Go west, young (wo)man!

Just a little over a week now until I'm finally off in that vast arid wilderness known as 'Arizona.' It's going to be quite a change from the rolling, fertile mountains of the Blue Ridge, where the closest thing to a desert is the shore at Virginia Beach. Even before I set out, I can honestly say I've never been any place like it before. Australia is the driest continent on Earth, and there I still huddled mostly near the temperate southern coast and the comforts of civilization. With this newest venture of mine, I will be working at Tonto National Monument (named after the Lone Ranger's faithful life mate, one can only assume), about a two hour drive east of Phoenix, on the northern edge of the Sonoran Desert. The park will be providing me with housing, and since all the regular volunteer accommodations will be occupied, I will have the privilege of inhabiting what has been described to me as a "26 ft. travel trailer." I believe that means something along the line of this:


While a lack of television and only occasional internet will simply be RE-adjustments for me, my immediate surrounds will be quite a far leap from the Appalachia I've come to know and love and sometimes hate, but usually love. Consider the following (mostly stolen from Wikipedia)...

• Arizona's average annual precipitation is 12.7" compared to Virginia's 42.7". If you can't do the math, that's difference of 2.5 feet. And that whole foot of rain in Arizona comes from two specific rainy seasons - that's right monsoons. I will be living in a place that has monsoons.
• According to weather.com, today's high in Christiansburg is 38, with a low of 21. In Phoenix, the high is 78 and the low is 53. Even at it's coldest, Phoenix is still warmer than C'burg.
  
• The highest point in Virginia is Mount Rogers at 5,729 ft. The highest point in Arizona is Humphreys Peak at 12,633 ft. Again, if simple math escapes you, that's over twice a high.
• Languages spoken in Virginia include 94.6% English and 5.9% Spanish. In Arizona - 74.1% English, 19.5% Spanish, and 1.9% Navajo. NAVAJO?! What...is that some wacky made-up language like Esperanto?
  
• Virginia was one of the original 13 colonies and became a state in 1788. Back then Arizona was still part of Mexico and it didn't even become a state until 1912 (on Valentine's Day, no less) - the last of the lower 48. (A somewhat comforting side note: While still only a territory, Arizona did secede from the Union in 1861 and was recognized as part of the Confederacy by Jefferson Davis in 1862. Good to know I can still fly the Stars and Bars!)
• Arizona has a professional (NFC champion) football team, baseball team, basketball team, hockey team, and even lacrosse team. Virginia can only wish that it were D.C. or Baltimore.
• Arizona's state neckwear is the bolo tie. Virginia doesn't even have one.

Arizona, and the entire Southwest, will truly be a whole new world. I think part of me is still denying the fact that this is not merely a quick vacation. I will undoubtedly miss the rose-tinted memories of my hillbilly home, but I know that once I hit these uncharted lands my inner explorer will arise and every day will be wondrous and new. First I've just got to get this nasty thing called "packing" out of the way...

So long VA! It was great while it lasted. But your bluegrass and your delicious ham can only distract me from the call of the wild for so long.