People who have been following my blog the last six months (and longer) know that I have been extremely busy with a personal project that finally came to fruition the end of November. This doesn’t mean the work is finished, as December and January still had me glued to the computer to promote my travel memoir, Plunge. The question is: did we have any fun throughout the focus and dedication towards my book?
(As always, hover over photos or click on them to read captions. My photos are heavily resized, so I can easily upload them and so this page loads with weaker internet connections.)
I have offered glimpses of that in previous posts, expense reports, and writing updates, but I have left a lot out as well. It is my intention to fill in the gaps today. Since my memory is nothing to boast about, I will let the photos do most of the talking. ???? My last sightseeing update documented how we arrived in Arizona, the end of November. You can read about that here.
Mark and I met up with two befriended couples and fellow overlanding nomads, Duwan and Greg (and their van Ballena Blanca) of Make Like An Ape Man and Ellen and Scott (with their tiny Scamper) of Ellen Jacobson Author, for Thanksgiving, my 45th birthday, and my book launch. I wrote a post about that milestone event here and Duwan did a better job with that here. For the next few weeks, we would see our friends on and off.
Mark and I made Tucson our home base for a couple of weeks in total. We enjoy the desert landscape and the town has a lot to offer in terms of scenery and services. There are a few free campsites close by, but we appreciated the driveways of generous friends of friends when it came to “life in the office.”
The highlight of December was our one-week tour of SE Arizona, together with Duwan and Greg. We started at the Titan Missile Museum, where we paid for a guided tour in one of the remaining “nuclear” silos from the Cold War era. Greg did an incredible job explaining this experience and Duwan took great photos, so I will refer you to you their blog post about it here. I strongly recommend reading this one!
We boondocked in the Madera Canyon region for a few nights, where we sat out rainy weather and hiked in the (cold) hills. This is where I finally opened my box of books and held a finished Plunge in my hands for the first time.
A quick visit to Tubac proved incredibly enjoyable. We all liked this tiny town with character and browsed the streets more than once. Greg treated us to a lovely Mexican lunch. This was the first meal out for us in months. Luckily, this area in Arizona took the virus seriously.
On the same day, we tagged onto Duwan and Greg’s national park pass to inspect the grounds of Tumacacori National Historic Park. We were pretty much the only tourists in this old mission and savored the peace and learning about its historical significance.
Our next stop was a bit higher in elevation. We were pretty chilly but still enjoyed a few walks in Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, before checking out Bisbee, a town that had been on our mental list for a long time. We played with the idea of settling there one day. How that introduction turned out was blogged about by me in this post.
In between town visits, we took a break in the natural surroundings of Whitewater Draw, where sandhill cranes migrate certain times of the year. A short walk (dogs on leash) brought us to “crane heaven.” Everywhere we looked, these stately birds were gathered in and along the pond.
The Old West town of Tombstone, famous for the O.K. Corral, was next on our itinerary and our final destination on this “tour.” Armed with margaritas, we strolled through town for a few hours. Why did we need drinks to take in the scene? You find the answer here.
The last week of the year, all six of us gathered again near Ajo in Southwestern Arizona. The desert around Ajo is peaceful and scenic. We found a fantastic free campsite near Locomotive Rock to celebrate Christmas and go for daily hikes. It was pretty much the furthest spot away from the main road that still had a reliable cell phone signal.
One day, we made the long drive down to Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, on the border with Mexico. Mark and I visited this remote yet fascinating place two years ago, without Maya, so I didn’t mind staying behind with her on a dog-friendly path while the others went on a hike further afield.
The frigid nights (yes, it gets down to freezing in the southern Arizona winters) sent us towards lower elevations in SE California. Our bubble of friends rang in the New Year in the Five Palms area, where Mark and I had a nice time a couple of years ago. With Maya, the two of us would return here again the end of January 2021, to “prepare” for our trip to Baja California.
The first month of this year was dedicated to some health concerns and promoting my book. And now we are in Mexico! Stay tuned for the next installment of travel news next week, whenever the internet cooperates. ????
Like me, Duwan and Greg are catching up on blog posts and they just published their version of our one-week tour. Check it out here.
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