October 31, 2021
After leaving Nevada, we had a schedule to keep and a deadline to get home by the 27th so we would have about 36 hours to "shift gears" and prepare for a family campout much closer to home. We drove across Las Vegas without stopping but detoured near Boulder City for a leg stretcher to geocache at Bootleg Jack's Rock Garden where a trail winds through 7 larger-than-life sculptures of desert animals.
Next, we visited a few locations along Historic Route 66 in Kingman, Arizona:
Our Great White Whale "Moby" getting some kicks
Giving Williams equal billing ...
a piece of USS Arizona on display in Williams
The last planned part of our itinerary was the drive from Flagstaff to Sedona, AZ through Oak Creek Canyon:
There is the road that switchbacks down into the canyon
a great campsite at Cave Springs campground, Coconino National Forest
in Oak Creek Canyon
We attempted to see some of the sights in Sedona, but the traffic in town on a beautiful fall weekend was a bit frustrating so we drove to the more laid-back town of Cottonwood for some time on the Jail Trail Riverwalk. We did see some public art in Sedona:
"Merlin"
"Caduceus"
Chapel of the Holy Cross is well known in Sedona. As a kid, I vividly remember seeing it
perched on the red rock cliffs more or less in isolation. My later visit as an adult was a different view -
houses all around it so that I had to stand in the back of the chapel to take in the view through the
windows without seeing the roofs of houses. Before leaving Sedona, I wanted to see it again but we
were too early in the day and the gates were locked. This is all we could see from below.
Looking back from Red Rocks Scenic Byway as we were leaving Sedona - the chapel
is in the middle of the image
To avoid driving Interstate 10 through Phoenix and Tucson as we have done numerous times in the past,
we headed across Arizona on minor roads through Payson and Globe to Lordsburg, NM.
oldest log schoolhouse in Arizona, Strawberry, AZ
I get really excited when I see saguaros - such magnificent organisms
Lake Roosevelt, Tonto National Forest, AZ
We decided to camp at City of Rocks State Park in southwestern New Mexico not far from Silver City.
We arrived well after sunset and found the campground completely dark and it was difficult to determine where the campsites were without a flashlight. We could sense more than see the large rock formations
looming over us. As soon as we stepped out of the van, we saw the Milky Way!
The pictures were taken early the next morning:
our campsite
looking out to our campsite from the space between rock formations
The rocks were still in shadow when this was taken...
early morning sunlight on the other side.
Roadrunner sculpture at a rest area near Las Cruces, NM . . .
. . . made from recycled items
This sculpture usurped Paisano Pete's status as largest roadrunner
"Paisano Pete" in Fort Stockton, TX
Sights that amused us or seen while geocaching:
check out the Junior Ranger badges for earrings
hygieostatic bat roost near Comfort, TX (on the Register of Historic Places)
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hygieostatic-bat-roost
Hygieostatic bat roost36 hours later, the van is ready for a campout with 12 members of our extended family including our three grandchildren and two of our adult children. Camping gear for 7 - much more complicated than just for the two of us.
In case you are wondering, our son, daughter, and three grands came in another vehicle. LOL
