“when I want to run away – I drive off in my car – but whichever way I go – I come back to the place you are” – Peter Gabriel

I have a love of the open road like an *inexperienced traveler dreaming of fresh air, good tunes, and friendly faces at every stop along the way. So when Bowerbird’s band was booked for a show in Phoenix , I decided to use this opportunity as a weekend retreat for the two of us. The band was o.k. with my band-aid habits. I became emotional as we headed East on the 10 realizing I was going out of state. I want to drive across the country more than I can express, so when I get little morsels of that feeling it inspires and fuels me to skip my Starbucks, not buy 50% off dresses, and continue to save.

I booked our accommodations with Airbnb. It was my first time and I was respectfully filled with a bit of nerves. I’m not sure if it was an ad or a magazine article that turned me onto AirBnb but I went to the website and found the perfect place to stay. Only a mile away from the venue, it was a totally adorable converted garage/back house decorated impeccably with 72 good reviews. Our host Sky never seemed annoyed by my laundry list of questions, and even welcomed us to park in their driveway behind a gate to protect the band gear.

We left around 6am, stopping in Palm Springs for a delicious breakfast at Lulu’s. The same café I stopped at last year on my way back from Coachella. [Amazing that was only last year] Bower ordered the California Eggs Benedict, avocado, smoked salmon, caviar covered in hollandaise. And I went for a strawberry Crepe. I had already been buzzing from my earlier Starbucks, but added 3 more cups of coffee to my morning addiction while at Lulus.

On the road again, we made some pretty good time getting to Phoenix by noon. We grabbed lunch at a café in walking distance of our Airbnb stay. It was a converted house and we enjoyed a simple grilled cheese. We continued to explore after lunch walking down the same street and found the holy grail of window shopping, a vintage store/soda shop, MacAlpine’s Soda Fountain. There was fantastic bistro chairs and tables lined up outside for sale, inviting us two hipsters to step inside and check out the rest of the goods. The soda shop was decorated with kitschy collectable toys, which easily could be an excuse to indulge the owners hoarding habit. It also had a funny smell of old French fries and stale cheeseburgers, but when you walked into the Vintage part of this joint venture the weird smell went away. They had the best selection of vintage furniture I’ve seen in a long time. My favorite piece being a stereo record console that I wish could fit in my small Yaris. The best take away find was a Life magazine from 1966 with French actor Jean-Paul Bermondo on the cover, which is now framed and will be hanging up in Bowerbird and I’s bedroom.

Retiring to our home away from home until the show; Bowebird worked on music and I studied up on Social Media management. Two happy dorks retreating into our AC pumping Airbnb little cottage. The bar their band was playing at was a mid-level dive, so not terrible enough to be cool in its divines. Performance was great, but afterwards an 80’s club filled with Madonna and Bangle tunes ignited. It was an odd crowd to say the least, but kind none-the-less.

The next day we wanted to extend our trip a little further by grabbing lunch at a new place, which lead to a serendipitous art excursion. Please visit My Favorite MAOI for the rest of the art adventure story.

Side note: My favorite part of the drive home was when the following song came on Pandora and narrated my own version of a 90’s romance movie; a woman just learning to trust again and can she really fall in love while finding herself.