View from the Road: Mega Trip Part One

I'm going to assume that I can't tell you about this whole trip and show you all the pictures and expect that you will read to the bottom of the page.  Too much happened.  Too much was seen.  Too many miles were driven.  That's right.  Driven.

We started our summer vacation with a road trip.  Our goal was to make it to Glacier National Park and back, seeing family and friends and as many National Parks as we could.  We expected to spend long stretches in the car and long nights in a tent.  All our expectations were met.  So where did we go?  What did we see?

Our first leg of the journey was to get across Texas.  If you have ever made the drive across Texas, by way of I-10, then you know what I'm talking about.  If you haven't, then I think you've managed to avoid a certain type of torture.  Lucky you.

Unfortunately for us, going west means crossing the majority of this fine state.  That's roughly 750 miles.  Gross.  But let's begin...

Our first day had us driving to Big Bend National Park.  If you've never been to Big Bend, you should go.  Just don't go in the summer time.  It's a desert and it's hot.  Seriously hot.

Looking at fossils and trying not to bake in the sun

The park's busy season is between November and April.  Troy and I have visited the park in January and found it to be quite pleasant.  This time was just too hot.  Luckily, there is a campsite in the mountains and the temperature drops by about 20 degrees up there.  So that's where we camped.  We had a cool night with lots of wind and stars, and very few mountain lions and bears (or so I think...).

For our second day, we got a very early start and finished our Texas part of the trip.  Our sights were set on the Saguaro National Park, so we quickly crossed New Mexico and got into Arizona.  Before we got to Tuscon, we made it to the mystical land of these tall cacti.  

But there were many other types of cacti to be seen.  

Ocotillo

Prickly Pear

Cholla

Fishhook 

Here's a close up of the fishhook cactus.  Pretty easy to see how it got its name.

I will probably sound like a broken record, but if you have never been to Saguaro National Park, you should go.  I don't know if the time of year would matter, but it was pretty hot.  Even with the rain threatening, it was still quite warm out.  I wouldn't recommend camping, though.  I'm not too sure if it ever cools down at night.  Also, the majority of camping is back country.  It requires permits and equipment.  But visiting is a definite must.  

Saguaro National Park is like another world.  A strange Sonoran world teeming with life and color.  

We got to watch the sun set.  It was sure beautiful.  

We spent the second night in a hotel.  Troy informed me that we wouldn't be camping here due to the fact that Tuscon doesn't cool down at night.  I couldn't imagine what he was talking about until we pulled into the hotel parking lot at 9 pm and it felt like it was 90 degrees outside and blowing hot, dry air in my face.  We slept fine in a nice cool room, but when we woke up at 5:30 am, it was still in the upper 80's.  After breakfast we pulled out of the parking lot at 9:30 am.  The cheery radio announcer said that it was 96 degrees and expected to get to 113 for the high.  Ummm...  No thanks.  We sure did high tail it out of there and were relieved when we got to Flagstaff.  There we finally felt some cool air and smelled the most fragrant pine trees. 

Our third day had us visiting the Grand Canyon.  

It was incredible.  Our kids were blown away at the sight of it.  It should be pretty high on everyone's list of National Parks to see.  This time around it earned a place on my bucket list, if I can even say that I have a bucket list.  Before xyz I would like to climb to the bottom and back up again.  I would also like to find Brighty down there...

Our third night on the road ended with a spontaneous trip into Navajo Nation, where we spent the night in the Painted Desert.  I was less than thrilled about this, but the kids loved it.  Turns out my kids love camping.  Pitching the tent, sleeping on the air mat, reading with a flashlight, even peeing outside (that should come as no surprise).  And I don't even mind most of those things.  What bothers me is being isolated from other people and possibly being harassed by a mountain lion or a drunken man. But I'm happy to say that we had a peaceful, uneventful night.  

Our "campsite"

I feel like this is a good place to stop for now.  There are many more things to show, but as I scroll through, I realize just how much is on this page.  Until next time!