Road Tripping 2020 - Rocks, Ravens and the Wrap-up

On this road trip to the Southwest, we have:

    Been away from home almost a month

    Camped for most of that time

    Stepped foot in 8 states

    Driven over 6000 miles

I guess that's a respectable adventure.

It seems like this trip was a grand tour of rocks , whether we ran them over or viewed them from afar, it was an amazing experience.

Chiricahua

Sedona

Grand Canyon

Bisti Badlands

Another theme of the trip seemed to be all about ravens. I grew up with ravens always making a ruckus in the valley where we lived. Ravens mate for life and often return to the same nesting spot year after year. Every spring, our valley was filled with the sounds of  young ravens, which actually sound very much like a band of apes at a party. Ravens are very uncommon in Norfolk and I didn't realize how nostalgic I would be over their quarky calls until this trip. They seemed to be everywhere we went. 

While we were staying near Sedona, I had a rare afternoon all alone relaxing at the campsite. Several ravens were about scavenging in campsites. One flew in and perched in the trees just over head and was croaking away. I was feeling all warm and fuzzy remembering raven noises from childhood and...the raven poops. I can see it bombing down on me. Duck and cover! Fortunately it missed me but that was the end of my nostalgic musings that day. 

We saw ravens so many times over the trip but I rarely had my good camera out for the shots. At the grand canyon though, there were dozens of pairs doing aerial dances and it was amazing to watch. Here are a few moments in time from their swooping and wheeling, but in person is so much better. It was for my soul to see and hear ravens again.

   

Wes had one last hurrah on some challenging off road trails. I'm sure I have more white hairs from the experience. 

When we began this journey, I had been optimistic about our ability to stay away from people. In one place I erred was assuming the people we encountered at gas stations would be wearing masks. Mask wearing was pretty good back home, but it varied on the road. Some places we entered, everyone wore a mask and others, we were the only ones. It was very much dependent on the political leanings or governor mandates of the state we were in. Mask wearing at hotels was varied, as expected, but Phoenix was really disappointing. I was trapped in the elevator twice on my laundry runs with people not wearing masks. I obnoxiously held my mask close on my face and made squinty eyes, but I assume at this point people can't be shamed into wearing a mask.

We stayed in hotels after our time at the Grand Canyon, both because of the cold and because we wanted to put in more hours on the road traveling east. After a few days, I couldn't remember which way anything was in the hotel because I kept confusing the layout with previous places. 

Last hotel night, after all this adventuring, we were in some definite need of cuddle time.

Thanks to tuning in to our great adventure and we are happy to be safe and sound at home.

Road Tripping Day 18

 December 4, 2020

Bisti Badlands

Our last remote adventure of the trip - The Bisti Badlands in New Mexico. This was my choice because of the cool rock formations. I was hoping for a few days to explore this area, but our trip has been very much of a 'fly by the seat of your pants' affair and we only had a few hours. So this is definitely on the list of places to visit. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

There are so many different rock features its almost hard to notice everything when you're busy looking around. Also we were there at the brightest part of the day, so contrast and shadows weren't at their best. I played around in photoshop to give you a better idea of how amazing even the smallest formation looked.

So we only saw a small part of the formations. This place is kind of like a choose your own adventure, since there is no designated trail. And unless you know the formations are out there, you would never guess there is anything worth seeing in those flat looking hills. 

Road Tripping Day14-16

 Dec 1-3, 2020

And we're off to the Grand Canyon!

We were able to camp at the Grand Canyon at the big campground there, but there were less than a dozen campers over all. The elk casually wandered through the campground on a regular basis. The water pump near us was leaky and the elk came to get drinks every morning. Who knew you water refills came with a infusion of Elk slobber. LOL!

It was really cold so we only drove along the rim and took photos. No hikes.

In the afternoon, we decided to park in the Market plaza and catch up on some school work in the car.

After a sunset drive, we were returned to the campfire and settled in for a cold night of about 25 degrees. We live in the modern world, so what is better than a video game session around the campfire.

And it was a cold night!! Frozen water over night required a giant fire to keep us warm during breakfast. This might be our last night camping. We are heading back east and staying in hotels most of the way. 

Today we go on to our first leg of the journey home. 

Road Tripping 2020 Day 13

November 30, 2020

Lunch at the trailhead.

And we're off hiking around the Courthouse and Bell Buttes near Sedona.

Just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

What a beautiful place Sedona is!

Definitely coming back for some more hikes.

Road Tripping 2020 Day 12

November 29, 2020

Sedona, NM

Drove into town gawking like the tourists we were. Amazing! 

Got ourselves tucked into our campsite on the Oak Creek north of Sedona. Right after we got ourselves set up, the people at the next site abandoned theirs. It was a better site, so we moved over. Each person carried a corner of the tent. It was quite the operation, but we did it. 

View from our campsite, right over the creek where the kids love to play. 

Later that night we delicately roasted shoes, freshly marinated in creek water, over the fire. 

Road Tripping 2020 - Day 11

November 28, 2020

There is often competing reasons to choose a particular campsite. Too high in the mountains and its freezing and windy. Too low, like at the bottom of a canyon, and all the cold air sinks to your spot.

 Guess that's what happened to us. The water started freezing last night while we were washing dinner dishes. Then the gas stove quit so no hot water bottles for bed time. Fortunately we had the chemical hand warmers to pass out. This morning I'm heating water on the fire for tea. 

This is not the same relaxing morning I had yesterday. 

Here is Wes breaking the ice on the water bottle. Good times. 

Enough about the cold. Here is an awesome tool my Dad made with Levi's help just for this trip. I gave up finding a collapsible fire poker that didn't require screws and a screwdriver to assemble. In the middle of a camp? Are you kidding me? So I asked Dad to make one that screws together, easy peasy, and he came through. It's been great, so pay attention manufactures out there. This is what campers want. 😁

Want to know how to style your hair after not washing it for five days? Well, here you go. 

Good by Coranado with your awesome fire Woods and your freezing canyons. It was an experience. 

After such a cold breakfast, we demanded a hot lunch. This is the little friend we made, with the help of steak from my tacos. Kids wanted to keep em but I pointed out he was a wild kitty and we had done our good deed by giving em a good lunch. 

Now we are tucked away in a hotel in Pheonix, stuffed full of takeout and tomorrow will be groceries, laundry and on to the next adventure. 

Road Tripping 2020 Day 10

November 27, 2020

We are not packing up and moving on this morning, so I can enjoy a nice cup of tea by the fire this morning. This is what it's all about! 

Today's adventure:  Chiricahua (Cheery-Cow-Ha) National monument. 

Now I don't usually endorse parks because everyone should choose their own adventure, but I'm demanding you see this park. It's amazing. 

"Wonderland of Rocks"

We paused for lunch at the top of a mountain before setting off on a hike. 

Amazing view upon view. I had my fancy camera and took over two hundred photos. I was stopping every few feet to take more photos. 

The proposed hike was about five miles. 

Now we hiked four miles up and down a volcano last week so this should be doable... should. Except that road was paved and this was a rough rocky trail. My ankle (that I broke in Jan) was not pleased with this, so I turned back after a mile down the mountain and hiked back up the mountain while the rest of the family went onwards.

There were several rock formations on the hike that I was going to miss out on, like the Duck, so I made up a few of my own. Can you spot chubby Sid (from ice age)?

And I call this one the Gummy Bear King.

All in all a totally amazing place to visit.