Flight of the Phoenix

Ok, so when I left you we had backtracked to the main highway, on our way towards the West (preferably L.A., if Aga has her way).  Speaking of Aga having her way, the whole time we've been in Arizona she was fascinated with trying to find the saguaro cactus - the emblem of Arizona, or so it seems - as its image is found everywhere, on licence plates, state signs and so on.  But so far, we haven't even seen a sniff of one.  Anywhere.  And by now, Agnieszka is getting pretty desperate, because we've only got the car for 2 more days, so the chances of seeing this cactus are, well, pretty cactus, I would think.

So while we were having breakfast in Tombstone Agnieszka decided to take advantage of talking to the locals, and ask where we might find these things.  The fella there told us of a national park full of the devils, near to Tucson, called Saguaro National Park.  I checked out where it was on the map, and it was sort of on the way to Phoenix, sort of, so we decided to give it a go.

It turned out that it was a lot further away than we thought it was, and we needed to make it before sunset - well, what's the point in wandering around a national park full of cacti in the dark - could be quite, um, prickly... but luckily we made it by sunset with about half an hour to spare, and were treated to some magnificent views.  The whole hillside was just covered with these things, huge, tall cacti, as far as the eye could see.  It was wonderful!

After wandering (read: driving) around the National Park for a bit, the sun started to set and we decided to continue to press on towards Phoenix, where we intended to stay for the night.  This was fine, but you've got to understand, we're actually quite a way out of Phoenix, so the driving is long.  Add to that the fact that the ol' petrol tank is getting a bit low, but I thought to myself, come on, we can push it to the next station - so I didn't stop when I could.

I wish I had.  Suddenly, the fuel gauge light flashes on, a low sound emits from the alarm - and we're on the last notch before empty!  How did that happen so quickly?  We were on like, 3 or something, and then boom!  Down to 1!

So I pull off at the next exit, hoping, because I could see something that looked a bit like a servo, that it would be one.  No - it wasn't, it was some half baked old diner, and the woman, when I asked her about the nearest 'gas station', said, "20 miles".  Twenty miles!  And I'm driving on fumes!

"In which direction?"  I asked. "Either," was the response.  The problem we had was this - I didn't know who to call even if I could see a phone.  So I got back in the car, had a quick chat with Aga, checked out the car manual in the glove box, and figured out we should, if my maths was correct, have about 25 miles worth of petrol - maybe a little more if I go slow a bit.

So we got back on the highway, didn't even have the radio running for this bit, it was so tense, prayed and prayed and prayed - and breathed a HUGE sigh of relief (and thank you prayer) when we saw the next petrol station!

We only just made it, really...