As a little girl, I remember my dad being gone for days at a time. It was always exciting when he got home - he always brought something tasty to eat or a little present for me. Still, for 2-4 days each week, he was gone. This is because he was a Captain in the Los Angeles City fire department.
As a firefighter, he worked in shifts outlined by colors - each week, different colors worked different days. Because our house was a few hours from his fire department, he frequently switched shifts with others so that he could work a few days in a row. This led to an experience that was normal for me at the time - he didn’t work at all during the months when I was out of school. Thinking back on it now as an adult - it was a miracle.
We never left the guys from his firehouse far behind - a few of his coworkers had children about the same age as me, and they each managed to achieve the same work-schedule miracle. At some point every June, our collection of families would pile into multiple RV’s and spend 2-3 months wandering around the western USA as a caravan. We would pull into the same campgrounds at night, take the same hikes during the day, and visit the National Parks, all as a group of a few families and a few kids.
One of my favorite place on these trips was always the Four Corners Monument, driven to in Arizona, but not exactly located in Arizona.
Four Corners Monument is the location in the exact place where four US States - Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah all meet. There is a special marker on the ground showing the precise spot, and if you visit, you can get down on the ground and reach your feet into two states, and your hands into two more. This means you are in four places at once.
All of my photos from that time are in a photo album far away, otherwise, I’d share the pictures of me in crab-position, smiling like crazy with excitement.
Are there similar locations anywhere else in the world?
This post is part of the #StateChallenge organized by @Kwiksatik and @Denise_Barlock. If you want to find out more, check out this post. You can also find other submissions by searching the #StateChallenge hashtag. There is also a virtual meet-up on Arizona coming up which you can sign up to here!
Just kidding.
about the parking being in Arizona.