For The Desert: To Phoenix and Back

On Friday, November 9, Don and I drove to Phoenix, so I could take the veterinary state board exam. Until that time, I was allowed to practice only under the supervision of my employer. A vet cannot get a full veterinary license until passing the state board exam. The exam consisted of 65 multiple-choice questions, about 3/4 of which were about Arizona state rules and regulations, and the rest about veterinary diseases common in the Southwest. In order to pass, I have to get at least 75% correct, which worked out that I could get 16 wrong and still pass. As I took the test, there were 11 that I was unsure about, so even if I got all of those wrong, I would still pass, SO, I am feeling fairly optimistic. The woman in charge of administering and grading the test said that we should all find out within the next week or so.

We left for Phoenix before sun-rise, but the sky was beginning to lighten a little. After we turned from our dirt road onto the main road, we did have to pause briefly for several head of cattle who had decided to amble slowly across the road. The nice thing about cattle is that, even though that area is open range and the cattle can move around at will, they definitely do not move very fast--unlike deer in the East, which could leap in front of your car at any time. The cattle just mosey along and, as long as you are reasonably alert while driving, they are never a big surprise.

Because the first part of the trip was in the dark of early dawn, I decided to wait until the trip back to take pictures. The trip took about 2 hours. Even though we arrived in Phoenix at rush hour, we were able to go into the HOV lane, since there were two of us in the car. We had heard that Phoenix has a lot of smog, because of being a big, sprawling city, in the center of a valley, surrounded by mountains. Sure enough, Don said that his asthma was acting up while we were there, although it wasn't as bad as on Cape Cod.

The test was over fairly quickly, so we headed back and I started taking pictures. It was very windy, so we drove through a few brief dust storms, and saw even more little ones in the distance. Although you could see majestic mountains in the distance, the part we drove through was very flat, dry, and dusty. We passed three types of crops on the way back--cotton, pecans, and something that looked like short sorghum--or it could have been milo.

I am posting these photos in order of my seeing them--all from the passenger side of the car--some out my side window, some out of the front, and a few off to the left. Some have some window reflections, but there wasn't much that I could do about that. They begin as soon as we got only to the main highway and end as we turn into our own driveway.