Everyone who travels has their favorite activities, but for Lee and I our all time favorite is a scenic drive. So we decided to give the one neat Tucson a go even though I didn’t know much about it. Turns out the 27 mile trip was amazing. We traveled from the desert floor to the mountains and up through 5 distinct biomes. It was absolutely amazing and every section was better than the last. The beginning didn’t seem very special though although it was through a beautiful section of Sonoran desert.
This road has multiple names and one of the most common is called Sky Island
There were numerous pullouts along the way and some wonderful places to get out and walk the dog. Jack was going crazy sniffing and it was clear there were many animals in the area.
One thing I wanted to mention was we climbed to 8000 feet on the road and as soon as we hit 4000 the Saguaro cacti were just gone. We checked on the way up and back and I only saw two at the higher elevation, but the cacti were replaced by gorgeous rock formations. When I say gorgeous I mean it and the formations really reminded me of Bryce. It was amazing and if you go don’t miss the large rest area half way through the drive where you can get out and walk along the rocks. Really special.
The best rock is a named one called Goose Head Rock, but I thought it looked like a road runner head when I first saw it. Considering where we were I think they should rename it 🙂
After the rock section we headed into a lush pine forest. We got lucky and were able to go into the Ranger station up in the pines and visited a small ski town near the top.
It was a great day and I loved the entire trip. We even got to see a beautiful sunset when we came down. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend taking the drive, just make sure you grab a coat for when you get to the top!
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As I stated in the last post, the Saguaro National Park is a bit unusual because it is actually divided into two sections. The west area was made into a National Monument in 1933 and was changed to a National Park in 1994. The Tuscon Mountain district or West side is actually the older of the two and is smaller with only a 4 mile drive through the park.
For us at least this park was way more congested and part of that might have been there are no mandatory fees, but rather a pay in the visitor center option which frankly folks don’t have to do. The visitors center was ok, but aside from the beautiful viewing area outside, I found the East visitors center more informative.
Once again we started along the drive and we took side trips into the picnic areas so we could walk around. The mountain views were pretty stunning as we drove along and once again great Saguaros.
The biggest difference in the two parks was how not dog friendly this side was. Maybe it was just a weird coincidence, but Jack got zero paw stickers on the East side but we didn’t get out of the visitors center parking lot before he got his first nasty sticker. The entire day was super challenging as everywhere we tried to walk him involved stopping every few feet to remove a nasty throne of some kind. Finally we just left him in the car because he seemed as unhappy about it as we were and consequently it just wasn’t as enjoyable for any of us.
Don’t get me wrong it was still pretty but maybe because it was older, or maybe just the different in location you really had to be careful wherever you stepped. There are many trails we could have tried but almost every area you could stop was full of cars so ultimately we didn’t stay long at many view points.
Since the park is so small make sure you don’t skip the picnic area, because they have some pretty spectacular views. The highlight though was of course the Saguaro’s and below is one of my favorites. If you only have time for one part of the park I would absolutely recommend the East side though, but again that’s just my personal preference.
HUGE barrel cacti some 4 feet longSuper cool right!
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The Saguaro National Park is a bit unusual because it is actually divided into two sections. I was pretty curious as to how this happened and after some research discovered that the west area was made into a National Monument in 1933 and was changed to a National Park in 1994. In 1994 the East section was added to the National Park through generous land donations.
Although you can see both in one day, we chose to visit them on separate days and that is how I will write the posts. We chose to visit the Rincon Mountain portion of the park first (for no better reason than it was closer to where we were staying) which is commonly referred to as the East section.
We decided to take Jack in the hope he could get some exercise and I was pleasantly surprised at how dog friendly this portion of the park is. As always we started with the visitors center and got a hiking map from the rangers. We are not big hikers in general but I always like to see the hikes available. The visitors center was on the small side but had a great gift shop and I really like the display about what the inside of a Saguaro looks like. Plus it’s amazing to see how old the tall ones are.
This park has a nice paved 8 mile road, which doesn’t sound like a lot but we drove slow and stopped along the way so it took us a couple of hours to complete. I also highly recommend going down any side roads you can in these smaller parks because those areas are more dog friendly and give additional opportunities to get out and walk around. Jack was on high alert every time we took a little walk and it was obvious he was smelling lots of critters.
Saguaros are frankly amazing and seeing a forest of them was really impressive, especially when you realize they only exist in the Sonoran desert, The Mexican state of Sonora, the Whipple Mountains, and Imperial County, CA. They are finicky growers and rarely go above 4,000 feet but also need water to grow. They don’t actually get their first arm until around 75 years old and commonly live to be 150. I absolutely love them and my personal favorite are the kids with arms around the middle. Every single one is completely unique though and it’s easy to see that in the National Park. Here are a couple of my favorites I saw.
My absolute favorite part of the whole park though is at the very end of the road. The javelina rocks are a gorgeous rock formation and there is a place to park and walk around. The combination of rocks and cacti is very beautiful to me and I really loved this area.
It was a really beautiful day and Jack didn’t get one sticker in his paw the entire time. And best of all although it was busy, it rarely felt crowded and we really got to commune with nature. Next up the West side.
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While we have been traveling the last 10 years we have largely stayed away from 55+ communities. Part of that is we were only 46 and 48 when we started but it was also that for a long time these weren’t the kind of environments we were looking for. Now at 58 and looking for some kind of winter home base I wanted to at least try it out and through mostly dumb luck I booked us at Voyager Tuscon for 42 days.
We needed a long stay because Lee had a 10 day trip to Columbus scheduled and then we were both going to Hilton Head to meet my oldest daughter and my grandson. I also wanted someplace safe with things to do while Lee was gone and boy does this park fit that bill. First though we had to get there so we pulled in and were escorted to our site on Saturday.
The shorter terms sites I really like because they are long and narrow but staggered. What I mean by that is the RVs are at opposite ends so when I sit at my desk I look over the neighbors car and directly at the mountain. Beautiful view.
Better still I was handed a book of possible activities (and I do mean a book) upon entry and I was excited about the possibility of all the things to do. First though Lee and I had to get set up and then drive north up to Marana to meet Steve, Diana, Ruth, and Dale. Ruth and Dale settled in Tucson last year and I was excited about picking her brain about the area, but it also turned out Steve and Diana were passing through and this was their last night. We hadn’t seen them in person since 2015 so drove up and had a fantastic rib dinner. It was really great catching up.
From Left: Diana, Dale, Ruth, Lee, Me, and Steve
They were fellow RV-Dreamers (although in a different class) and it was nice reconnecting in person. As folks move from full-time to part time travelers it is interesting to hear their transition stories. Since this is what I would like to do I took good mental notes and of course just enjoyed catching up with them! We will be seeing Ruth and Dale more later I am sure.
We spent the next few days getting settled and then Lee left for Columbus. This left me 10 whole days to explore the park and it is large enough that it took me that long to get acclimated. First off Voyager is an Encore park which means it is affiliated with the Thousand Trails system but it has also merged with a senior housing community called Cove Bay. This means there are multiple types of living in this community but they all have access to similar services.
You can sign up for Thousand Trails herePart of my interest in a winter home if the ability to establish residency with a physical addressI went into the Sales office get information
I am going to do my best to explain the options but to be clear I am by no means an expert. There are a few basic categories though:
Pay monthly ($1,089 a month, daily $39) just like any other RV park (electric is extra)
Thousand Trails membership – This is an annual fee and you can stay for free for X amount of days and then extend for a reduced rate. You do have to leave the park after so much time but you can then move to another Thousand trails park.
Seasonal rent for 3-6 months (Three tiers of sites based on size) runs from $2868 – $6,144). Signing up for this guarantees your site and lock in your costs (electric is extra). Most of these sites are not the long staggered ones but standard side by side double stacked
Annual rent is for the entire year and is either $8244 – $8352. With annual rent you can put sheds or RV covers on your sites and again gives you a permanent spot.
Park Models – There are numerous park models for sale in the village which ranged from $32,500 – $68,900 while I was there. Along with buying the park model you have to pay the annual rent which is the same as above.
Finally the Cove has small houses and the monthly HOA fees for these homes are I believe $960. Those homes are in the $250+ range.
So what do you get for all of that. Quite a lot actually. There is a golf course, three pools, a work out facility, onsite restaurant, onsite hair salon, woodshop, ceramics studio, silversmith shop, billiards rooms, softball fields, pickleball courts, tennis courts, several dog parks, library, and a huge ballroom. There is more but you get the gist.
Got my haircut for $25 and they did a nice jobCeramics studio
There are also multiple activity rooms and a huge list (well over 150) of activities that are either free or near free for the residents and visitors. This includes card games almost every night along with Mexican train, scrabble, and other board games. The activities office is really nice and they have special events like Christmas lunch, dances, and a variety of classes. Truly you rarely have to leave if you don’t want to. My favorites so far are playing Euchre on Friday night and the monthly market which has both inside and outside sellers.
The monthly market was greatSo many activitiesNice reasonably priced restaurant
On negative for me at least is most of the craft related activities happen in the daytime during the week. Since I am still working every day I can’t participate in most of those (including ceramics) which was a real bummer. I will also say that those craft rooms are tightly controlled by one or two people. There are rules and fees and if you want to play with the toys you need to adhere to them.
The same is true of the community in general. Folks were welcoming but you have to play by their rules including how every card game is played. Didn’t really bother me much once I learned what the rules were but that sort of thing drives Lee crazy. I was really thinking some place like this might work for me because I really like how the community looks after each other, but the thick book of rules that residents have to follow made me see quickly that this kind of structure would make Lee miserable. Here are some of my favorite examples:
RV awning must be attached with a “J” hanger…ICBO-approved aluminum pans …at least .018 gauge..
Only one bird feeder and one hummingbird feeder are allowed per space (this is a deal breaker)
Children can only visit for 14 days per year
Flags…only prior written approval of any proposed flagpole and the flag itself
Residents shall submit a detailed written request and gain approval for ANY landscape installation …
And look I get it. There are reasons for all these rules and I am sure at some point someone was an idiot which caused the rule to be added. That being said Lee simply does not want to live in a place long term with these restrictions. If it was just me I would probably be fine. I tend to be a rule follower by nature but that’s not Lee’s temperament. All that being said I am glad we are staying here while we look at land in the area and also I wouldn’t mind coming back next year for a bit if we haven’t found anything. Like I said I really like how people look out for each other here and there is definitely a strong sense of community which I appreciate.
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After the Mojave we were going to go to Burro Creek campground but for a variety of reasons we decided instead to stop in Kingman, AZ. Kingman is one of the major remaining towns on old Route 66 and has a terrific museum. After doing some research we ultimately decided to stay at the local KOA which was expensive but very clean and safe. Traffic getting in on Wednesday was absolutely nuts with a ton of semi trucks on I-40. We hadn’t seen that amount of traffic in weeks and were happy to make it to our campground.
Since we weren’t due in Tucson until Saturday morning we decided to explore the area, which I love but unfortunately almost everything was closed because of Thanksgiving. We stayed an extra day assuming things would open back up on Friday but every single place stayed closed. Still we had a lot to do including looking at several plots of land in the area. We are definitely getting serious about finding a home base and I wanted to explore the area.
Turns out Kingman is a really nice town with reasonable costs and cooler temperatures. It was awesome paying less than $3 for gas and visits to the local restaurants and pharmacy showed us that the people were really nice. We even met a woman from Ohio who had lived in town since the 70’s and absolutely loved it. Although Kingman itself doesn’t have all the retail stores, it is reasonably close to Laughlin, NV which does. Maybe that’s why everything was closed on Friday…people went shopping!
Lots of breweries in town
Even though the visitors center was closed they had a wonderful pull through Route 66 attraction we could do and a gorgeous park with a restored Sante Fe train. Loved it and definitely going back for the museum.
BIG wheelsI misread this sign at the visitors center duhLoved this pic of Lee and we didn’t have to fight crowds to take it
I wasn’t sure what to do about Thanksgiving lunch so we ended up going to Cracker Barrel. Turns out this is the busiest day of the year for the franchise and to support the volume they have a limited menu. Unfortunately they didn’t have ham which I wanted but the service was great and I very much appreciated that they were open and providing dinner to folks who needed a place to go. One of the local diners even had a free dinner, but we chose to not take food away from the people who might need it. After lunch we went out and looked at land and stumbled across a couple of very old Route 66 businesses. One of them was even open and had a ton of souvenirs to pick from. The mannequin in the women’ restroom was weird though.
Signed dollar bills were hanging all over the wallsJust a strange thing to have in a bathroomLoved this statueLee took this pic lolHerbie the love bug!!!!
So what do I think of Kingman. It’s a really nice town with affordable unrestricted land. Every person we met was very nice and genuinely seemed interested in making sure we got good service. What a far cry from LA!! On the downside it is a little colder in winter and farther away from stores like Costco and an airport. Still definitely putting it in the maybe column. Next up Tucson!!
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You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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Several years ago we drove through the Mohave National Preserve and Lee has always wanted to stay there. But since cell coverage is less than minimal we haven’t had the opportunity until I took the week of Thanksgiving off. It’s been years since we boondocked in such a remote spot so Lee did his research in advance finding three different GPS coordinates where we could possibly stay. Unfortunately the first of the three sites was blocked off, and another was already full of vehicles so we kept traveling until we hit the third spot past the Kelso Dunes.
I’ll be honest it’s still scary for us driving the fifth wheel on dirt roads when we don’t know where we are going. The second car helps with that because we can park the trailer and drive it or I can drive ahead, but without cell coverage you don’t really know if you could end up in a situation where you can’t turn around. Plus it was at the end of a very long travel day and we were losing the light so I was ecstatic when I found huge site with a campfire ring exactly where it should be.
Dunes Hiking trail had cars the whole time we were thereThe road to the dunes and our boondocking spotAwesome Boondocking Spot
We knew that this was a prime spot and someone else could come in so we intentionally parked facing out, and unfortunately the second night a small travel trailer pulled in late. Then a third one came in and since this is public land not much we could do about that. It is a little disconcerting though to wake up and see someone new in the site and although they all seemed fine I will say that we discovered our trailer license plate was missing after we left the area. Not sure if it fell off or someone took it but that is going to be a pain to replace.
That being said we spent our daylight hours exploring the preserve and it is a big one! Make sure you tank up on fuel because the distances are really far and gas in the area is super expensive. We had to pay $8 a gallon at one point! Because it was off season a lot of the places were closed but we drove all the major roads and enjoyed the differing views. One of the things I found the most interesting was that different sections are different kinds of desert. There is a large group of Joshua Trees to the north and even a section of Saguros in another area. I never see those two together so I looked it up but I couldn’t find out why. If anyone knows please put it in the comments.
This map doesn’t really communicate the scope but think about the top of the park being along I-15 and the bottom being along I-40. That’s a BIG area!!See I was telling the truth. Crazy.
While we were inside we saw the Amboy Crater National Natural Landmark
We thought this fell down at first but it was designed that way for maximum sun protection
The Kelso Depot (an old train station) which was unfortunately closed for renovation
And the Hole in the Wall campground which was beautiful and had an open ranger station! This would be a really great campground to stay in especially for star gazing but keep in mind generator hours end at 7pm.
My favorite spot in the preserve though was a World War I Memorial which was in a gorgeous piece of desert. Totally worth the drive as this are was really special.
In addition to the preserve we traveled to the outer edge where it borders old Route 66. Although a major portion of the road was closed because a bridge was out we did get to explore some of it. One of the coolest things was Amboy where the historic Roy’s is in the process of being renovated. It is an iconic Route 66 place and Lee absolutely loved it. Albert Okura (owner of Juan Pablo restaurant chain) actually bought Amboy for $480M dollars and paid $100K to restore Roy’s. As a side note there is a large buddha statue by the side of the road in the desert. Really interesting.
The “town” of hardly any people still have a working post officeI left something for luck!
Other small towns included Ludlow and Baker. Since they are on the major freeways they have some services and they all have a mining history.
One of the strangest things though was a huge Alien themed jerky store. This is on I-15 on the way to Vegas so they must get enough traffic to support the cost. Cool place I love this kind of stuff.
Crazy right. It was two buildings and they both were huge.
Oh and we also saw the world’s tallest thermometer. Seriously it doesn’t get better than that.
All in all it is a really interesting area, but you definitely need time to explore it all. I will say though this is not a place to just wing it because the distances are great and the terrain is unforgiving. Definitely come prepared!
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You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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Over the years we have known many people who were forced to evacuate an area and although we came close a couple of times when we were working at Timothy Lake we have always been lucky. Although a home on wheels can be a good thing during an evacuation it also takes time to pack everything up so when we got a knock on the door at 4am from the Sheriff telling us to evacuate our RV site in Lone Pine Lee sprang into action. I truly can’t say enough about how great my husband is in a crisis as he VERY gently woke me up and then packed everything up as quickly as he could. We were planning on leaving Saturday morning anyway but our pre prep was practically non existent and after three weeks at the park we were pretty spread out.
In particular it was tough to hitch the truck in the pitch black, but I held a flashlight for Lee and he made the connection. The park had numerous people in it for the weekend, but we were close to the last to leave and as we pulled out we could see the fire across the street and tons of emergency vehicles.
Yes the evacuation was for fire and although it was high in the hills of the Inyo Forest it was very windy that evening and the crews were concerned it might jump the highway. I learned later that folks who lived on that side of the highway were evacuated from their homes and I can’t say enough about the crews who worked the fire and highway safety. Initially we weren’t sure where to go, but they sent us to an empty parking lot in the local sports complex and we all lined up and waited to see what would happen.
At that point we looked for alternative ways out of the area, but learned that four tractor trailers were flipped over (due to high winds) on South 395 and that road was closed. We explored going north, but would be dealing with snow and it would add hours to our journey, so we decided to try and go across Death Valley despite our concerns about the steep grades on the road. That was not to be however because when we drove down to the road they had it blocked off and we were told we were too big and they would not let us through.
At this point we were stuck but thankfully we had solar power and water so we settled in to wait it out. No one ever came to tell us the roads were clear but around 8am we decided to drive down and saw the fires were better and the highway was open. We even got to see a helicopter with a water bucket making flights to the sight and saw a rainbow which led me to believe it maybe had rained in the mountains which might have helped some.
Thankfully it was still early enough that we could reach our next destination while the sun was up but it made for a long and stressful day. We were lucky though because no one was hurt and there was no damage to our home. It’s important to note that evacuations for flood, fire, tornado, or mudslides do happen and you should have an evacuation plan mentally prepared. Personally I grabbed our key documents, hard drives, and my work computer and put them in the car in case we had to leave the RV behind. Not sure how I had the presence of mind to do that, but I did and I believe it was because I had “gamed out” and evacuation in advance.
Finally for those of you who have been evacuated I would encourage you to tell that story in comments. I think it’s important that people have as much information as possible when putting together their plan.
We very much appreciate your support of our blog.
You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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After visiting Bodie, we stopped at another Deb recommendation on our way south and saw Mono Lake. This lake is visible from the highway but you can’t see the incredibly cool rock formations from there. Thankfully Deb had sent me a picture so I knew we had to find it which was tougher than I thought it would be as the visitors center was closed.
There are several entrances (some by foot and others by car) but it just wasn’t clear which way to go. Finally we looked at the big map outside the visitors center and with a little bit of luck we found the entrance. The parking lot has a day use fee but with our National Parks pass it was free to us. There was a fantastic wooden boardwalk that was Jack friendly and we started walking down towards the lake. The closer we got we saw signs showing where the lake was in certain years and started seeing the rock formations.
There were lots of signs along the way explaining what we were seeing which was great because personally I have never seen anything like this before. Basically the lake is over 1 million years old with no outlet and has high levels of salinity. There are brine shrimp in this lake and it is an important migration stop for many birds. As the lake receded the Tufa towers (calcium carbonate spires) were exposed which is a beautiful and eerie landscape. It is one of those places where pictures can’t really capture but I tried my best.
It was absolutely beautiful and we walked the whole trail which Jack really enjoyed. He kept trying to drink the lake water though which we weren’t sure if that was a good thing. There were also tons of ground squirrels in the bushes and we even saw some wild horses near the edges. He had a great time and we did as well because it was a truly awe inspiring place.
Our great explorer
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If you are lucky enough to have a friend like Deb it always pays to take her recommendations on places to see when you are in an area. Seriously, she has told us about the coolest places, and whenever I “cheat off her paper” I always have a a great time. She recommended Bodie since it is an extremely well preserved ghost town and even though it was a bit of a hike Lee and I got up early and drove North!
As we traveled further north and the elevation climbed we started to see more snow. We also got to see a grizzly bear gaurding the restroom door at a gas station which was a first for me.
Made me pause for a second!
Finally we made it to the road leading to Bodie State Historic park. The road was dirt and had some snow on it, but we did fine as we climbed to over 8,000 feet, The views were absolutely gorgeous along the way and it really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. Which we kind of were.
As the town finally comes into view I was struck by how large it was. The town was a real gold mining town and at one point had 2,000 buildings and over 8,000 people. The elements were no joke up here though and many people died from exposure or starvation suring the bad winters. In 1881 the mines dried up leading to a mass exodus and two fires in 1892 and 1932 destoyed 90% of the buildings. The 10% that is left though was pretty cool and although we couldn’t walk into any of the buildings the park staff were clearly living in several of them.
It is one of those places that you can’t take a bad picture and despite the snow on the ground (which Jack loved rolling in) once we were out of the wind it wasn’t really that cold. It was really fun walking around and looking at the old buildings and I have added a few black and whites to show you what I thought it should really look like. It was a step back in time for sure.
The church was gorgeous
Although you couldn’t walk into the buildings (which Lee was pretty bummed about) you could peek in and see some and they had lots of artifacts from the original buildings. The schoolhouse in particular was pretty cool. Lee also was fascinated by the sawmill and had me take lots of closeup pictures of all the machinery that was still in place. Personally I liked the bank which still had the old safe in it.
Our friend Deb who has seen more ghost towns than anyone I know says it is the most intact she has ever seen, and I will say it is definitely worth the drive.
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Our next stop was actually really close, and we were excited to see the Alabama hills. There is a “Movie Road” that goes through the hills and we had the coordinates and directions for several areas where famous scenes from various kmovies and TV shows had been shot. Although it is really close to where we are staying, the bridge was being worked on and the road was closed at one end so we had to take the long way around. Actually I am super glad we took this way because there were some gorgeous views along the way. We hit the leaves right at peak and stopped several times to take pictures.
When we got into the area proper we were really blown away. From US 395 all you can see is huge piles of dirt, but when you get behind that pile the rock formations are incredible. It reminded me of a much larger version of City of Rocks in Deming, NM and we could have spent days exploring here. Jack loved it too as we wandered about and explored the area.
As you can see from this view it looks like big piles of dirt but the inside was extraordinary.
Most of the roads are absolutely fine for a standard vehicle and we saw lots of folks dry camping amongst the rocks. There were even a group of rock climbers we watched for awhile, there is obviously plenty to do in this area. We also tracked down all of the movie spots we could find. That was pretty fun as well.
Lee doing some geocachingCampingLee thought this looked like a mother and her children
My absolute favorite part though was a large rock hut with a opening for a window and a chimney. It was super cool and we took tons of pictures there. Reminded me of a hobbit house.
We had so much fun we didn’t want to stop so we took Jack home for a nap and then Lee and I drove up to Mt. Whitney portal. I had no idea how close this was and as we climbed to over 9,000 feet the terrain totally changed. We had our first snow in awhile (car anti lock brakes and traction control did great) and when we got to the end of the road we saw some gorgeous campgrounds near a trail to the top of Mt. Whitney. Beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful and at the end we heard rushing water. An absolutely gorgeous waterfall was right there for us to see and capped off a perfect day. Seriously any day you can explore so many new sights, sounds, and smells is a great day for us!
We very much appreciate your support of our blog.
You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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Camper Chronicles 