Road Trip

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.

A Quiet Corner Of The Loudest State

K Falls Morning


 
Started the morning in Klamath Falls and ended the day in Reno. From Klamath to the California border is 25 miles, and from Reno to the border is 20 miles, leaving a little over 200 miles of the quietest part of California to drive through. Most of the “towns” you pass through on this route have just double-digit populations. The largest town on the drive is Susanville, with a population of 12,000, but on the route I took I never went through it.

Change Of Plans

I was supposed to fly from Portland to Las Vegas on Tuesday morning, but with the government shutdown and its effect on air travel, I’m now driving to Las Vegas.

The Flying Pig

Tonight I’m in Klamath Falls at my usual spot, the Shilo Inn, a stone’s throw from my second favorite coffee shop, Brevada Brewhouse. Because it was 1:00pm when I got there, it felt weird to order a mixed smoothie bowl, something I’ve always gotten at breakfast, so I ordered a sandwich instead. I did order my usual medium caramel latte though; those are timeless.

Because tonight is the time change, before I left home I set all the clocks back an hour, so I wouldn’t have to worry about that when I get back.