Memories Journal #24, #25, #26 & # 27- A desert road trip in 2021

 I have not updated my posts on the Memories Journal I keep for all of my travels, so here I am doing just that...

In the spring of 2021, I took my two older kids on a road trip to Arizona and California. We spent 7 nights traveling down through Nevada, northern Arizona, then south to Tucson, and back up into the lesser traveled parts of California. 

Our first night we spent in Tonopah, Nevada where the infamous Clown Motel is at. I could not convince my oldest to spend the night in this motel unfortunately. On our way south, we stopped in at the Area 51 Alien Travel Center, bought a few trinkets, got some photos of the alien locals and made our way south. Here is the journal entry for that stop-

The second, third and fourth nights we spent in Cottonwood Arizona. This was where we would venture into the Grand Canyon, spend a day in Jerome, and on my bucket list was to visit the vortexes in Sedona. I was able to escape alone to Bell Rock and walked around the area in total peace and bliss. It was April 20th, and the weather was perfect. If I ever get the chance again to hike the area, I will definitely do it. Parking at Cathedral Rock was full, but Bell Rock had plenty as I got there very early.

After we left northern Arizona, we headed south to Tucson. When I lived in Arizona, I never made it down there, and always wished I had. We toured the unique homes in the Catalina Foothills and dreamed of desert living. We visited the Tucson Mineral and Gem World and hauled away a lot of cool stones-plus visited with the T Rex outside the shop. But the real gem I had wanted to see was the Saguaro National Park because the desert was in full bloom! Hummingbirds everywhere, radiant red and yellow flowers blooming on the cactus plants..it was a feast for the eyes. While it's a small park, this was a real treat for me to indulge in, and grateful my kids tolerated an extra couple of days to visit.

Once we left Tucson, it hit me just how far we were from home. So, we headed out early on our last morning in Arizona for the grandest desert of them all-Death Valley National Park. This is an absolutely HUGE park. It took a long time to get into the The Ranch at Death Valley where we would spend a night at. For the cost of the room, I was not impressed with the quality. I do realize a) California is expensive, and b) we were hundreds of miles from anywhere. We did get time at Badwater Basin, which was surreal. The drive took a lot out of us, and we ended up resting more than sightseeing in the park unfortunately. 

The last day we decided to just get home. That was 15 hours of driving! We left early enough to watch the sunrise, and got home close to midnight. In hindsight, I would have left off Death Valley to save for another time and spent more time in northern Arizona. It is truly one of my favorite places to be in all of the U.S.