1977 | East into Arizona
I can’t remember exactly where this picture was made. It feels like western Arizona, eastbound, just after clearing the bridge across the Colorado River, at the fringe of Yuma where you can gas up as you abandon the interstate for the farm road that turns into AZ-95, which bears northeast and then breaks due north into the serious rough dryness.
But it could have been taken anywhere out there, which I think is the appeal of it. Here, I am looking at a very specific place, and also a quintessential roadside experience of the entire spare and unforgettable desert Southwest.
It’s time for me to re-read William Least Heat Moon’s Blue Highways, an account of his long trip on two-lane roads in search of persistent rural America. I encountered it back in 1982 when it was published, and I can’t specifically remember a single phrase or sentence, but I carry in me a feeling of the whole experience of his book and his journey.