Today, we move on, from Tijuana River Valley Regional Park to a whole honking half-hour away, to a county park east of San Diego. A week there, then up the California coast. As I leave here, I realize it might be the only place we’ll be on the entire Pacific Coast where we could walk […]
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Pacific Ocean High
After eight months of mostly glorious Southwest desert, we finally landed near San Diego to begin our trek up the Pacific Coast. Not a moment too soon. (And I realize the John Denver song is about an elevated place, whereas the ocean is the namesake for sea level, but let’s go with the other meaning […]
Blogging in Dark Times
As I write this, I’m thinking about the war in Ukraine. Yet, almost two years ago, I wrote about the weirdness of “living on vacation” and writing about it when the rest of the world seems like it’s on fire (George Floyd had just been killed). I’ve blogged about my nomadic life during the worst […]
A New Week, A New Desert
We’re actually still in the Sonoran Desert, but we moved east—from the lovely Ajo, Arizona, toward the city of Tucson, trading a green area for a brown one. But we need city stuff so we bit the bullet. The travel day to get here was another humdinger, too. After hitching up and maneuvering out of […]
Mines, a Desert Cemetery, and One Awesome, Useless Map
We’re having a delightfully quiet week (or longer, if our tanks will last) here in the Sonoran Desert just south of Ajo, Arizona. We’re only about 30 miles from where we were last: Organ Pipe Cactus Nat’l Monument, so the landscape is pretty much the same, but there’s no campground, and thus fewer people around. (We did […]
Saguaros and Sunrises
So, in an earlier post I think I said that saguaros are old enough to start sprouting limbs after about 35 years, but I just heard from a National Park tour that it could take them up to 65 years. How fast they grow and mature depends on the rainfall in the area. We’ve walked […]
Ajo’s Springs, Mountains, Sky
I feel like I did back in Death Valley when I’d go hiking in the morning, become awestruck by the scenery and take tons of photos, then sink back into a coma in the late afternoon shade, unable to describe what I’d seen or even pick shots that vaguely illustrate any of it. Here goes […]
A Green Desert
Finally, I got out for a hike: first real one since I was sick at Imperial Dam. It was only about three miles, but it felt great to be away from the trailer and to see expansive views! Senita Basin This area of Organ Pipe Cactus Monument is named after the Senita Cactus, which grows […]
Bull Pasture and Victoria Mine
On our first two days at Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona, Tracy went hiking in the mornings while I goofed off around the campground, trying to rest. This post is illustrated with his photos and info I found online about the places he went—I wish I’d gone so I could describe it personally. I […]
Jumping Cholla at the Campsite
The Cholla Cactus Tracy told me a story about why the Cholla are called the Jumping Cactus: that little ends of the branches fall off and are blown a bit away from the plant, so you’re more likely to miss seeing the bits as you’re busy avoiding the plant. Bang—you step on them, let them […]
