After our road trip to Dallas to see Jennifer's parents, we did the trip back.through the southern portion of the southern states, crossing theborder patrol checkpoints multiple times because we were close to the Mexican border. We mostly took hwy 40 east, and hwy 20 and 10 going west (both are more south than 40).
Big Bend is nice, but it's way the hell out there by the Rio Grande and Mexican border. Even within texas, it was a 9H drive, and we didn't even start from the northern point. We did a few stops on the way to break the very long drive, and had a 12H day by starting at sunrise:
leaving Dallas
some of these were still running
Our first stops were two old hangars used for training during WWII. Unfortunately the first one, national WASP WWII, had just closed the week we arrived so we had a peak around the area, but no museum:
An hour down the road, was hangar 25, also used for training:
and a few miles down the road was a vietnam memorial:
Then, we resumed the drive, although we found some groundhogs and other things on the way:
jackrabbit roping was a thing
yeah, a 'few' of those on the way
i73*
and then, the remaining of the long drive to big bend:
sunset on the way
Day 01-02: Big Bend
After our first night at Chisos Mountains campground, we got up very early for a long hike:
pre-sunrise
nice moon
hiking up to Emory Peak
great colors
quite hazy
we were parked down there
word!
woodpecker
Boot Canyon was nice with shade, but we didn't get to see any bears
south rim
that was the best animal we saw, no bears
we did a good time, 16.3 miles in 8h, 2.4mph moving average
Next, we drove towards Rio Grande village for our 2nd night, starting with Boquillas Canyon:
we saw a few road runners
mexico, across the river
you used to be able to cross the border but now it's closed, so they brought souvenirs and left them for sale (honor system)
the art was actually pretty good and reasonably priced
we walked into Boquillas Canyon, carved by the rio grande when it had more flow
When then went back to Rio Grande to watch sunset:
nice stars
The next morning, I went to see sunrise colors in around our camp. We then had a look at the visitor center, and drove out via the west to Santa Elena Canyon:
Eventually we got to Santa Elen, which started with a creek crossing:
It was there a nice hike in the canyon, along the Rio Grande, up to where the trail stopped.
It was then time to leave the leave the park via the west exit, which was best reach by 'old maverick road', a dirt road that is a bit faster, but not that much if you drive it the recommended speed. At slightly higher speeds, we got out in 30mn, so it was a good shortcut:
After getting out, we took hwy170 to stay by the river and see a few more attractions while we had daylight. We started with Closed Canyon Trail, which as the name implies didn't quite lead to the Rio Grande like I was hoping:
unfortunately this was the end of the trail for us, it was deep water (deep enough for swimming)
Nearby was Hoodoos and Balanced Rocks Trail, where we did sunset
Day 03: Carlsbad Caverns
After a long 2 days at Big Bend, we drove towards Whites City to go see Carlsbad Caverns the next morning. It was slightly tricky because a timezone difference between New Mexico and Texas when driving a few minutes north and south.
The Caverns were very impressive. We ended up spending around 3H and we were lucky that it was not busy at all. The only downside of the late season was that the bats had moved to a warmer area:
this shows how big the caves are, and the elevator as the quick way out
Day 03b-04: Guadalupe Mountains NP
We then hurried over to Guadalupe Mountains NP to get a camping spot and head over to McKittrick Canyon which closed early (16:30). We had to make a mad rush to the notch at an average of 3.1 miles/h, a record for us. We had a ranger who tried to turn us around before we made it to the top because we were too late, but I begged her and assured her we'd make it out in time, which we barely did with 5mn to spare :)
don't ask, I don't know ;)
beautiful colors
long climb to the notch
We then drove back to our campervan for the night:
water fillup
Early the next morning, we went for the summit hike (guadalupe peak trail) and got on the trail at 08:00:
long way up from the parking lot
On the way down, we went to another trail to Devil's Hall Trail Garden, a very interesting formation:
We then had a look at the visitor center on the way out:
Then it was time to drive towards white sands for a nice hotel and shower
Day 05: White Sands NP
Because of Covid, the visitor store was closed, and we weren't able to get dune sliding disks. Jennifer tried the cooler lid, but it was too big and not smooth. I tried a trashcan lid, but it wasn't rigid enough:
the slope also wasn't steep enough
It was complicated, but we eventually got some disks at big5, and they worked a lot better for Jennifer who was smaller and lighter than me:
we also walked the dunes
I walked closer to the edge to the missile teting range
was this a missile target?
Jennifer had more funs with dunes
Here's a video of how we did:
We ended up being there long enough for sunset:
It was then a long ass drive to Gila Forest, crossing a very curvy mountain pass in the dark with a campervan, not that much fun
Day 06: Gila Cliff Dwellings and Forest
we slept by a lake, 40mn from our destination
there was a hot springs on the way, but it was closed because of covid
try this at home
finally we arrived, it was a long trip
Once there, we went to check out a nearby trail to a natural hotspring:
after crossing the river twice
we finally got to the natural warm pools
Then a long 4H drive back out to Chiricahua NP, our next location
Day 07: Chiricahua NP
We arrived late in the evening and got to our campsite parking location or the night:
We were up early the next morning for a beautiful sunrise on the trail. We ended up doing the full loop plus the an add-on (11.2 miles in just under 5h). Time was of the essence as we had to get to Tucson by 15:45 for our tour there:
jays were not afraid of us
impressive
damn, that's a lot of rocks
this is all the columns are created
It was a bit unfortunate that the time was slightly rushed, but it was a very nice hike. The scenery and rock formations were outstanding. They were only second to bryce canyon...
Day 07-08-09: Tucson, Titan & Pima Air&Space Museum, Saguaro East & West NP
As the 2nd part of day 7, we had to hurry out of Chiricahua to get to South Tucson on time for our timed 16:00 tour of the Titan Missile Museum, which was a don't miss if you are in the areas. See the Tucson Titan Museum page for more details.
After I was done with the museum, I went to join Jennifer at Saguaro East:
woodpecker make those holes for nests
After leaving the park, we went to check out Trail Dust Town, which is probably fun outside of covid, but was pretty deserted and sad when we went:
We then got gourmet thin crust pizza for Jennifer's Birthday:
The next morning, we went towards Saguaro West and the museums on the way. We started with the International Wildlife Museum, which unfortunately opened a bit late (09:00), but was a nice collection:
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum:
Javelinas
Then, we went to the Red Hills Visitor Center and Saguaro West NP:
Day 09-10: Organ Pipe NP
We ended up finishing Saguaro West quicker than we thought, so we headed for Organ Pipe NP to get there before sunset. Organ Pipe NP felt a bit redundant with everything we had already seen, but we figured we were close enough, and not coming back, so we went :)
We got there in time for a beautiful sunset:
I found a little rat/mouse by our campervan, while Jennifer made a nice dinner for us:
We then went to check out the border of Mexico:
smile for the camera
After that, we did the Ajo Mountain Dr:
We then did Arch Canyon Trail, and the unmaintained trail to reach the double arch. That was a huge mistake, it burned a lot of time, and we never really made it to the double arch, although we got so close, but it was getting quite unsafe, so we quit and went back.
Arch Canyon had a walk to the top, but it was not a great idea
nice view from the top, though
we were hoping to get up there, we got very close, but not quite
Next, and last, was Estes Canyon Bull Pasture Trail. It was a nice hike too:
From there, we drove to Phoenix, which was slightly out of the way, but close enough for a stop
After staying in a crappy motel (it was hard to find a better hotel without central air and lobby, but with direct access from the outside parking lot and independent AC units), we went to the excellent botanical garden when it opened the next morning:
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weird growth
They had a nice butterfly garden, it was their last day of opening when we arrived:
monarch butterfly catterpillar
We then wnt to visit the rest of the garden:
It was a very nice botanical garden. After that, we stopped at the Japanese Friendship Garden, which wasn't huge, but a nice oasis in the middle of the city:
a few fish
After those 2 parks, it was time to drive back to California, and spend a bit of time at Joshua NP:
Day 11: California Joshua Tree NP
After Phoenix, we were driving to San Bernandino, and to break the long drive, it was fun to go through Joshua Tree NP. We only had a couple of hours to go through it, which isn't a lot, but we had been before, so it was enough to see it again (including parts we hadn't seen last time):
after a long time on the road, welcome back to CA
Cottonwood Spring, we hadn't seen, and is quite nice
impressive trees
Cholla Cactus Garden was quite nice, and worth visiting again
interesting to see the mesh inside
After the south portion of the NP, we hadn't seen, we connected to the north section, that has lots of nice rock formations and Joshua Trees:
I carried my outfit across multiple states for almost a month, just in case I could end up there :)
After the show, we found a place to park our campervan, and get some sleep before the drive home the next day:
Jennifer heard we could park and sleep by Flying J, but that didn't work so well (they apparently don't allow it anymore)
Day 12: Drive Home
The drive home was uneventful, outside of the onramp of hwy5 being closed by an overturned RV
After escaping LA before traffic could get bad, we stopped at a truck stop to have breakfast and refill our propane before returning the RV:
turns out that thanks to the microwave, we used very little propane, only 10%
after being stuck on the hwy5 onramp for half an hour, we had to drive on the onramp backwards, and continue on hwy99 until the next entrance
hwy5 has canals on its side for a long length
Eventually, we got home, tired, emptied the van, and returned it to end our long trip.
2nd leg of our trip was the longest
this was the full trip
one downside of the Kuga Campervan was its terrible fuel economy, mostly because of a crap american engine
That was a long trip, we got to see a lot, and despite the american truck platform the Kuga campervan was built on, was indeed american crap with a gas guzzling engine, the Kuga build on top, was quite good, we enjoyed it.
