The journey, not the arrival, matters. T.S. Elliot

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Chapter 5 - day 11 - Sun Valley to Payson, AZ - Desert to Pines

3/11/25 - I'm heading to a couple of destinations today as I travel into Arizona. The initial views of the state, to be completely honest, are not wonderful coming in on I40. It's multiple shades of tan. Everything looks open and flat.



Drove Route 66 through Holbrook to see the Wigwam Hotel and a few other buildings.




Once you get a few miles farther into the state, though, it starts to change. 





We didn't go far, only about 2 hours, but we started in scrubby desert and ended up in gorgeous juniper forests. THIS is why I am spending so much time in each state. I had NO idea that AZ was so varied. That it had these huge ranges of juniper and pine mountains. It's absolutely gorgeous. And it smells so wonderful. I wish I could bottle it. Pine, juniper, sunshine and cedar. 


We stopped at the Shoofly Ruins, if you're into archeology and people of the Americas check out this civilization. Amazing.






Not far from Shoofly is Houston Mesa Campground. That's our home for the night. It is exactly as I expect Arizona State Park camping to be. Clean, well maintained, quiet and wonderful.




Good night, all. Tomorrow night we'll be someplace new, but Thursday and Friday I'll be in a very adorable RV Park in Tucson avoiding rain and crappy weather. More to come on that. 

~Mom

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Chapter 5 - Day 42 - Back to Las Vegas (No photos)

 4/11 - We took our time this morning getting going. No big rush with nothing really happening today other than traveling back to Las Vegas....