Here are some memorable aspects of our winter in the Southwest: the superlatives.
First a couple disappointments:
No cactus blooming. I guess winter is not the right time, and we kept moving north as the southern deserts moved into spring.
Environmental concerns: Smog from Los Angeles reaching all the way to Death Valley and the Grand Canyon.
The worst thing, of course, was rolling into Quartzsite, literally. I never for one second thought we should give up this lifestyle after the accident. I couldn’t wait for new wheels and to get back on the road. But it was actually harder than I expected. I am still tense driving mountains, especially going down. I get little flashbacks whenever I have to move over for a vehicle parked on the side of the road, because that is what caused the fish-tail and roll-over. The new rig is solid, the truck stable—we love both, but I am still a bit edgy driving.
Now in no particular order, here are the best.
THE BRIGHTEST STARRY SKIES Big Bend National Park in Texas. I haven’t seen the Milky Way light up the sky like that since I was a kid—and even then not as bold and bright as this.
THE MOST AWESOME DUNES White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. They are eerily beautiful.
THE BEST VOLUNTEER JOB Habitat for Humanity in Las Cruces, NM, It was so organized; we felt productive; and we met the greatest people there.
THE BEST HAPPY HOURS Gathering in the camper lot at Las Cruces, sharing the Habitat work of the day, ideas of where to go next, people’s favorite munchies (we still had Wisconsin cheese then) and Habitat memories of former builds with people who had worked in the same places with the same people.
THE BEST MOUNTAIN REFUGE Chiracahua National Monument in southeastern Arizona where Cochise wandered with the Apache.
THE COOLEST OLD WEST TOWN Tombstone, Arizona. It was so much fun to see the Birdcage Theater and Boothill and get the flavor of Wyatt Earp and all the rest.
THE BEST CAMPGROUND I asked Don, knowing the answer: Tucson Mountain Park with saguaro in our campsite, coyotes barking at night, biking around the backroads, “purple mountains’ majesty” sunsets, the Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park just up the road.
MOST UNUSUAL CAMPGROUND Estrella Mountain Park near Phoenix where we parked next to the vacant rodeo arena and plugged our cord into an electric box near the public bathroom.
THE BEST MUSEUM Jean: Arizona State Museum on the U of A campus in Tucson with its soul-searching look at Native American life. Don: The Birdcage Theater in Tombstone because everything was original and still there untouched, even the eight-year-long poker game.
THE BEST MUSEUM Jean: Arizona State Museum on the U of A campus in Tucson with its soul-searching look at Native American life. Don: The Birdcage Theater in Tombstone because everything was original and still there untouched, even the eight-year-long poker game.
THE BEST ANGEL OF MERCY The steamroller Roy who helped us so much right after the accident with everything. I like to be in control, not steamrolled, but Roy was a Godsend in getting us settled. He was a sweetheart.
THE FAVORITE DESERT PLANT Hmmm. Saguaro? Joshua tree? The green palo verde tree? No, I think it was the pink prickly pear. Don says the saguaro.
THE BEST NATIVE AMERICAN ANCESTRAL DWELLINGS Jean: Tuzigoot on a hilltop in central Arizona, a complex built by the Sinagua people. They also utilized the nearby Montezuma’s Well, a lovely deep spring in the mountains. Don: Gila Cliff Dwellings where we actually walked through the walled-in cave rooms high on the mountainside.
FUNNIEST SHOW Marilyn Monroe in the Las Vegas Legends show where she pulled a random man from the audience whose name turned out to be Dick. She sat on his lap, running her fingers through his bald spot and called him Dickie.
MOST EXPENSIVE PLACE Las Vegas—who can afford to spend time there?
BEST BARGAIN Listening to the time-share presentation for free Cirque du Soleil tickets and a dinner voucher.
THE MOST SNOW Bryce Canyon
THE MOST GORGEOUS CANYON Jean: Bryce. The colors, the hoodoos, the 100 mile views, the exhilaration of actually hiking at 8,000-9,000 feet. Don: Canyonlands where we could see snow-covered mountaintops and deep cuts down to the rivers.
MOST AMAZING NATURAL WONDER Don: Landmark Arch, 306 feet long in Arches National Park. Jean: the salt flat in Death Valley.
THE ONLY PLACE WHERE WE DIDN’T SAY, “IT IS NICE TO VISIT, BUT I WOULD NOT WANT TO LIVE THERE.” Sedona, Arizona, for the hikes, the red rocks, the trees, just the wildness of it. Of course, we would never be able to afford to live there; it is expensive. But it is really a gorgeous place.
THE BEST SCENIC DRIVE The Apache Trail to Tortilla Flat in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona was beautiful, thrilling and just plain fun. All the national parks had wonderful scenic drives—Big Bend, White Sands, Chiracahua, Saguaro, Joshua Tree, Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands.
THE LOVELIEST SUNSET There were so many. It takes some clouds, some mountains and the desert.
THE BEST HIKE I can’t really answer that with just one. There were so many times I said, “What a fabulous hike!” Sedona’s Cibola Pass, the Catwalk in the Gila Wilderness with cousin Gord, White Sands, Chiracahua, Superstition Mountains, Bryce, the salt flat in Death Valley.
THE BEST WEEK OF THE WINTER Our time with Marie and Gord. It was so great to spend time with them.
AND FINALLY—Don has been saying we should make a list of the times that we were protected from danger, that things worked out just too well for coincidence, that God was watching out for us despite the bad things happening.
No one was hurt in our accident despite us rolling the camper across both lanes of I 10
We found the perfect truck with a super-duty factory tow package even though there was only one truck dealer within 90 miles. This truck even has tow mode which does engine braking! Wow, is that nice! Unfortunately, we found today that Don is going to have to move his garage workbench to get this monster in the garage.
We found the majority of our belongings in the wreck.
Our angel of mercy, Roy the Steamroller, appeared like magic the day after the accident to take care of us.
When loose wires caused brake malfunction on the new rig, it happened only in out of the way places where we could not get hit even though we drove several hours on I 70 that day in between incidents.
Our second angel of mercy, Jason, appeared like magic at Car Quest to diagnose and fix the brake problem.
We had a sunny day to cross Colorado after truckers had been required to use chains in the morning snow on I 70 over Vail Pass (10,617 feet) and the Eisenhower Tunnel (11,158 feet).
We are home, safe, thanking God for a fabulously beautiful place He has created for humankind.
We are home, safe, thanking God for a fabulously beautiful place He has created for humankind.
