Arizona to Wisconsin

Wow! It has been more than a month since I last updated. It took us a few weeks to get home, get settled, get internet, etc. 

To recap, we left Arizona as soon as possible. Nate worked a 12 hour shift and I had everything cleaned and packed. We loaded up the car, filled up with gas, and headed north. I drove from Scottsdale to Winslow, AZ that night. We decided to spend the night in the quaint Route 66 town of Winslow. According to TripAdvisor, there were only 12 attractions, the most popular being "Standing on the Corner in Winslow, AZ". We made sure to stop and listen to an Eagles tune or two before we left Arizona behind.

As we headed northeastward, we continued out of Arizona and into New Mexico. We had to stop at the Petrified Forest National Park. We did several small hikes to look at the old petrified trees and were even fortunate to take part in a naturalist program. We were also able to observe the Painted Desert in the distance.

Right before the park entrance, Nate spied a very large bird on a power pole. It was so big that he turned around and pulled over to view it better. Golden Eagle! It stared right back at us and after two minutes it stretched its large wings and with several large motions, it was gone!

We continued into New Mexico, through the Navajo lands and turned north to enter Colorado via Durango. We have stopped in Durango before, but it is such a likable city we had to go back. We walked the main street area and visited a cafe for some warm beverages to sip while we perused the many outdoor gear stores, galleries, and homes posted for sale in the area. We had dinner at an Irish Pub and then continued on Hwy 160 east to Pagosa Springs and Alamosa. It would've been nice to check out Pagosa Springs, however we needed to push on to see some special people in Colorado :)

From Alamosa, east to I-25 we ran into some interesting weather. It was a bit chilly however the day started out sunny. As we crossed over several mountains,the weather grew cloudy and snowing. The trees were dusted with frost, the roads were a bit wet, and the clouds were very low. Here are some neat pictures I was able to capture while Nate was driving. 

There really isn't anything exciting along I-25 except the view of the mountains in the distance. We made it to the Denver area to meet our lunch dates!

After several days visiting family, it was time to push on and head home. We drove north to Fort Collins (too early for a brewery tour). We continued into Wyoming and saw many pronghorn on our way to Devil's Tower National Monument. We made it there just after the visitor closed, lucky for us they don't close the entire park. We hiked around the tower, saw many mule deer running around and prairie dogs poking their heads up from their complex system of tunnels in which they live.

We kept going still to the Black Hills, South Dakota. A night in Deadwood, SD sounded like a great place to end the day. We found Cadillac Jacks Gaming Casino and Resort for the night, since it was offseason we got a great rate! We got a few funny looks walking a dog through the casino to the elevator, but he was welcome. No worries!

The next day we woke in our resort hotel and set out for a tour of the Black Hills. It had been several years since either of us had been here, however our memories were sharp. We took the scenic drive through the Black Hills and stopped at Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park. We were hoping to do several cave tours, however the ranger at Jewel Cave called in so we were limited to one tour at Wind Cave.

Our guide for the tour in Wind Cave was great. He has been working there for many years and was park of several cave discovery excursions. Wind Cave is the 8th National Park to be declared and was signed by Teddy Roosevelt and is the first area to protest a cave. It's name comes from whistling wind coming from a hole in a rock. This led to the cave entrance and is handy when looking for a way out. Whichever way the wind is blowing, it the right way to go! Wind Cave is known for boxwork calite and cave popcorn, see below for pictures.

We ventured through Custer State Park and drove the pigtails highway out of the Black Hills. We observed Mount Rushmore from a distance, but neither of us felt like we needed to visit again. We stopped for a quick bite to eat and then it was on to the Badlands! 

Each time I visit the Badlands, I am in awe of how magnificent they truly area. I have visited three times now, I always wish I had more time to explore but always appreciate what is there. 

We drove from the Badlands straight to Grafton, through the night. I drove as long as I could and then Nate did the same. We rolled into Milwaukee about 7:00am, right in time for morning traffic! We hauled it a little north and slept the rest of the day.

Although our trip back is not as exciting as some of our other road trips, we were happy to see family and get home. We will be in Wisconsin for a few months now, but stayed tuned to my blog. 

We traveled to 27 National Parks and Monuments in 10 states over the course of 7 months. A new adventure awaits every day and I hope to continue to snap more pictures, explore new places, and visit old favorites. Hope to see you soon!

Tour of the National Monuments

Imagine you have two days off and the forecast includes potentially record breaking highs of ~95F and sun...lots and lots of sun with no large body of water nearby.

This is exactly the situation we found ourselves in two weeks ago. We decided the smart thing would be to head north! Once again, with no real plans we headed north on I-17 toward Sedona.

A sign just outside of Camp Verde read "Montezuma's Castle National Monument" so we had to see it. It was a dog friendly national monument with a very short 1/2 mile loop to view the ancient Sinagua dwellings. It was a short stop but well worth it as you can tell from the pictures.

We continued on our way to Sedona. As soon as the car veered off the main highway, the red rocks were visible. The iron oxide from the mineral hematite is commonly found in sedimentary rocks like the sandstone, limestone, and siltstone found in the area.

Sedona is a beautiful place with towering cliffs of red rocks in unique formations every way you look. To me, I feel it could have made a neat national park however people got there first and built it up with small gift shops, ice cream stands, restaurants, and jeep excursions. We stopped at a ranger station in the Coconino National Forest to gather some information on hikes and potential camping sites for that night.

Our first stop was the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It is a beautifully constructed chapel built into the red cliffs. We climbed the 500 ft up the steep winding road to meet the entrance which was all windows overlooking Oak Creek and Sedona. It is a small chapel, 10 pews total with five on one side and five on the other. Pansies and other spring flowers decorated statues of angels near the overlook. It was a popular site for tourists and being Palm Sunday there were a lot of people around. One unexpected happening at the Chapel was a small noisy flight of swallows were continuously going after this thing in the sky. It took several moments before I realized it was a drone... It did not match the reverent and reflective chapel experience. 

We drove through Sedona to the touristy downtown full of people, shops, etc. Nate picked up a new hat at Harley and we were shortly on our way though the Oak Creek Canyon. If I was forced to live in Arizona all my life but given the choice (and unlimited budget) on where to live, it would be on the water in Oak Creek Canyon. My descriptions cannot even begin to paint how truly beautiful it is. Here is a link to more pictures and the scenic drive.

The water is cold and clear, it rushes over riffles and briskly delivers its live giving abilities to all in the canyon. The greens in the canyon are something that I have missed. There is a mix of broadleaf and needle trees, shrubs, and small flowering plants trying to get their spring on. There is even grass in some areas, which is a welcome sight coming from Phoenix. The rocks are towering and unique. The canyon was eroded by Oak Creek along a normal fault ~65-75 million years ago. As you drive through the canyon on 89A, sandstones, limestones, and even some basalt is visible!

On our way to Phoenix, we stopped at Slide Rock State Park but did not stay long due to time constraints, not this time. We found a place to park on the side of the highway and made the trek down to the creek for some wading, sliding, and swimming. As mentioned before, it was a ridiculously hot day and the creek was packed with people sharing in our idea to escape the hot box of Phoenix. 

After cooling down, we attempted to find a camp site. Our efforts were unsuccessful due to the holiday week, warm temperature, and not all campgrounds being open yet. We pushed on to Flagstaff to catch some great beer (again at Lumberyard), revel in the shadows of the San Francisco Peaks, and plan for the next day. 

There are three National Monuments in the Flagstaff area: Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, and Wupatki. There are all within 30 minutes so we started out on our adventures for that day. We began at Walnut Canyon and what I didn't realize was the trails and cliff dwellings all began on the other side of the visitor center. This would normally be no big deal, but I did not have my camera...I took a few on my phone and that will have to do for now. (see facebook and instagram for photos)

The trail down to the cliff dwellings was only about one mile long, however it dropped you down into the canyon 185ft. The trail was had labeled flora and fauna and talked about how people lived in the canyon many years ago. Water is no longer present in the canyon due to drought and water diversion. 

Nate did the trail rather quickly and mountain goat like and I was more apt to take my time reading signs and observing plants I had never seen before. After 185ft down, we had 185ft to go back up...on to explore the next NM.

It was only about a 20 mile drive north of Flagstaff to Sunset Crater. It was a beautiful drive with the San Francisco Peaks to our west. The peaks used to big one giant peak in the form of a stratovolcano, it erupted a long time ago resulting in several peaks. Now they rest snow covered and stunning, visible for hundreds of miles with Mt. Humpreys as the tallest point in Arizona.

Our arrival in the Sunset Crater area easy to estimate given the view, the mountain/crater was visible for miles as well. There are over 300 cinder cones in the area north of Flagstaff. I did not anticipate seeing some much volcanic history here. As we drove into the park we stopped at the visitor center to learn a bit more about the volcanics at the park. We continued on the scenic drive past an aa flow, one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

 

The scenic drive continued through the flows and volcanic areas and headed north to where there were more ancient ruins at Wupatki National Monument. The masonry at this protected location is what makes it so special. Take a look! People were doing this well before we had modern tools, it's just amazing to me to see what people were capable of doing so long ago. It just drives home the fact that we really can do more with less. 

After checking out all Wupatki NM has to offer, we headed back to Scottsdale the scenic way through Jerome and Prescott Valley. We also stopped at Tuzigoot National Monument. It was only about 15 miles off the freeway! When we arrived the temperature had rose drastically again and we were unsure if we would even be able to see the ruins since so many parks and monuments are not dog friendly. We got to hike up there, look at the ruins, and take Kobi! He is becoming quite good at spotting little lizards too.

Although there were some nice storm clouds in the distance, they never made it to us in Phoenix. We were fortunate that our off days landed on hot days so we could venture north. There was about a 15-20F difference in temperature because Flagstaff is so much high in elevation. Headed in either direction the flora changes dramatically from light greenish brown plants and saguaros to a more verdant green with broad leaf trees and an occasional prickly pear etc. It was a nice two day getaway.

Butterfly Wonderland! and McDowell Sonoran Preserve

It doesn't rain often in Phoenix. Even if there are clouds with the possibility of creating precipitation; it either doesn't reach the ground, evaporating well before it gets there or the clouds skip over the Valley altogether. On a Monday, that wasn't the case. It rained and rained and rained. We took the opportunity to enjoy Butterfly Wonderland. 

Butterfly Wonderland is located in North Scottsdale and offers a short 3D movie of the Monarch butterfly migration to Mexico, a very large live butterfly exhibit, a small area featuring the stinging and venomous creatures of Arizona, and lastly a small room with fish and sting rays. 

The 3D movie was quite good and explained the Monarch migration using an analogy of a family and the daughter laying eggs and traveling north until she arrived in the Great Lakes region. The Monarchs that hatch in the Great Lakes Region in August/September are the butterflys that make the arduous migration back to Mexico to winter in the oyamel trees. It was a short 15 minute video and provided the average person with basic knowledge about Monarchs. 

We both really enjoyed the large butterfly room. There was a certain species that kept landing on Nate. The butterflies fly freely in this open greenhouse environment with plenty of opportunities to drink nectar from the flowers, water from the koi pond, and the fruit and sugar bowls set out for them. One man had a few butterflies land on his cheeks and he happily walked around displaying them. You are not allowed to touch the butterflies at all, if you want them off you just simply shake your clothing. There were also a few birds in the area to add some melodies. 

It's not the greatest picture, but you can see the butterfly's probiscus out drinking the nectar from these pink flowers.

The stinging creatures room was interesting and not the place I would ever want to be stuck; bees, scorpions, black widows...

As we exited the museum, it was still raining, however we were just in time for happy hour. We chose a place close to home that we haven't tried yet, Brathaus. It was a nice place to grab a beer (great selection), a Bavarian pretzel with beer cheese sauce, and Belgian frites with dipping sauces! The wings were pretty good too!

After the rain stopped and things began to dry quickly the next day, we were on to another adventure.

We have been exploring all the natural benefits of living in the Greater Phoenix area. Most recently, the McDowell Sonoran Preserve is the latest checked off our bucket list of things to do while in Arizona. We were lucky to have waited until a relatively cool day (think 60s) after a day of rain.

The McDowell Sonoran Preserve is a large area in Scottsdale that is free and offers many trails to hike, bike, and ride horses on. We began at the Bajada Nature Trail. It is a short interpretive loop, handicap accessible and pet friendly. It teaches people about the flora and fauna in the area as well as the geology of the area. The geology marker was interactive with samples of rocks one might find in the area. I learned many things about the desert ecosystem in this .5 mile loop. 

We started hiking on the Gateway Loop Trail and eventually broke off and ended up at Inspiration Point. It even rained on us up there, I guess a little added inspiration :)! We ended up hiking about 7.5 miles here! It was a great workout and the trails were not too difficult. There were a lot of ups and downs instead of a continuous incline, which I prefer. It was also a bit cloudy, which helped ease the intensity of the sun. 

I saw a little lizard and many beautiful wildflowers starting to change a brown/green landscape to a quite colorful with pops of yellows, oranges, pinks, purples, and whites. In the coming weeks the cacti will begin to bloom as well, we saw evidence in many buds forming on prickly pears and ocotillo. 

Yesterday, I saw the prickly pear blossoms for the first time. The only ones with the true magenta flowers were the prickly pears in the median strip of Scottsdale Road. This however, does not detract from their beauty and only serves as an indicator for what we have to look forward to in our last month here. 

Until then...