Over the past several years I’ve been gradually easing into the whole eco friendly cleaners and organic food thing. Moving to California, I decided to jump in wholeheartedly. And it’s easy to do here. Organic is really not much more than regular food, and there is a lot more variety. It’s nice.

So now I’m more likely to get organic produce (though not every time) and I believe all milk in California is not treated w/ growth hormones.

The myth that California is so much more expensive just ain’t true, folks. Housing might be a little higher than, say, Arkansas, but our house is comparable to what we paid in Orlando. Food is dirt cheap. Here are some examples you might think are interesting.

• Avocadoes $.50 each
• Zucchini 3 pounds for $1
• Pita bread $.50 a pack
• Blueberries $.99

And there are so many grocery stores, I haven’t been to any one twice. But back to the green thing. I’ve stocked up on organic flour and no corn syrup (my husband swells at even the sight of it ). No premade treats, which can be hard when I’m craving something. Instead I made cookies the other day. We’re trying to eat whole foods more.

And I’ve been lucky that through GiveDaddy I’ve gotten to try so many eco friendly cleaners. Like 7th Generation. They’ll keep me in stock on cleaners for years. And it just makes no sense to put harsh chemicals in our house. So I’m happily turning green.

The husband has a company car. Right now it’s a Nissan Altima Hybrid. I’ve decided my next car will be a hybrid. They’re so quiet and use so little gas. And you get to park up front at Fresh & Easy, one of my favorite grocery stores.

We’re recycling more too. We have an entire trash can (like huge one that is as big as a regular trash can) that we fill weekly with recyclables. We have more recycle trash than regular! In Arkansas, my pet peeve was that the recycle man regularly rejected what I tried to recycle. Here they take any plastic, paper or glass.

Sorry this is so rambly. I just love being green!

Aaah, the last part of my posts on the Route 66 journey. I’m ready to write about something else. Like my new city. We expected to see sandy desert in Arizona, but it wasn’t until after Flagstaff (and its snow) that we saw sand.

Arizona was more Native American culture. And fry bread. My new favorite carb. They make Navajo tacos, which are served on fry bread. Yum.

We visited the Petrified Forest National Park, which was neat. Let’s see if I can get this right. Thousands of years ago, when the trees fell, there was some sort of natural mineral (I want to say sulfur) that soaked into the fallen logs. It petrified them. Turned them to stone. Now the wood is brilliant shades of reds, oranges, browns and purples,  and litter the park.

Flagstaff was a great city. It was at a high elevation, and there was snow. It was funny, headed to California and it was getting colder. We ate amazing Thai food in what I think was their downtown tourist area. From there, we were officially off of our beloved Route 66.

As we approached Phoenix, it warmed quickly, and we saw plants. And sand. We were in the home stretch.

As we hit the California border, we had to stop for border patrol. Did I take a wrong turn? Is this Mexico?

Apparently we were so close to the border, they were still on the lookout for illegal immigrants. I warned my tanned son not to speak Spanish or he might get us in trouble. Only kidding. Sorta.

By the end of the journey I could not wait to get to my new home. And I did.

Route 66 with Mom and Max was a great adventure. A long and tiring one, but one we will all cherish, I am sure. Not many people brave the cross country journey, so we are of the few.

Things got more interesting when we hit Texas. The landscape got more diverse. We started seeing rocks and shrubs, and occasional mountains. And the Route 66 landmarks started rolling in.

Like the Conoco Station Tower in Shamrock. Or the many quaint hotels with signs in the shapes of Indians, Cacti or other weird things. Fun times.

Albuquerque (which I hate spelling) was really fun. We stayed in a better hotel, the MCM Elegante, which I highly recommend. Great service and rooms for the price. But don’t eat at the Mexican restaurant in front of it, we were warned. So we headed to Old Town, the touristy fun place. We went in gift shops (which Max LOVED, let me tell you) and ate at a really good Mexican restaurant. With Indian (feather, not red dot) fare as well. I ate a Navajo taco, which I am now hooked on.

What else? Oh, let me tell you about Cline’s Corners. Such a magical memory for me.

In 8th grade (20 years ago) I went to LA with a friend and her family. I didn’t realize it til mid trip this time around, but we took the same route. And we stopped at a gift shop called Cline’s Corners. Just your typical store full of junk, but it was huge, and I have always remembered it.

So imagine my delight when I see a sign for it. I’m eagerly looking each exit after the sign (which I glanced at) to see where it is. Apparently out West they think it’s fun to put a sign for something that’s 200 miles away. Not cool. Eventually we made it. It was as big as I remembered. And full of such treasures! I was happy to share it with Max. Maybe one day he’ll take his kids there.

Stay tuned for part 3…