On The Way To California!

After spending five days in Phoenix we packed up and headed west to the land of sunshine and sea, California! I-8 took us right through the Sonoran Desert National Monument, by large fields of solar panels and again right by the Mexican border.  Since the drive from Phoenix to San Diego was too far for us in one day (pulling a trailer we have to go slower on the highway and Sky is the solo driver), we were just hoping to find a boondocking spot along the way.

Desert Heaven in Phoenix, AZ

The drive from Tucson to Phoenix was a piece of cake and took us just over two hours. The desert landscape was similar to what we’d seen coming into Tucson, with saguaro cacti scattered amidst dry sand. What was interesting though was how many tumbleweeds we saw that day. It was a particularly windy day (we seem to pick all the windy days to do our driving…it makes it more exciting that way) and because we were driving through dry, flat land, tumbleweeds had nothing to stop them from swirling around the highway. I’d seen tumbleweeds crossing roads before, in cartoons and silly movies, and kind of always thought that the size of these things was exaggerated for comedic effect. BUT NO. These massive tumbleweeds, the size of wine barrels, would fly right across traffic, with no obvious trajectory pattern aside from the direction of the wind gust.

Tucson and the Saguaro National Park

Wednesday morning we woke up at the gas station on the side of Interstate 10. It was a bright and sunny morning in the New Mexican desert and we had plans to drive west into Arizona to our next destination, Tucson. The weather forecast for southern Arizona called for snow later in the day, and I had trouble believing it. Snow…in the desert…on such a nice sunny day? We’d run into similar craziness last time we’d come through Flagstaff, AZ when we experienced a gorgeous sunny day followed by a morning snow blizzard, only to end in another sunny and warm afternoon. Well, we set out on the road hoping to be parked at our campground, snug and safe, by the time this “snow” rolled in.

The Hoover Dam

Skyler, being a bit of a history buff, couldn't pass up a visit to the Hoover Dam. The dam is located right between Arizona and Nevada, on the Colorado River, and creates the little piece of heaven we’d been enjoying for the last few days, Lake Mead. The dam generates power for Nevada, Arizona and California.

A Free Piece of Heaven on Lake Mead

After Las Vegas, we couldn't decide whether to go straight to Los Angeles (CALIFORNIA!!!) or to visit the Hoover Dam. We flipped a coin and decided on Hoover Dam. On a whim, we also decided to visit Lake Mead, since its a National Recreational Area, and we've got the America the Beautiful Pass.

Speaking of which! The America the Beautiful Pass has now paid for itself. The initial cost of $80 was finally recovered with our visit to Zion National Park! From now, its all awesomely free access to the some of the prettiest places in America! Thank you, National Pass!

The Arizona Corridor

There is a stretch of highway 15 that goes from Utah to Nevada, with about 20 miles of Arizona in between. This portion that goes through Arizona is really spectacular. Imagine, you’re driving through rolling, hot desert, and after you cross the border into Arizona, all of a sudden you drive into a canyon. A really deep canyon. There are signs saying “Steep downhill grades ahead”, “Watch for strong crosswinds”, “Watch for falling rock”, and “Mountainous curves next 10 miles”, on top of a “Rough road ahead” sign. But even all these aspects don’t put a damper on this jaw dropping drive. I can’t quite put it all down on paper properly, but basically I’d say the scenery was as good as driving through Big Bend and the canyon of Grand Canyon combined. Yah. :o)

The Scenic Road From Grand Canyon to Zion NP

To get from one amazing park to another we decided to take the scenic route. Basically, there is hwy 89 that crosses into Utah early on, and then cuts west through the Grand Staircase National Monument. If you take that highway to Zion National Park, you need to ensure that you meet the Mount Carmel Tunnel vehicle width requirements; otherwise you need to pay for a $15 escort to help you through. Since Lucy is a wide girl, and we didn't feel like coughing up $15 for a 1 mile tunnel ride, we decided to take the steeper and more scenic way, highway 89A. This route stays in Arizona for most of the drive, cuts through Kaibab National Forest, goes by the West Rim entrance to Grand Canyon, and then crosses into Utah just before you reach the Zion NP vicinity.

A visit to the Grand Canyon National Park

We said our goodbyes to Humphrey’s peak and headed to the South Rim at the Grand Canyon National Park. On our way in we stopped in the only town between Flagstaff and the park, Tusayan. Tusayan is not even really a town, just a collection of hotels and fast food restaurants just 5 miles outside the park entrance that catch all the tourists that are looking for the comforts of home. We stopped at a McDonalds for a quick treat, and saw 20 brand new Harley's parked outside, all the exact same body style. When we went inside, we saw the bikers, and they were all wearing matching jackets. I asked one of them where they were from. Turns out they are Harley enthusiasts from Marseilles, France that flew into Los Angeles, rented the Harleys, and are now on a 12 day driving trip around the SouthWest. They were going to the Grand Canyon, then onto Moab, Grand Staircase National Monument, Bryce National Park, and ending their trip in Las Vegas. Too cool!

Third Time Is The Charm, Right? Probably…

So today we attempted to hike to the top of the world in Arizona, also known as Humphrey’s Peak. The trail head is located at one of the Arizona Snowbowl ski area parking lots, 14 miles outside of Flagstaff. To get there, you head north on highway 180 out of Flagstaff for 7 miles, then make a right turn on the Snowbowl Road, and drive 7 more miles until you arrive at the ski resort parking lots. Flagstaff is located at around 7,000 feet elevation, the 7 mile stretch you drive to get to the ski area gains another 2,000 feet, so you start the hike at just over 9,000 feet of elevation.

Flagstaff, AZ

Flagstaff was our “chill out” place. We’d seen so many national parks and monuments and visited two large cities in two weeks’ time, we needed a place to park the trailer and just do nothing for a bit. We also needed a place to plug in the trailer and charge everything back up, as we’d been living off the grid for 5 nights straight. We picked Flagstaff because it was on the way to the Grand Canyon, and offered some decent hiking/biking opportunities.

Arizona Craziness

Did you know that the state of Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings? No? Neither did we. (Or did we miss the memo?) We were thoroughly confused when, after crossing the border into Arizona, the clocks on our phones went back another hour. I conferred the US map, and made sure that I wasn’t wrong on where the next time zone was supposed to be (between Arizona and California), and when I determined that yes, all of Arizona was indeed still in the Mountain Time Zone, I googled it and realized that the whole state had chosen to not participate in the Daylight Savings. What? That’s crazy and horribly confusing to poor travelers like us. But the upside is now we’re on California time! :o)

Arizona, and the Petrified Forest National Park

We crossed the Continental Divide on highway 40. There is a labeled exit off the highway that you can take, that places you right on the divide. There you will find this sign:

The Continental Divide in New Mexico on I-40