On this last scampabout I saw four Arizona national parks – the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, Chiricahua (I’ll write about that one soon – it’s gorgeous), and Ft. Bowie. I’m sorry to tell you that Ft. Bowie is not, in fact, a monument to David Bowie, but is actually where the Chiricahua Apaches fought the U.S. military in the late 1800s and were (surprise!) defeated.
Category Archives: Travel
The Devil Makes Me Talk Like This
Turns out the Devil Road – Old Route 666 – is indeed evil. If by evil you mean brake murder and hairpin terror. It started out sweet enough. I dropped down off the 40 in Arizona and headed south on what’s now 191 toward the White Mountains. It’s a ribbon of two-lane through rolling hills and vistas, a fun and easy drive for Sadie and […]
How National Parks and Disneyland Are the Same
Have you been to It’s a Small World at Disneyland? National parks are just like that to me, without the chlorine smell and relentlessly cheerful songs. Which, let’s be honest, are two things the world needs a lot less of. Like Disneyland, with National Parks you pay your entry fee, get your map, and wander around looking at beautiful or interesting sights along the way. […]
Tagged Arizona, National Parks
The Painted Desert: Fantasy and Fact
The Painted Desert in Arizona is 150 square miles of badlands. That sounds so rock and roll, doesn’t it? Like Keith Richards might appear, offer you a shot of expensive scotch and something illegal, then grab your hand and drag you out for an ill-advised midnight hike through the desert, where he’d bust out his guitar and serenade you with all those Stones songs they […]
Tagged Arizona, Music, National Parks
Heading Toward the Devil Road
This is my first free-form Scampabout. No campsite reservations, no set schedule. Hell, I’ve barely even checked to see if there’s gas in the car. Before I left I knew I’d head to Arizona, for warmth and more of that desert gorgeousness I can’t get enough of. Other than that, no idea. But when I looked at a map and saw Old Route 666 snaking […]
Tagged New Mexico, Safety, Truck stops
When It’s Okay to Lie
When I left San Diego, Bonnie and Roger suggested I stay at La Posada in Winslow, AZ because it’s a beautiful hotel, and a little more than halfway to Taos.
Tagged Arizona, Hotels, Restaurants, Route 66
Tripping Down Memory Lane
I spent junior high and high school in Point Loma, an upper-middle-class suburb of San Diego that sits between Shelter Island and Ocean Beach. Some of my friends’ parents had sailboats, and most of my friends got cars for their 16th birthdays. (I didn’t, and to this day I’m glad because I surely would have been arrested for drunk driving or worse.)
Tagged California, History, Hotels
Walking with the Dead Near the Mexican Border
Tumacácori National Historical Park is south of Tucson and just north of the Mexican border. Like the Mission San Xavier del Bac, Father Kino founded this mission, too, one of more than 20 in the region:
Tagged Arizona, Cemeteries, Missions, National Parks
Face it, the Holidays Are About Decadence
‘Tis the season for shopping, drinking, and eating, and here are some of my favorites for all three in Tucson. (Anna, my dear friend and Tucson local, was my tour guide.)
Tagged Arizona, Bars, Restaurants, Shopping
An Uneventful Afternoon. Almost.
The same day I went to Saguaro National Park I visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, so it was some great sightseeing. You know, as long as you ignore the cactus-lust and killer-bee sting. (That plus the jumping cholla incident suggest a new state motto. “Arizona: Land of the poky, stingy, and stabby.”)