A few petroglyphs to admire: A few cactuses to admire: Laura among the cactuses: Transcription: Saturday, April 24, 2021 SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK I already waxed rhapsodic about saguaro, so let’s talk about getting lost in the desert at night! (Spoiler alert: “lost” is an overstatement.) We meant to spend the whole day in Saguaro NP. … More Laura’s Journal: Hiking in the Dark at Saguaro National Park
We drove so far south to reach this site that we could have tossed a frisbee into Mexico. The mission at Tumacácori NHP was established long before that border existed. Even before 1700, Spanish missionaries roamed the Sonoran desert looking to establish Christianity and the Spanish way of life among the indigenous people. The building as it appears today wasn’t built until the early 1800s and was abandoned at the end of the US Mexican War, barely years 50 after construction started. … More Laura’s Journal: Tumacácori National Historic Park
We’ve visited several historic pueblo sites now, and every of them has been impressive for how the architecture of stone and mud has held up over the centuries, but this one is the first we’ve visited made entirely of adobe, with no stone cores in the walls. I couldn’t stop staring. This incredible structure is three stories tall. The only wood in the whole structure is in the ceilings/floors between levels. A three story building made of hardened mud. Still standing after 700 years. By comparison, how’s the last mud pie you baked holding up? … More Laura’s Journal: Casa Grande National Monument
“You should climb Black Mountain,” Gary said. “It’ll be fun!” Gary said. And thusly did we find ourselves halfway up what appeared to be a mere blip of a mountain but is actually a 1,300-foot elevation gain over the course of a 1.1-mile trail. That’s not hiking, friends. That’s basically rock climbing. Still. We climb … More Black Mountain
Driving from the highway to the visitor’s center, I was struck by the incredible color contrasts in the landscape. The ground is covered with black volcanic sand, and bright orange sandstone pokes through along every ridge. … More Laura’s Journal: Wupatki National Monument
How can I have gone so long without any idea how volcanic the Southwest is? I suppose it isn’t newsworthy since none of the volcanoes is active (at least not within the last thousand years), but just about all the geology down here is volcanic, and as a volcano enthusiast, I feel indignant that no one thought to tell me. 😋 … More Laura’s Journal: Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
My first cliff dwellings! Tonto National Memorial is a bite-sized park way out in the desert boonies. From Cave Creek, it was a little more than a two-hour drive, but the drive was so beautiful. Red flag warnings went up all over the state today as an immense dust storm blew into the area. Majestic mountain ranges (which I didn’t even know existed until a few days ago) turned into atmospheric ghost ranges. … More Laura’s Journal: Tonto National Monument
Let’s talk about CACTUSES!
Look. I know it’s “cacti.” I’ve known that since I was, like, three years old. But from the moment we rolled down out of the mountains into the Sonoran Desert where every bit of landscape is spiked with saguaro, I just can’t stop thinking of them as “cactuses.” (I blame the book I recently read about octopuses. That is a correct plural.)
A transcription of the photographed journal pages can be found at the bottom of the post! (journal photos will be followed by a text transcription, in case the photos are difficult to read) Monday, April 19, 2021 PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK When we set out on this adventure, the only thing I knew I wanted … More Laura’s Journal: Petrified Forest National Park (at a trot)
Today’s Stats:Starting point: Lakewood, COEnding point: Santa Fe, NMMiles Clocked: 349What we’re reading: Shakespeare for Squirrels, by Christopher Moore I should have something important to say in this the very first post of our new travel blog. The fact is, however, that after more than a year of being travel-less, our adventures back out into … More Breaking Out
Thither & Yon 