Back from vacation
Posted: March 24th, 2021, 6:45 pm
I spent the past 2 weeks van-camping in Arizona with my dad and some friends (multiple vans). I loved it out there. Seriously reconsidering the move to Tennessee in favor of southern New Mexico or Arizona. Admittedly, this was when the temperature was 50s-60s rather than 90s, so I'd probably hate it later in the year.
Days 1-3 driving from Ohio to Tucson area.
Days 3-5 camping in the Saguaro National Forest/Sonoran Desert, plus visiting the Saguaro desert museum (desertmuseum.org)
Day 6 driving toward Petrified Forest in northern AZ, camped at Rosevelt Lake
Day 7 Petrified Forest, drive to Meteor Crater
Day 8 Meteor Crater then drive to Williams AZ (Route 66 kitch, "Gateway to the Grand Canyon")
Days 9-11 Grand Canyon
Days 12-13 drive home
Highlights:
The museum -- this place was great. Tons of cactuses and other desert plants/animals to look at. Absolutely worth the $25. We spent about 6 hours there.
The Grand F***ing Canyon! One of those places that pictures cannot do it justice (I will post some pictures though)
Low points:
Meteor Crater. This was just a tourist trap. Everything except the museum portion was closed because of bad weather and/or covid. Roughly 25 minutes of material and $25 to get in. It took us longer to drive there from the interstate than it took us to walk through it and watch all the videos. No hiking into the crater. Don't forget your $35 hat from the gift shop.
The drive. 55 hours not counting the drives between locations. Worth it in the end, but it also sucked.
We were supposed to spend 1-2 days along the Mogollon Rim but there was a snow storm that closed the roads. So we went to Petrified Forest instead.
Absolutely worth it. I enjoyed myself and already looking for another van-camping destination (just closer to home). I'll post some pictures soon. I need to clear off my phone and try to organize them somewhat first.
m-
Days 1-3 driving from Ohio to Tucson area.
Days 3-5 camping in the Saguaro National Forest/Sonoran Desert, plus visiting the Saguaro desert museum (desertmuseum.org)
Day 6 driving toward Petrified Forest in northern AZ, camped at Rosevelt Lake
Day 7 Petrified Forest, drive to Meteor Crater
Day 8 Meteor Crater then drive to Williams AZ (Route 66 kitch, "Gateway to the Grand Canyon")
Days 9-11 Grand Canyon
Days 12-13 drive home
Highlights:
The museum -- this place was great. Tons of cactuses and other desert plants/animals to look at. Absolutely worth the $25. We spent about 6 hours there.
The Grand F***ing Canyon! One of those places that pictures cannot do it justice (I will post some pictures though)
Low points:
Meteor Crater. This was just a tourist trap. Everything except the museum portion was closed because of bad weather and/or covid. Roughly 25 minutes of material and $25 to get in. It took us longer to drive there from the interstate than it took us to walk through it and watch all the videos. No hiking into the crater. Don't forget your $35 hat from the gift shop.
The drive. 55 hours not counting the drives between locations. Worth it in the end, but it also sucked.
We were supposed to spend 1-2 days along the Mogollon Rim but there was a snow storm that closed the roads. So we went to Petrified Forest instead.
Absolutely worth it. I enjoyed myself and already looking for another van-camping destination (just closer to home). I'll post some pictures soon. I need to clear off my phone and try to organize them somewhat first.
m-