October 2, 2023
After some consideration, we decided to skip camping near Lake Havasu because of the heat. After one of our rare stays in a motel in Kingman, AZ, we headed to Flagstaff and a great campground we knew of just outside Sunset Crater, Bonito Campground (Coconino National Forest). We camped for two nights and visited the trio of national monuments in the Flagstaff area just as we did in 1980. With an elevation of 6.900 feet, we were able to enjoy the cool nights for a little while longer.
We hiked the Island Trail (Walnut Canyon National Monument) to view cliff dwellings built
after Sunset Crater Volcano erupted more than 1,000 years ago.
I remember hiking this trail as a kid with my family.
Many stair steps are necessary to get down to the ruins.
We decided to wait until early evening to hike the Lava Flow Trail in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and returned to the van well after sunset. Quite a magical time of day.
A beautiful sunset and, looking back to the east, a rising full moon.
Early the next morning, we drove the scenic route from Sunset Crater to Wupatki National Monument. We stopped to listen to the quiet of the landscape and listen to the "echoes" of our memories of doing the same thing in 1980. We arrived at the visitor center just as it opened at 9:00 and Brian helped to raise the flag.
Early morning is a great time to visit and photograph the ruins of ancient pueblos.
And... on to New Mexico (our third visit to the state in 15 months)
We didn't get a picture of the sign until the morning we left. This was taken as the moon was
setting just before sunrise - our favorite time of the day.
Inscription Trail to the base of El Morro
watering hole at the base of the bluff
petroglyphs
Spanish explorers left their messages, too.
Another enchanting New Mexico sunset from our campsite . . .
. . . and early morning light.
One more national park site was just down the road - El Malpais
In this photo, you can see Mount Taylor, a stratovolcano, in the upper right corner.
The view of the lava fields below Sandstone Cliffs Overlook, El Malpais National Monument.
La Ventana Natural Arch, El Malpais NM
We were reluctant to leave New Mexico, but it was time to get home to Houston. After hearing about the heat and drought that was happening back home all summer, we were pleasantly surprised to see so much green along the highways in the panhandle of Texas. Numerous times throughout our adventure, we witnessed the power of water to conquer the land - rivers, waterfalls, glaciers, ocean tides, mountain streams - water always wins out in the end. It might take millions of years to carve canyons and erode mountains or just one or two winter seasons to damage road surfaces due to melting permafrost and frost heaving, but water will always prevail. We have traveled to all 50 states and 12 of 13 Canadian provinces/territories and observed a myriad of landscapes, yet I yearn to see more. Every type of terrain has its own beauty and appeal and we saw so many of them during our four months of travel this year. Sadly, we also experienced so many views compromised by wildfire smoke, retreating glaciers, and depleted reservoirs.
In so many ways, this trip was a mishmash of experiences and emotions. We finally realized our dream of driving to Alaska, made return visits to some national parks that we will likely never get back to at this stage in our lives, and experienced memories of previous trips with our kids (and BK "before kids") washing over us. We are definitely slowing down and cannot hike strenuous trails any longer. So many thoughts about the past, the present, and the future are never far away. We experienced so many "pinch me, are we really here?" moments over the past four months and tried to be mindful of how fortunate we have been and not to take any of our good fortune for granted. In many ways, we seem to have come "full circle" linking past travels with the current ones. The future? God willing, we will have more "pinch me" moments ahead of us. And, we have promised to take our middle grandchild on the same adventure we took his older brother on (see my March 2023 post) so, if all goes according to plan, we will find ourselves in New Mexico again next March.
Our timing was good with the weather finally moderating in Houston, both in terms of temperature and precipitation. As always, it felt fantastic to put our arms around our children and grandchildren. Thank
you for reading this blog and "traveling" along with us.
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Brian here. Since Kris is the writer of the blog, I think it is a good time to add my two cents.
I had no idea what to expect on this trip. We’d been thinking and planning it for over five years, but I’ve found out in our past travels that reading what others think or watching videos of places is nothing like experiencing them in person.
We had several setbacks, but the ones on the trip were relatively minor. We just kept plugging along, taking things as they came.
What was the best part? That is like asking, “Which is your favorite child?”. In a nutshell, it was honestly being able to share it with Kris (sappy, but true.). The fact that we have the time, and are healthy enough to take on an experience like this is not taken for granted.
The fact that we are able to change plans ‘on the fly’, and can appreciate the big things AND the little things make our travels that more special.
One of the best things was stopping to see friends along the way. The fact that we are in touch with long-time friends is special.
You may think we are crazy to travel as much as we do, and the way we do it, but it works for us. We’ve seen a lot of America and Canada, and hope to be able to continue our adventures.
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Summary: 18,040 miles over 119 days (our second longest trip - the one in 2015 was longer in
terms of distance and duration)
10 U.S./Canada border crossings (including 2 visits to Hyder, AK and Point Roberts, WA)
7 U.S. national parks and 2 Canadian national parks
8 national monuments plus 5 other national park service sites
visited our 50th state together since 2007
visited two new Canadian territories so we have been to 12 of the 13 provinces/territories
slept in the van 110 nights
countless "pinch me" moments
incredible wildlife sightings
farthest north we have ever been - Arctic Circle
