Finding Arizona

24 March 2017

Vacations are never the way you envision them.

1. Prep. Only direct Buffalo to Phoenix flight is via Southwest at 8 a.m., so to avoid stress, I take an extra night off from work. Envisioned: Easy night of packing for a week in Arizona with the Anderson clan. Actual: All evening at The Buffalo News wrapping up loose ends on standing assignments, all written during late nights Sunday and Monday, but in need of set-up so they would pop up properly on the newspaper website. (Long rant on how website has complicated everyone’s lives, available on request.) Envisioned arrival home: 8 p.m. Actual arrival: midnight. Wake-up time: 5 a.m. Still all packed before our saintly friend Marti comes to pick us up.

The X-5

2. Wheels. Buzzing around for a week in the usual piece-of-crap rental car? Life is too short to do that again. Envisioned: Rental through Turo, the airbnb of rental cars, maybe even a Beemer for cheap. Actual: I don’t trust Turo.  The good cars evaporate from the website. Vision #2: Wanted a Toyota Prius. Last-minute search for hybrids turns one up at Budget. Actual #2: Tell young woman at Budget counter that I wonder which is worse – waiting an hour in line or having to deal with the people who had been waiting so long in that line. Empathy hath its charms. She books me a BMW X-5 for half the price of the Prius.

All together at Whole Foods in Gilbert

3. Family. Arizona is a red state. Envisioned: If people I haven’t seen in five years are Trumpies, I’m rewriting my will. Actual: No rewrite necessary. Grand-niece Edda, who’s 16, regularly confronts her maternal grandfather over his right-wing views. Chat at the first three-generation get-together over take-out at Whole Foods in suburban Chandler on Wednesday evening is a lot like talk over dinner back in Buffalo.

The Rave Ons play at Mesa Arts Center

4. Frolics. Alternatives to tourist stuff, puh-leeze. Envisioned: What about that Lyle Lovett-Vince Gill concert at the Mesa Arts Center Thursday night? Actual: Lyle and Vince sold out ages ago. Mesa Arts Center has a free noontime show Thursday, outdoors if Wednesday night’s rain stops in time. Brother Tom and sister-in-law Karen work there as volunteers. Envisioned: Could be lame. Actual: The Rave Ons, a hot Buddy Holly tribute group with great guitars. Niece Traci knows some of the guys from the Buddy Holly musical she sang in. Lead singer was born in Buffalo. 

Traci