I drove down to Phoenix yesterday with a friend.  The landscape is otherworldly most of the way – I’m still not used to living in a volcanic region.  Even more interesting though, are the changes caused by the elevation drop – Phoenix is 6000 feet lower than Flagstaff.  The flora changes dramatically.  We started in ponderosa pine and aspen, dropped into the pinyon-juniper woodlands, and ended up in desert scrub.

While the elevation change induced a much worse migraine than normal, the trip was worth it.  Not only did I get to see the cool flora changes, I got to see someone I’ve been missing, which was very wonderful.