, he invented everything, and damnit he was an amazing architect. Here I'll thank Benjamin Lloyd Lynn for his own adventures that partly inspired my desire for dry heat.