More Arizona Meanderings: The Wildlife Tour

March 31, 2026 I drove from Carlsbad Caverns through New Mexico, Texas, and back to the corner of New Mexico along highway 9 which runs along the Mexican border. I could see the "Wall". I'd never seen it before! Border Patrol all over mostly in pickups, some on ATVs, blimps tied to the stations floating high above in the air. Lots of dead rattlesnakes on the highway. I camped just east of Animas out in the desert. So very quiet especially at night with no one on the highway and the stars bright in the sky.

The next morning I headed to Bisbee through Portal and Douglas. You know when you are in Arizona by the condition of the roads. No other state is this bad! Even Texas has awesome roads and they are a Republican state. WTF, Arizona?

But the weather has cooled to high 70s - low 80s and the prickly pears are blooming which makes up for it!

And then there are the rats...see him bottom of the photo? I think this is a pack rat? Not sure. I was told they are rather cute like chipmunks when they aren't eating your vehicles, but they are more like vampires coming out at night and not in the sunlight so I'm not sure. He does look like the pack rat photos online. Now I know I'm back in Arizona!! I have my rat beepers and blinking solar lights in the engine. I'm ready for them!

But what about the scorpions, giant spiders, and

RATTLESNAKES?

The news is warning there have been an increase in rattlesnake bites this spring. I've been trained by people who have lived here all their lives. When the nighttime temperatures are above 50 degrees, the rattlers are out in full force. In the spring they are aggressive, probably because they just got out of hibernation and are hungry. I enjoy hiking or walking since I'm sitting a lot when I'm driving or even when I'm not traveling I spend a lot of time on the computer. I like to get out of the van, exercise, and stretch especially now that I'm still trying to recouperate from the ankle fracture and trying to break in my new hiking boots. However, I am now nervous about hiking in the desert. My eyes are constantly scanning the landscape. Last night was 64 degrees. The rattlers should be out now regardless of whether I see them or not. I've only seen one on the highway to Arizona, but it was slithering off the road into the bushes so I only saw his tail.

One life-long local told me avoid walking near piles of rocks, bushes, or piles of sticks as that's where they are usually camouflaged or curled up. Don't reach for anything and be aware of your surroundings. OK. That doesn't help my stress and paranoia. Maybe I can avoid hiking until I leave Arizona? 

Another van woman said when you walk, walk hard, the vibration will warn them, and they will slither in the opposite direction (sometimes). They will usually start rattling about five feet away and this woman said, "It is unmistakable...the rattle of death!" I told her I'd seen rattlesnakes on TV and in the movies. She said, "No, up close and personal, the rattle is much more traumatizing! You know you are going to die if you don't get the hell away."

This morning I encountered my first rattlesnake...ever!!! Walking cautiously down the middle of the drive, watching my steps, watching the side bushes, rocks and sticks (Is that a snake? No it's just a stick! Whew!), and there he is about fifteen feet ahead sunning his whole three (?) foot long body across the dirt drive. OMG!

He's kind of flat and skinny. I wondered if someone ran him over, but no one has been driving around here and I hike this drive a lot. He's just hungry. Maybe he's a baby? He's shiny, unlike a stick. I threw some rocks that came close to him, but didn't hit him. I wanted to see him curl up and hear the rattle. He didn't move. No aggression that I could determine. I gave up and backed away. No need to tempt him. I imagined he'd slither after me out of spite. Hike over. Now everytime I hear a noise I'm jumping out of my skin. LOL!

OMG! I saw a gila monster! Sluggishly making his way across the dirt road in the desert! This camping location is great for wildlife which might not be a good thing, but it's definitely an adventure! This guy was about a foot and a half long. I stopped driving, turned off my van, and attempted to take photos before noticing he headed for under my van! I couldn't drive away for fear of running him over so I got a fly swatter and swatted his tail. He continued to the other side. They are venomous, bites can make one sick or dead (rare), but so beautiful! I kept my distance. I remember hearing stories of big ones that would attack pets and small children, but I think those are just urban legends. Arizona is adventure land!!

Arizona Meanderings 2026

March 17, 2026 Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Two weeks ago I arrived back in Tucson, staying a couple more weeks at a different Arizona Land Trust campground that was way off the highway. No highway noise, very few people and no barking dogs unlike the "Pads" where I spent most of the winter. So incredibly quiet. Love it. Hiked everyday and it was so private I did a little van dancing. But it was dirty! By the time I left Big Blue was covered in orange dust inside and out! I am definitely not a dirt camper!

Tucson was heating up. It's only March and by the end of the week the temperatures were predicted to be around 105 degrees! Too hot for me! So I did what most van/RV/car-living snowbirds are doing and headed north. Again!

The morning of the day I left, I had my water pump replaced as it was leaking coolant, and the Ford dealership, as usual, screwed up.  They never cease to disappoint. Every hill Big Blue climbed, she would start overheating with a dashboard warning that flashed, "REDUCING ENGINE POWER TO AVOID OVERHEATING"!! WTH??? This never happened all last year as I climbed miles of mountain highways!! I've never not been able to overtake a semi-truck on a hill. Not happy. 

I called Ford and they said there might be an air bubble from not being "burped". For some odd reason the service agent thought I could just take it anywhere and someone could burp it for me quick and easy. Ah no, not without a hefty "diagnostic fee" and a week-long wait for an appointment. I was so furious! I continued driving checking various mechanics along the way.

The Tonto National Forest around and above Payson was a nice, cool 75 degrees so I stayed there for one night. The mud is dry leaving deep ruts in the dirt roads. This creates a worrisome risk of getting stuck, but I ventured onward. Problem is at night the temperature drops to around 31 degrees. Way too cold!  

I attempted to head west of Flagstaff, but the daytime temperature was around 85 degrees. Too hot. However when I was there a few weeks ago the forest service road campgrounds were empty...now they are filled with RVs and vans that came up from the south also to beat the heat! And dead cows! I pulled into one campground wondering why it was empty...

So I headed east. Thankfully van life is very flexible. I went back to Tonto for one more night and nearly got stuck in deep gravel freshly poured at the ditch edge to make the mud less problematic. I didn't trust the wet road ahead with snow on the side so I attempted a backup on a single lane dirt road. Reversed too far into the fresh gravel on the edge of the ditch. I spent about a half an hour trying to dig one of my tires out that spin down about a foot. The one tire was dug so deep the front tire was off the ground! How stressful! I really need to be more careful. I'm out of practice, I think. The next morning I continued east.

I found a mechanic in Show Low with an appointment wait of only two days. Show Low was around 89 degrees. Too hot! 

Where to camp for coolness for two days? Several people have told me to go to Alpine where the temperatures are nice and the trees are lovely. It's in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest with free dispersed camping. I stopped at the forest ranger station to ask about camping. The ranger was not helpful and rather rude. I asked him if these sites have trees and he sarcastially said, "Of course, it's a national forest!" To which I replied, "There are no trees driving in to Alpine so it really doesn't look like a guarantee." Never mind all the fire damage around leaving toothpicks of black wood in place of what used to be trees! What an idiot! (On the way to Show Low around Linden, the forest was blackened and the ground was still smoking! Fire risk signs say HIGH all over.)

The snarky ranger was no help finding a dispersed campsite so I just drove until I found a dirt road with a "LEAVING IS YOUR CAMPFIRE COLD?"  sign. Very quiet and peaceful. There was another van near the entrance so I continued. Not many dedicated campsites along the road so I ended way in the back, but it's quiet and beautiful.

Morning View with the Sun Rise

I went hiking with my new hiking boots carrying my phone, keys, and bear spray. Post-ankle break hiking is filled with paranoia. Will I fall again? What if I fall and there is no one around? Are the bears and mountain lions watching me? Are they hungry? Or four-wheeling party men on a Friday night drinking? Hmmm...Oh well. I can't live my life in fear so just do it, camp it, and try not to worry. this should be a fun adventure not a worrisome nightmare. Maybe I need to buy a gun? It's only two days until my appointment. Hopefully I'll live to see it!

Hiking up the Hill

When the other van left the next morning, I took their spot since it's closer to the highway and I'll have to leave in the dark tomorrow to get to my early van appointment. I realized too late that there is no sun after 3pm since the trees shaded everything. You'd think this is wonderful, but I need that sun to keep the solars charged! I woke to 20% which is really nothing. I still had a two hour drive in the dark and then two hours of repairs. The Bluetti didn't go to zero percent and then blow up or melt all my frozen food (my greatest fear). Sunshine all day so they recharged.

After the van check, "burp" and confirmation everything is working properly, I washed the mud off my tire wells at the car wash, got water at Walmart, food at the health food store, then headed to New Mexico via highway 180 through Alpine again.

New Mexico near City of Rocks...still ugly, but now it's HOT!!!

What was I thinking? Once out of the higher elevation mountains it was 95 degrees in New Mexico! My plan is to head south to the beach where it is much cooler, but to get there I'll have to suffer the heat. Maybe this is a bad idea, but I've always wanted to see Texas!!

On the Road Again! Arizona

February 28, 2026 I'm off again! After a winter of disappointing real estate searching, I decided it might be better to continue the van life journey and forget trying to be a "normal" person (whatever that might mean)! I was told by another van-life woman it takes two years to settle into van life. That gives me so much encouragement. 

So after six months in Tucson camping at my favorite free campsite, finishing my secret rock-lined path through the desert:

...finishing all van maintenance ($$$), finishing physical therapy to get this ankle working, after restructuring my virtual mailbox, and after spray painting my front license plate to match the van's roof (the old one was an Arizona flag that had faded to oblivion!) 

I WAS READY TO GO!! The temperatures in Tucson were climbing into the mid-90s and the rattlesnakes were waking up too early!

Maybe. I kept finding things I NEEDED to do, things I failed to do for the last six months! Or was I stalling? I got rid of more things from my van, stuff I did NOT need in a van: desktop computer, 30x22 monitor, computer speakers, webcam, tools, books, art, and clothes I never wear because they haven't fit me for twenty years!! Why do we do that?

But then I had an encounter that made me not hesitate to drive away. 

Early this morning in the dark at 4:00am I decided to do one more load of laundry since laundromats are not always easy to find on the road. I noticed there is a semi-truck idling in the parking lot. Weird. This made me nervous. I don't like being at laundromats in the dark with strange men. I once watched a true crime show that said it is suspected truck drivers are convenient serial killers. Jeez! But he wasn't in the laundromat so I think he was taking the opportunity to park overnight and sleep. I started to unpack my dirty sheets and supplies and on the second trip in I notice there is my pillowcase that I was missing the last time I was there two weeks ago sitting next to my pile of laundry. Hmmm...my first thought was maybe it got hidden in the sheets and yanking those sheets off my mattress revealed it?

On my next trip back to the van I noticed the pickup truck parked under the tree at the far edge of the dark parking lot. A man gets out with his supplies. I can see him out of the corner of my eye since I am always on alert in the dark, but don't acknowledge him.When he gets into the laundromat I recognize him from my last trip. His name was Jim and we spoke briefly and friendly during the last visit. 

He says, "That's your pillowcase. The last time you were here you left it in one of the washers. The next people found it, held it up, and asked if it belonged to anyone. I took it for you. You looked like you were missing something." He didn't know I always check the machines to make sure I got everything, but it must have been stuck to the top side or something. I did know I was missing it and hoped it would show up.

I replied, "Oh, thank you so much! I was wondering what happened to it!"

Then my instincts got the creepies. Has he been parking out in the parking lot every morning for the last two weeks waiting for me to reappear? I hadn't planned to do laundry until the last minute. He had no idea when I would be there again. Hmmm...my spidey senses flared.

Then he says, "I know where you are camped. It's very crowded there."

I said, "Yes, it is crowded. More so than last year."

OH GOD. Has been watching me? Did he go looking for me? Did he find me? I can't tell you how much that creeped me out! Am I just paranoid at 4 in the morning in the dark? I decided to trust my instincts. I sat in the van with the doors locked while I finished my load of sheets, and then left! I went back to the campsite,. I did not want to be there all of a sudden! I collapsed my tent and pack up. I was outta there and did not look back!

I headed northwest to look at Ash Fork. 

On the way I stopped in at Spooky Swirls, the gluten-free Halloween bakery in Chandler! It was quite by accident going through Chandler and I always wanted to see this year-round spooky-themed bakery. What a unique concept! I bought a slice of cheesecake!! It was gluten-freely delicious!

I drove north through Prescott and into Ash Fork. There are some tiny houses on land up there that have been listed for a long time. They are in my budget. I understand now. The town is ugly and run down. The landscape is desolate. Not sure this would be the place for me, but I might come back through and look again.

I continued through Kingman to a BLM site outside Chloride. So peaceful and quiet out in the middle of the desert! Very different from camping in Tucson with the constant noise of the highway. The weather is lower to mid 80s (Tucson is in the 90s now), cool at night. No one around.

Nearest van neighbor...can you even see him?

Just as I was sitting down to dinner, I had some visitors! COW CAMPING!

I feel a lot less stressed this time. This is a good thing! I did kill my phone and almost ran out of gas. I'm out of practice. 

The next morning was leisurely and relaxed. I drove to Dolan Springs - a town I heard has a lot of chemically sensitive people. It was UGLY! What is the attraction? Blah!

Then on to Nevada!!

Arizona!!! Is it the End of the Adventure?

I spent a week writing this post and in a flash of an instant, it disappeared! I've had this happen before, but due to utter exhaustion I failed to remember how to rescue it and instead screwed up. The post is gone. So I'll attempt a short summary.

I left Colorado and headed west on Highway 160 repeating part of the drive when I headed to Arizona a few weeks ago. This time I kept going west for Flagstaff. I love this part of the country with the red-orange dirt, a variety of plants in many shades of green, and brilliant blue skies with huge mesas! As usual, there weren't many pull-outs or I would have taken too many photos.

I'd love to buy land here and build an orange cob house, but this is Navajo Nation reservation land and they don't sell to non-natives. The temperatures south on Highway 89 climbed to 85 degrees, but I could see the mountains in the distance!! Cool weather is ahead!

Humphries Peak - highest point in Arizona

Flagstaff cooled to a wonderful 72 degrees. I didn't realize there is BLM land for camping all over outside the city. I began sampling the offerings with first night at Road 222 and second night at Road 700. Lots of tall pine trees which made internet and solar charging difficult so the next three nights I headed down Mary Lake Road to Marshall Lake Dispersed Campground which was a little better. 

Marshall Lake Dispersed Campground for the first two days...
so beautiful, peaceful and quiet!

The third night 35% chance of rain was forecasted for 8pm. OK. Just one hour of rain. No problem. Between the clouds and the trees, I could barely get my solars charged so all of a sudden I had no internet and no way to prepare food. I figured I could brave it until morning then leave the woods for civilization.

At 3pm the lightning and thunder show started with hail the size of marbles! It sounded like glass snapping and I feared for my helpless solars! This was followed by "normal" hail the size of a small fingernail. Sound effects:

The rain and hail pounded all night and the thunder got so close it shook the van. Nights are hard for me anyway since they seem to drag on and on as I wait patiently for daybreak, but I've never had issues with thunderstorms. This one was rather scary as I imagined those tall pine trees falling on Big Blue. I'm guessing it lasted until 4am. I was excited for the new day as my doctor's appointment with my new orthopedic doctor was that afternoon!

Morning arrived and it didn't look that wet with maybe one puddle in the distance. I had to get out of the van to rescue my rat lights and it looked so dry I didn't even think to put plastic bags over my cast. The mud stuck thickly to the bottom of my shoe and cast and PTSD kicked in. This is how I fractured my ankle! OMG! But I didn't slip. I spent about an hour cleaning caked on mud off everything. 

Packed up and started driving out...I got about forty feet and my tires spun, the van slid sideways, and I was all of a sudden stuck in one foot deep ruts of mud! OMG! I got the bright idea maybe I should reverse, go back, and leave via the entrance to my campsite. Got stuck again and nearly slid into a tree. Now I'm about one hundred feet from the exit and gravel road. 

A homeless woman heading to the highway for some hitchhiking took one look at me and saw a free ride if she could help...nothing worked. She gave up and left me with the idea just wait until the sun comes out and it'll dry up really fast. I didn't think I had that kind of time as the doctor's appointment was that afternoon, but I thought that might be my only option. Then it started to rain AGAIN a half hour later. I felt like crying. I hobbled around with a plastic bag on my cast gathering anything I could use for traction...pinecones, tree bark, and towels. Eventually the plastic bag protecting the cast was sucked up by the mud...at that point I thought WTH? So what? PTSD be damned. I'm desperate. I'll be dirty. It can't be helped. I tried a variety of ideas and nothing worked. The more traction I gathered the more hopeful I became and then all of a sudden, the van caught hold and I regained forty feet before she slid sideways and spun helplessly. But forty feet! Hooray!

There was a woman (Amanda) walking up on the gravel road and she stopped to watch all of a sudden frantically waving her arms. I ignored her because if I hesitated, I would have lost traction. She thought I was going to hit the boulder close by. I thought I'd miss it unless I slid, but I bypassed it. She continued walking then returned telling me her husband was sick so she was walking down to where a missionary woman was (Tammy, who lives and travels to and from BLM land helping the homeless) to borrow a thermometer and this woman volunteered her traction strip. Amanda then spent the next hour helping me out of this mess. Her shoes ended up caked with mud, her hands filthy. I so appreciated her help if not just her encouragement and companionship at a time when I felt as any minute I would burst into tears. We made progress, maybe another ten feet, a little at a time, with me at the wheel and her running around the van adjusting the towels and the traction strip.

Then a pickup was driving up the road and we both started screaming and waving our arms. He stopped and with his teenage son continued to help by instructing me how to set the tires, reverse, then gun it forward with him and his son pushing from behind, readjusting the traction strip. After about four tries, Big Blue found freedom! When I reached the gravel road, I was screaming!!!! Literally! So very thankful and yelling my thanks as they jumped back in their pickup and left. I called Tammy because I wanted to clean off the traction slip before I returned it, but she said she'll just leave it out in the rain. Amanda volunteered to walk the traction strip back down to Tammy and I sent her off with $20 to give to Tammy for her missionary work with the homeless.

I made it to Flagstaff and my doctor's appointment absolutely exhausted, but with a clean cast!! It took about an hour to scrap, wash, dry, and then wash with rubbing alcohol, but that cast shone as if it were brand new! As I waited for the appointment, I started writing the day's events on this post and lost the whole post. I felt defeated, but I survived!

The next day I took Big Blue to the car wash. I had to pay for two separate washes to get all the mud off her and it had caked and dried in places especially the tires and around the tires. I used the pressure hose to clean the towels, hiking boot, and buckets that were brown with dried mud. The van is still a mess. It'll take a little more effort to get all the mud off everything! What a horror!

So the adventure is NOT over. Maybe it never will be until I'm in a house and out of the van?? Maybe I'll never be out of the van? I'll try to make more cautious choices in the future. I spent the night on cement at Walmart. I don't care how many beautiful BLM campgrounds they have here, I'll stick with cement!! 

I think I've had my share of adventure and now I want a peaceful existence. 

Please...

Down the Back Stretch! Arizona!

The colors of northwest Arizona are spectacular. Look at those clouds!
It's like a painting....

I feel torn about Arizona. On one hand, with all the stress and trauma, I feel relieved this adventure is over and I'm my way "home" or to where I started because I'm not sure if Arizona can be considered "home". On the other hand I feel dread. Tucson creeps me out. Tucson is the land of psychopaths and very bad experiences that slosh around in my brain too often usually in the middle of the night or when I'm driving. Driving affords one a lot of thinking time. Outside Tucson, Arizona is dry, dusty, and still too hot. I'm STILL just not sure that's where I want to land.

I headed west on Highway 160 and planned to go south to Shiprock. The horizon was black with rain clouds, but the view west was bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds! ? Make a choice! GO TOWARD THE LIGHT...then south on Highway 191. 

I read some posts on the lack of free camping in the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation, but found perhaps the only one that wasn't a gas station: Wheatfields Lake on the border of Arizona and New Mexico. The warning was if it rains, it's deep in mud. Well, it's been raining here and the huge arroyo ditches and water-filled potholes made me hesitate. Big Blue trudged through the muck and we found a semi-dry spot. Hopefully it'll stay dry all night. The weather forecast for the next few days is sunny 66/68/69/70 high and 48/47/50/53 low, but it's raining right now. We'll see! I'm the only one here. It's nice with picnic tables, garbage receptables, and a bathroom...blocked by huge puddles of brown water. It's very quiet. Thunder and lightning all night with showers now and then. Then I woke up to a view of the lake and this:

COW CAMPING!

At first I thought there was only one until I threw some water out my side door and there is a small herd surrounding my van giving me the stare down.

On the Navajo reservation there are warning signs all over about cows and horses running free. I saw a few horse herds on the way. One beautiful colt that was white with black ears, mane, tail and feet. Gorgeous. Just wandering on the side of the highway. There was no place to pull over or I would have taken a photo of him.

The sun appeared and I drove to New Mexico via Highway 12 in hopes of finding sunshine and some food. The Navajo reservation does not have a lot of options. Beautiful drive with lots of mesas, rock formations, rock needles and rock walls. Towns are built around them.

Around the corner from this rock knob, I encountered a pothole as wide as the road and filled with brown water. Do I drive over? In Arizona we are taught DO NOT drive over an unknown depth especially if the ditches and arroyos are raging with water and they were. You might get stuck, or worse, you might float away or drown. Did I listen? No. The highway was about 50 feet on the other side! It was risk it or turn around and suffer the bad road coming in. It was damn deep, but I made it. 

Even though my ability to walk has been compromised, I'm still on an adventure. New Mexico is off the beat and path, providing a detour, but I have two weeks until my doctor's appointment. Why not?

Grand Canyon National Park

I arrived at the South Rim Entrance around 1pm and there were three lines of cars maybe 20 cars deep. I hate to say it but not even a week into my Great Adventure and the tourists are already driving me nuts, even though I am also a tourist! I turned around and decided to find a free campsite and relax the afternoon away. Well, a little - I did a bucket of laundry. I found a glorious campsite near the park's entrance in the Kaibab Forest. Very quiet and beautiful except for the idiots racing down the dirt road with no consideration for the dust they were creating. Thankfully my campsite was a bit off the road. Love the tall trees and pine needle ground!

The next day I got up at the crack of dawn and got to the park at 7am. No one in line! I walked the Rim Trail back and forth amazed by the scenery, but suffering from vertigo every time I got close to the edge. No railings! Scary!

All peace, quiet, and contemplation was destroyed around 8:30am when hoards of tourist buses arrived! There was one teenage school group with about 200 screaming kids. I left happy to have seen the sites without chaos of tourists.

The Vortex

I continued to meander north through the sites in Arizona. I stopped at Montezuma's Castle only because every intersection had a sign and after the second one I figured it was calling me. Not really, but maybe I shouldn't miss it. Lovely cliff dwellings, concrete path, too many tourists and not enough parking. I wasn't sure if I was disappointed or relieved I wouldn't have to hike straight up to see them - they were inaccessible with viewings only from the lower, well-manicured park.

Sedona. I visited the tiny village of Sedona about twenty-five years ago. It sure has changed! However, it's so well-maintained with beautiful roads, flowers all over, gorgeous buildings most of them matching each other, and, of course, spectacular views of the red rock mountains surrounding the valley. Is there any poverty here? I don't think so. I saw one house that was big enough for a small town to live in! Whole Foods, natural health stores, and unfortunately, gluten-free bakeries. 

The first day I went on the Little Horse hike and followed the Llama-Blue Rock Loop. Again, doing more than I planned, convinced I was lost, encountering friendly mountain bike riders, and outstanding scenery. 

I camped at the Beaverhead Flats area south of Sedona. The road in had very deep ruts from past mud conditions, but it was cool and quiet.

The next day I headed to Uptown Sedona to see the town. The best time to avoid smelly tourists would be at 7:30am! Most shops and restaurants don't open until 10:30a-11:00am, but I'm not interested in buying or eating. I loved the peace and quiet. 

Again, trying to make my way back to Free Parking Lot Number 6, I once again got lost making my walk five times longer than anticipated up into the residential hills! Not much is more satisfying that spying Big Blue from afar when one's feet are hurting!

Earth Day Take Off!

After months of "Trapped in Tucson", I have finally left, slowly meandering my way to Alaska! OMG! First, I had to develop personal guidelines:

1.) STOP WORRYING!!! I have a genetic mutation that causes me to worry. Finding this out was very validating after years of questioning Am I just a weirdo? It also made me realize I worry incessantly and unnecessarily more than most people so STOP! Immediately I started worrying about mechanical breakdowns, then I started hearing imaginary noises from the engine. Maybe, but how many times have I taken a vehicle into the shop because of "some noise" and the mechanic after hours confesses, "I'm sorry, I can't hear this noise and if I can't hear it I can't determine what is causing it." UGH! Then I started worrying about tarantulas, snakes, weather, supplies...JUST STOP!

2.) DRIVE SAFELY. Do not use my phone when driving. Do not eat while driving. Do not try to read a map while driving. Do not write notes while driving. Don't take photos while driving. No changing CDs while driving. No reading maps while driving. This is actually really hard as I am a multitasker, but if I don't start being present, it's not going to end up well.

3.) PRETEND YOU ARE ON VACATION. Enjoy myself. Take it easy. Sleep in. Stop to see sights on the spur of the moment. Relax. And most important: HAVE FUN! This is a once in a lifetime experience. Well, until I do it again next year! HAVE FUN!!!!

So from Tucson, Arizona, I headed north on Hwy 77, then 79, then detoured to 60 where I found the road closed (!), on to the alternate route 177 to Globe, then 188, and 87 where I found the Barnhard Disperse Campground just sound of Rye where I did some cow camping!

Yee Ha! Get along little doggie!

Love these cacti! This was a morning view so the blossoms weren't as fully opened and spectacular as they were the night before.

Before arriving at my campsite for the night, I took in some sights:

Teddy Roosevelt Lake - beautiful! I'd love to live here!

The Tonto National Monument was on the way so I impetuously visited and hiked to the cliff dwellings. The path was only a half a mile but straight up and in the afternoon sun a bit challenging. BUT it was all paved! Normally at these sites one would find make-shift stone steps which are hard on old knees.

See Big Blue resting in the parking lot. She has it easy!!

Continued Arizona Meanderings

Next stop was Bisbee. I visited Bisbee in December on my way to New Mexico, but it was early in the morning and nothing was opened. This time I didn't realize most shops are closed on Tuesdays and guess what day it was? But what was open was wonderful. The great thing about this old town is they've kept it maintained, the shops are filled with art galleries, bakeries, clothing stores, new age things, second hand and antique shops. I found the absolute best clothing store I've ever been in filled with beautiful fabrics and patterns called PanTerra. Of course, I don't need beautiful clothes living in a van. I wouldn't even know how to take care of them! But I kept their business card and perhaps if my life resumes someday, I'll be back! I wandered through the streets, up the stairs (whew!) and down art alleys. I loved the creativity in all the nooks and crannies...I would have never thought to use an old car door for a gate! I walked by a corner and saw an old school desk just sitting there for interest. Love it.

I was told by a local, rentals are impossible to find because home owners have turned all their homes into AirBNBs to accommodate the tourist industry. Too bad. I'd love to live here.

For lack of free campsites in the Bisbee area (I have heard many places will allow you to overnight in their parking lots but this felt uncomfortable), I headed to Sierra Vista where I stayed at the BLM land just south of town. It was dry and dusty destroying my sinuses especially when the four-wheel drive vehicles would race by, but otherwise very quiet and safe feeling. Lots of hikers walking by heading to and from the trails at the end of the road.

I meandered north to Katchner Caverns, but it cost $10 to get into the park and another $30 to see caves. I just didn't think it was worth it. So I continued north to Safford. Nothing special about Safford except an overabundance of hot springs, but they've made it big business. $15 per hour for a hot springs soak. I knew I wouldn't last more than 5 minutes especially in 95 degree weather so I passed. I was told there were free hot springs an hour away north in Clifton so off I went!

Clifton was adorable with train tracks and a river running through it, tall rock walls on the side of the highway. Not much in the way of stores and amenities, but it had the most amazing "historical downtown":

Unfortunately few of the shops were in business. Most buildings looked derelict and on the verge of being condemned, but cool looking! Loved the narrow main street and high sidewalks. What Clinton did not have was a free hot springs. Or any hot springs. It was out of commission, and by the looks I was getting from the locals, it had been out of commission for a long time!

Next I traveled to Ajo, a delightful, but cloudy little town with a Mexican-style town square complete with gorgeous white adobe churches on each corner. They have a strong art community with an "Art Alley" of murals.

I stayed at the BLM campground south of Ajo and woke to this:

About 30 miles to the south of Ajo is Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. I spent the morning hiking the incredibly peaceful desert landscape. Near the end of the hike I was getting so hot in 90 degree weather I doused myself with water. I ended up staying at the campground so I could use their showers. Admission fee to the park was free with my American the Beautiful National Park Pass, and I received a 50% off the campsite which came to $10. I camped...and took three showers in a 12 hour period!