Month: November 2025

Cacti Everywhere

1989

2025

We left Cottonwood this morning, which is at around 3500 feet above sea level, and the drive seemed pretty much like it was all downhill to Tucson, but our destination is only at 2400′. We were way early for checking in to the VRBO, so we visited the Saguaro National Park. Where we are staying is close to the east section of the park, so we headed over and did the loop drive.

We are also really close to tomorrow’s destination as well, the Pima Air & Space Museum. Stand by for lots of aircraft photos tomorrow.

Cottonwood, AZ

Thursday’s Monument Valley Sunrise


 
Started the morning in Monument Valley and ended the afternoon in Cottonwood, AZ. In between there were dinosaur tracks outside Tuba City, a brief tour of Flagstaff, and a fabulous drive down AZ-89a through Oak Creek Canyon to the majestic red rocks of Sedona.

The stop in Cottonwood is because this is a possible landing place for me. I am totally settled in in the Portland area, but the winters, while not brutal, are absolutely dreary AF. I can get a similar arrangement here in a 55+ manufactured home community as there, but with the addition of a garage instead of a carport. The home price is more, but the land lease is smaller—not enough to break even, but I get the warmer/hotter weather and the more sunshine I’d like. The town has a vibrant downtown with quirky shops and plenty of good dining. Now if the Sedonuts Donut & Coffee Shop is halfway as good as Stomping Grounds, I’m sold. There’s also a Dunkin’ if that doesn’t work out.

Monument Valley

The View Hotel at Sunrise

This is my fourth visit here, and each time it is a different experience. They have each been slightly different times of the year, but never in the summer when it must be both too hot and crowded, always in the shoulder seasons. And the weather has varied, from hot to mild to this one’s cold and very breezy. I would like to visit again, and Sally is game, but it might not be until 2027.

I took forty-one photos today and promptly deleted a little over half of them. These eight, well nine, if you count the one at the top, are the cream of that crop.

Valley of the Gods

On our way to Monument Valley, we drove about half of the 17-mile loop in the Valley of the Gods. In a few ways this section of Bears Ears National Monument is nicer than Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. There are plenty of red buttes with different shapes (just not the iconic ones), there is no entrance fee to drive it, and there are near zero tourists there.

Seven Sailors Butte

Seven Sailors Butte


 
I don’t know the “official” name of tis one, but I’m naming it “Command Chair” because I can see Capt. John Luc Picard sitting in it.

Captain’s Chair


 
The high clouds in the blue skies are a marvel.

Blue Sky and High Clouds


 
And just looking down, you could convince yourself you are on the surface of Mars.

Surface of Mars

Another Visit To Cortez

80′ Tall Robot in front of Meow Wolf in Santa Fe

This is the third or possibly the fourth time I’ve been in Cortez, CO, as it is on the route that Donna and I would occasionally use to drive to visit Santa Fe Sally. The first ever one didn’t involve Sally at all. It did involve a stop in Santa Fe before she lived there; it happened to be along the route of a giant road trip in 2009 that stretched from Devils Tower, Wyoming, to the Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ.

On this trip, with Sally subbing for Donna, we are overnighting here before heading to visit the iconic Monument Valley. We will be spending two nights on the actual site in a nice hotel right on the grounds. This will be Sally’s first visit and my third. I was here with Donna in 1989 when we road-tripped around the state of Arizona and by myself earlier this year on the start of the 2025 Jumbo Road Trip.

If you ever find yourself in Cortez and hungry, I can’t recommend The Farm Bistro enough.

Today

(Meow) Wolf

Sally and I drove back from Las Vegas on Thursday, and because we had an early start and her friends Kevin & Beth were flying out in the afternoon, we actually beat them back to Santa Fe. Upon our arrival we dumped our suitcases, splashed water on our faces, and headed out to get my ceremonial green chili cheeseburger. This one was at Dr. Field Goods, where I hadn’t had theirs yet, and it is my favorite of the half dozen or so I’ve eaten here in town.

Sally has been shopping around for a new bike to replace the one she currently rides that was purchased in the last century. It still works, but little issues have been cropping up enough that it is annoying. Friday was the big day. We went to a local store she had recommended to her when she was on an organized ride the city Rec Dept put on. We had discussed a couple of options in the seven to eight hundred dollar range, and they seemed pretty heavy, so we asked about the next step up. She landed on a Marin for a couple hundred over a grand.

We then took it on a small shakedown cruise. Sally rode her old bike, and I had the privilege of riding the new bike. The seat was set for me, and we are going to have a quick release put on it so it can easily adjust to Sally’s specs when I head home. But now that I think about it, that really isn’t even fair for her, so I think when we get back from our weeklong foray into Arizona, I’m just going to buy a similar bike to keep here. There will be a week here before heading into Hammond, and there is another week in Santa Fe afterwards before I head home. Plus I’ll be back in January, so go with her to her mom’s 99th birthday so I can use it then too.

Yesterday and today have been pretty quiet; Saturday was a trip to the gym, and today was a couple-mile walk around town. The rest of the time has been yard work for her, and I’ve been doing small indoor chores.