DenL913's Photobucket New vacation 2007 album media

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:30:21 MST

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View from our hotel in Phoenix. Nothing like waking up to palm trees.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:29:15 MST

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Another hotel view, around sunrise.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:28:00 MST

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Cactus on our drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas, via Wickenberg and Lake Havasu City, Ariz. (rental Nissan Altima in the background).

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:26:43 MST

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Desert 'n' mountains.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:25:46 MST

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Awesome sign at a rest area. No scorpion vs. rattlesnake fights were witnessed, unfortunately.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:24:14 MST

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The closer we got to the Colorado River, the bigger the mountains got.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:23:00 MST

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You don't need the steering wheel to drive these roads.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:21:52 MST

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This beautiful blue expanse of water exists because of the Parker Dam, one of the many dams on the Colorado (the most famous of which is the Hoover Dam).

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:20:21 MST

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Parker Dam wasn't nearly as big as Hoover Dam, but just as pretty - and abandoned. Rachel and I were the only tourists there.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:17:34 MST

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A security guard took this photo of us on the California side of the dam.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:16:21 MST

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An overlook on the Arizona side provides an amazing view.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:14:46 MST

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More water behind the dam.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:13:35 MST

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The approach to Lake Havasu City, a beautiful Arizona resort town on Lake Havasu (duh).

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:08:07 MST

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This is the London Bridge. Seriously. Imported from England in the 1960s and rebuilt here as a tourist attraction. A manmade canal was built for it to cross, and the "island" it now leads to is packed with bars and other places for students on spring break.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:06:58 MST

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It's no Golden Gate, but still quite pretty.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:05:44 MST

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Yep, there it is again.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:04:20 MST

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And now a shot from the bridge.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:03:11 MST

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CAAAAAWWWWW!!

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:02:01 MST

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Continuing north through Arizona, the corner of California, and Nevada toward Las Vegas.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:00:59 MST

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And here we are. A shot of a Vegas sunrise from the Bellagio hotel (with Paris on the left and the Hard Rock Hotel on the right). This is one of the only shots we took in Vegas this year.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:59:38 MST

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We crossed the Hoover Dam on the way out of town. Since we've seen it before, no photos of the dam itself - but here's the beginnings of the bridge that will be part of the dam bypass when it opens in a few years.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:58:34 MST

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The Arizona landscape on the other side of Hoover Dam is mountainous and lovely.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:57:12 MST

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A trailhead provides an awesome view of the Colorado.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:56:10 MST

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Between the dam and Kingman, Ariz., the mountains became desert, then became mountains again, and then went back to desert.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:55:08 MST

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See? Desert. This is the beginning of a long, unbroken stretch of Historic Route 66 from Kingman to Seligman, Ariz. The movie "Cars" was based on this stretch of road, though it wasn't nearly as scenic as the movie implied.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:53:56 MST

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Shortly after this photo was taken, I was eaten by a scorpion.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:52:33 MST

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Rachel narrowly survived.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:51:10 MST

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After a couple of hours on Interstate 40 and another hour on the insanely scenic Route 89A, we arrived in Sedona for the night.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:50:14 MST

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A Sedona sunrise from our hotel balcony.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:49:26 MST

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Sedona is known for its red rock formations and canyons, and for having a cheap minivan named after it.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:48:11 MST

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S'more rocks.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:46:49 MST

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After our first night in Sedona, we drove back up Route 89A toward Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. This bridge was visible from our hotel even though it was at least five miles away.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:45:21 MST

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Replace those stop signs with cowboys and Injuns, and you got yourself a John Wayne movie.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:02:33 MST

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Route 89A, south of Flagstaff, descends rapidly into Oak Creek Canyon via a series of switchbacks. Here, from a lookout at the edge of the canyon, you can see at least three of them twisting up the face of the canyon.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:01:10 MST

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And here's the canyon. Not too shabby.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:59:58 MST

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This canyon is slightly more grand, though.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:58:37 MST

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The Grand Canyon is everything you've heard: mind-bogglingly huge, humbling, moving... and overcrowded. You can't tell from this photo, but there were dozens of people crowded around us when we snapped it.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:57:34 MST

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Look at the colors!

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:56:08 MST

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Love this photo.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:54:56 MST

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Yeah, it's deep. It's so deep, Manute Bol would have to stand on his tippy-toes to see out of it.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:53:25 MST

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Plans are currently in progress to fill those unsightly cracks.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:52:01 MST

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Do NOT let your donkey walk down that ridge.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:50:30 MST

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Livin' on the edge.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:48:59 MST

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Just think how many cameras must be at the bottom of that thing.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:47:35 MST

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And here we are.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:46:29 MST

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Rachel wouldn't let me climb out onto the cliff with no guardrail, so this one had to do.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:45:13 MST

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That thing on the left is called "Thor's Hammer," and that thing in the middle is called, uh, "Thor's Band Saw."

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:43:47 MST

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We drove the scenic way out of the canyon, which descended into the Painted Desert. We found it to be even more captivating than the canyon itself, probably because there weren't crowds of people around.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:42:39 MST

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The Little Colorado Gorge, smaller than the Grand Canyon but still impressive.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:41:19 MST

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I want to build a house right on that thing there.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:40:09 MST

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Drive 'n snap.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:38:53 MST

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Winding through the desert.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:37:48 MST

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Preparing to make the right turn back to Flagstaff, leaving the Painted Desert.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:33:03 MST

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Flagstaff's mountains, the highest in Arizona and among the highest in the U.S., top out at 13,000 feet plus.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:31:56 MST

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Making the descent back into Oak Creek Canyon as we return to Sedona for the night.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:30:34 MST

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More twisty-turns.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:29:19 MST

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The sun catches a Sedona cliff face.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:28:05 MST

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More rocks.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:26:56 MST

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Mmm, striated.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:25:36 MST

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If you squint, you can see that old Indian guy shedding a solitary tear.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:24:07 MST

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More mountains.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:22:50 MST

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Even more mountains.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:21:46 MST

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Did I mention Sedona has a lot of mountains?

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:20:33 MST

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The view from our hotel's balcony.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:19:23 MST

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Sedona is filled with places to live and stay, along with dozens of shops and restaurants. Quite charming without being too commercial or crass.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:18:13 MST

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A mesa or butte or something.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:17:05 MST

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We raced home from the Grand Canyon to see the sunset in Sedona, and it was worth it.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:15:58 MST

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Rachel waves from our room as I venture out to pick up a pizza.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:15:03 MST

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Leaving Sedona to catch our afternoon flight in Phoenix - more rocks!

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:13:46 MST

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Some more rocks.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:12:33 MST

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Guess what these are?

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:11:12 MST

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Dang it, how did you know?

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:10:08 MST

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You think we got a lot of photos of rocks, you haven't seen the half of it. Or, the fourth of it, even.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:51:23 MST

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Rock? Or Jabba the Hut?

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:49:44 MST

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Insert "Close Encounters" soundtrack.

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DenL913 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:48:06 MST

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And finally, the interstate to Phoenix, which despite being a "boring" interstate, was more visually interesting than 95% of the roads we got here in Ohio.