Tag: arizona

A Long Time Spent in Arizona

~ Wandering Cindi ~ 5 Comments

The holidays were over, and things quieted down for Aaron, Murphy, and me. Aaron still had a lot to do to get the new field office in Phoenix up and running, so we knew we had a lot more time to spend in the desert. He and I also discussed how much time we planned to spend in Arizona. We came to the conclusion that we will probably spend some time in the area each winter. We also researched the region’s population growth, increasing property values, and future business growth. We decided to start looking for an undeveloped piece of land that we could use to park the Airstream while we are there, and eventually sell as an investment.

We set up house at West Pinal County Campground again and began a property search. We spent several Saturdays and Sundays driving around Pinal and Maricopa counties to find the right property at the right price. Quite a few were inaccessible with our F-250 4×4 truck, so we knew we would not be able to get our camper onto the property.

We found 9 acres in the Sonoran Desert that fit our needs and wants. We started the ball rolling, hoping the seller would accept out offer.

In the meantime, I had another trip to Iowa planned for the end of January to assist my mom with recovery from knee replacement surgery. I was in Iowa for about a month, spending some quality time with my mom, taking my dad to a doctor’s appointment, and spending more quality time with my younger brother, nephew, and sister-in-law. I did not take many photos while I was there. We were busy with physical therapy and recovery. Once Mom was far enough in her recovery to have visitors, both her brothers came to stay with us for a few days. It was wonderful for her, and for me to get some extra time with my uncles. When those three siblings get together, there is always lots of laughter, great stories, and love. Unfortunately, they are not able to get together very often due to living so far apart. I am so grateful I was able to be a part of this.

The Burns Siblings-Cheryl, Darrell, and Steve

Once Mom was on the mend, it was time for me to fly back to Aaron and Murphy. After a cold month in Iowa, it was wonderful to feel the warm sunshine of Arizona. Things had been moving along with the property, and it was time to close the deal.

Once I got back to Arizona, Aaron, Murphy, and I spent a few more days at Pinal, and then it was time to move our rolling home onto our piece of the desert.

Our oldest son, Gage, who lives in Phoenix, went out to the property with Aaron and helped clear a driveway for us to use. Then, it was time to park the trailer and settle in.

As we explored the land, we noticed some fox and rabbit burrows. Of course, Aaron decided to set up a trail camera to see what critters we were sharing the desert with. We got pictures of a fox, a rabbit, and a coyote.

There were also quite a few kangaroo mice around, but we never could catch a good picture of one.

Of course, there were things left behind by others from who knows when. We cleaned some of it up, and will have more to collect and clean when we go back.

A rusty bucket

A party keg

An old Dr. Pepper bottle

We found several rusty old cans, including one that had not been opened. We decided not to open it, keeping its contents a mystery.

I have two favorite things about this property. One is that there is a saguaro cactus there. Native Americans view these as sacred beings, guardian spirits, and ancestors. They are beautiful, and I am honored to have two there.

The other thing I love about the property is all the rocks! Everywhere I walked, there was quartz. There are large and small stones scattered everywhere! We found more than enough to create a fire pit and to use as a border for Aaron’s cactus garden. We also found quite a few pieces of petrified wood scattered around. I started quite the rock collection.

These are a few of my favorite finds.

This is one example of the petrified wood we found. I did spend a lot of time collecting and cleaning rocks. It was fun, and gave me something to do since we were in one place for quite a while.

These are just a few pictures of rocks scattered everywhere. It was tough for me not to pick up everyone I saw. When we did leave, I left a considerable pile of rocks that I will revisit when we return. I hope to have some polishing tools by then, so I can pretty them up even more.

We had one day of rain. Aaron and I were excited! It had been a long, long time since we had seen, heard, or smelled rain! Also, since it rained, we could use our fire pit at least once. The property is covered in creosote bushes, and when it rains, they give off a not-so-pure scent. They have an almost chemical smell when wet. That was a new experience, the not-so-fresh smell of rain. The raindrops made a beautiful sight on our bedroom window during sunset.

I did a lot of sky watching and daydreaming while enjoying the views. Poor Aaron was working while Murphy and I played.

While we were there, Gage had to go out of town for work, so we got to have Lola stay with us for a week. She and Murphy were very excited. Lola had fun wandering around the desert with us.

We spent the last of February and the entire month of March on our small piece of the Sonoran Desert. I honestly think I did not post anything to this blog while we were there because, as much as I enjoyed being there and enjoyed the beauty and the rocks, I felt stagnant. We had been in the Phoenix area for a total of 4 months (3 for me since I spent a month in Iowa), and it was time to wander again. Plus, it was starting to warm up in the desert, and I do not mesh well with desert temps in the spring and summer.

Aaron needed to start heading towards Texas for the next new field office to get set up, so it was time to say goodbye to our Arizona landing pad until sometime this winter. It was moving day again! Watch out, New Mexico, we are headed your way next!

Family Adventures in Phoenix: Memories Made in Arizona

~ Wandering Cindi ~ 2 Comments

Murphy is always ready to hit the road, find a new adventure, and see new things. Sometimes, though, we also revisit places we have been to before. We had a reservation at Tortilla Flats, but we needed a place to stay for a few days before that, so we went back to West Pinal County Park for a few days. This is a conveniently located park to Phoenix and Maricopa, Arizona.

Murphy likes to help whenever Aaron and I are doing work on our computers. He thought he had some good ideas to help with photo editing.

After West Pinal County Park, we made our way to Apache Junction. We had been to Apache Junction once before, in July. At that time, we were able to stay at Lost Dutchman State Park. No campsites were available this time, so we found an available spot at Tortilla Flats, which is located northeast of town off of the Apache Trail.

The Apache Trail was a stagecoach trail that ran through the Superstition Mountain Range. Before it was a stagecoach trail, it was a trail used by the Apache, and before that, it was used by the Anasazi and Hohokam tribes for trade and migration. The road is a windy mountain road that is paved for the first portion, and then turns to a dirt road after Tortilla Flat. There are beautiful views of the rugged desert mountains in every direction.

While we were there, I had to make a quick trip to Iowa to take my dad to a doctor appointment. While there, I had a fantastic visit with my mom, my brother and his family, and as a bonus, my Uncle Darrell came down for a quick visit. I was able to attend a Burns Brunch, where all the many, many cousins (mostly my mom’s generation) gather every month to touch base and keep the family connection. It was really cool to be able to meet family that I had only seen as a small child. Of course, did I take any pictures? Nope…not one…total fail on my part.

The only picture I took was of my brother, Chris. Over the years, he has done so much to help our dad with his health issues and needs. My older brother, Sean, and I wanted to show Chris how much we appreciated him being there when we could not. There is a car museum in Ohio that Chris had stumbled on while driving back from New York that offers people the ability to adopt a car displayed there. Chris thought this was a fantastic way to support the museum, and there was a car there that he had fallen in love with. So, Sean and I decided to gift him the adoption of this car as a small way to show our appreciation. Chris was surprised and over the moon. I was lucky enough to be there when his adoption package arrived.

A man sitting at a table holding a photo of a classic car and an adoption certificate, with a Christmas tree in the background.

Since we could not make it back to Florida for Christmas, we decided that the whole family, including my mom, would spend Christmas in Phoenix. Mom and I flew from Iowa to Phoenix together to start the Christmas holidays. We rented an Airbnb large enough for the whole family to stay together. Well, almost large enough. There were only 4 bedrooms, and since we have three adult children and my mom there, they each got their own room, and Aaron, Murphy, and I stayed in the Airstream, parked in the driveway. It worked out perfectly.

The house came with a heated pool, batting cage, putting green, and a fire pit. We had a blowup Christmas cactus, and a week filled with love, laughter, and the simple joy of being together. Murphy and Lola enjoyed being together again as well.

Mom gave all of us a fantastic gift. She gave us an experience. She booked all of us a desert ATV tour for the day after Christmas. It was so much fun! We had three ATVs, and we each got to drive on some really fun trails.

Aaron and Jenna took one UTV

Mom and Gage took the second one.

Mason and I jumped in the third one.

Mom and I also took a drive up the Apache Trail so she could experience the mountain road. The sights were great, and she and I had a great time exploring.

Sadly, the week had to come to an end, and everyone had to disperse to their homes and jobs. It was a wonderful week full of love and laughs. Our wandering life limits our time with our kids, so every moment we have together is precious and held closely to our hearts.

Aaron and I still needed to be in Phoenix, so we went back to where we started the month, West Pinal County Park to finish the month of December.

A shiny Airstream trailer parked in West Pinal County Park, with mountains in the background and clear blue sky.

Next week will cover our adventures for the month of January.

Lola, Kaibab National Forest, and The Grand Canyon

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We said goodbye to Lost Dutchman State Park and headed closer to Phoenix. Gage was flying out to Florida to spend the week of the 4th of July with our other two kids, Mason and Jenna, and I was going to dog sit Lola and house sit for Gage. Aaron dropped me off, and he headed back to Pinal Park to battle the desert heat with Murphy while enjoyed the air-condition and sweet Lola. She was very excited to see me again so soon. Lola and I had a nice quiet week. Aaron and Murphy enjoyed having the entire campground to themselves, except for the bees. Aaron learned that bees in the desert are highly attracted to water. Every time he ran the AC, the bees would flock to the condensation run-off. He battled them, battled keeping them out of the camper, and trying his best to not harm them at the same time.

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He bought some mesh material (like mosquito netting) and covered the AC unit to keep them from getting inside the camper. This is a screen shot from the video he sent me of them swarming the AC unit trying to get in.

Besides the bees, we had a quiet week. Gage came home, we had a quick visit, and then it was time for us to head north. We had one more stop in Arizona, the Grand Canyon. We found a great spot about five miles from the south rim entrance in the Kaibab National Forest. It was at a nice elevation, the temperatures were cooler, relatively anyway.

We were ;lucky to have the area to ourselves. We could tell that it was used quite often for camping and hunting. Murphy kept jumping at a tree trunk, and I could not figure out why until I looked up. There was the bottom part of an elk’s leg up in the branches. After exploring, we found more elk leg pieces, but no other part of the elk. Our best guess is that hunters dressed the kills, and left the legs. We also found a memorial bird house in one of the trees.

We were hoping to see some deer, elk, and other wild life while we spent the week here, but we only had one wild animal visit us, and it was most unexpected. I took Aaron to Flagstaff so he could catch a flight for an overnight trip to California. As soon as we left, our security cameras went off. There was motion all around the camper. It was a wild horse. We figured it would be gone by the time I got back, but nope, it was waiting for me and Murphy.

She was beautiful. Murphy was not happy about her invading his space, but she seemed not to care about his barking. I got him in the camper, and then took some pictures from the safety of just inside the door. I did not want to go one on one with a wild horse. She hung around the camper for another half an hour before she wandered off.

I picked Aaron up the next day, and we spent a few more quiet days before it was time to head north into Utah. Our route took us directly through the Grand Canyon National Park. Once again our National Park Pass (this year’s pass was the perfect Christmas gift from my mom) paid for itself.

Here are some photos of our stops around the south rim of the Grand Canyon. There was a smokey haze, so the views were partially obstructed. But is was breath taking and majestic regardless.

On the picture above, you can see just a bit of the Colorado River, which is what formed this beautiful place over millions and millions of years.

After a few hours spent admiring this natural wonder, we started into southern Utah. The Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park was our next destination, and hopefully our last desert camp site for a while. I am sure we will be revisiting Arizona in the cooler weather months. So, it is not a good bye to Arizona, but a fond farewell and a promise to return.

Junkyard Brewery and Petrified Forest National Park

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We said goodbye to New Mexico and made our way into Arizona. We found a brewery on Route 66 that we could stay the night, have a beer or 3 and enjoy a simple dinner. It happened to be the same day as a memorial for an old friend of ours who was himself a brewer, and we were able to raise a glass of delicious beer and toast to his good memory with a beer he would approve. We could not be back in Louisiana for the service, but Tom was on our minds and in our hearts.

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The brewery sat in a junkyard, and we parked in the cleared out middle for a restful night, ready to go sightsee the next day.

We got moving early the next morning and headed to Petrified Forest National Park. Route 66 originally ran through the middle of the park, and this old Studebaker marks where it used to cross.

We entered the park from the north entrance, and drove through the entire park to the south entrance (exit for us). The park runs through part of the Painted Desert, ancient dwellings, petroglyphs, and the remains of an ancient forest. It is also one the the most dog friendly, if not the most dog friendly national parks. The entrance ranger made sure we knew that Murphy was welcome on every trail.

The Painted Desert

The colors and textures mesmerized us

Pueblo Village and Archeological Site

As we drove towards the Pueblos, a train passed under us. These ruins contain a pueblo that had over 100 rooms and also gave us our first glimpse of petroglyphs.

Newspaper Rock

This national park has over 650 petroglyphs, most of them on “Newspaper Rock.” There is also a more famous Newspaper Rock in Utah that has been featured on the TV show Ancient Aliens. I’m not sure if this one was featured as well, but I would not be surprised.

Petrified Wood

Petrified wood is wood that has turned to stone. In fact, it is Washington’s state gemstone. I took a picture of the process that was posted in the museum.

The Petrified Forest National Park left me very contemplative about life. To look at a desert and actually realize that at one time, it was a lush forest with rivers and trees, really brought home that our existence as a species is just a blip to the planet. Entire cultures of people have come and gone from this place for over 100,000 years. One day we too will just be remembered by what was left behind, like the petroglyphs and the Pueblo ruins we ponder and study today.