MONSTER SCRATCHES – Grand Day Out

GRAND DAY OUT

What’s the best thing about roddin’ in Arizona? Arizona.

The roads leading everywhere usually end up somewhere interesting. Bisbee, Tombstone, Jerome, Oak Creek Canyon, the Mogollon Rim, the Apache Trail, Route 66. There are enough forests, deserts, mountains, lakes, rivers and backroads to keep an old car happily wandering for years.

Not long ago, Mrs. BOMONSTER and I were staring at an Arizona state map on a Sunday afternoon when we realized we live only a couple hours from the Grand Canyon. So the next morning we bought an online $35 digital pass, loaded up an ice chest with snacks and pointed the car north from Prescott.

We stopped for a 7:30 breakfast in Williams at the Pine Country Cafe, then rolled through the Grand Canyon express entry lane before 9:00 a.m.

Since we’d been there years earlier, I wondered if the whole experience might feel a little like Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Vacation. Drive up, take in the view, snap two pictures, say “Yep, there it is,” and then race off toward the next attraction.

Nope.

Even if you’ve been there before, walking up to the South Rim and looking over the edge still stops you in your tracks. It’s impossible not to stand there for a minute and just take it all in. The canyon is massive, quiet, ancient and somehow larger than your memory of it. But walking back through the parking lot, I started noticing something else.

Cool cars.

Big American trucks. European sports cars. Retro-styled Detroit steel. Motorcycles. A weathered old VW Bug that looked like it had crossed half the Southwest just to get there. For a few minutes, the South Rim parking lot turned into an accidental little car show overlooking one of the greatest views on earth.

That’s when I knew I had to scratch this scene. By the time we made it back to Prescott later that afternoon, I was already thinking about where every car would sit in the artwork.

Maybe that’s one more reason Arizona is such a great place for roddin’. The destination is usually pretty good — but the drive there is the real story.

SoCal-raised hot rod artist BOMONSTER now creates his scratchboard artwork from Prescott. Inspired by drag strips, garage life and roadside Americana, his unique art celebrates the spirit of old-school roddin’ and backroad adventure. Artwork shown is available at bomonster.com. Follow @thebomonster or email bo@bomonster.com.