Every year for my birthday it’s my goal to “Treat yo self” by traveling. This year I decided a road trip is what my soul needed and what my bank account could handle. There were a few repeat places on the agenda but the end destination had to be somewhere I had never been before and it had to be big! Like Grand Canyon big!
Day 1
On Sunday September 23, a week before my birthday, I left Austin, Tx and headed for the Grand Canyon. My first night I stayed at Davis Mountains State Park in West Texas. I set up camp and checked out the beautiful, all white Indian Lodge. I drove up to a scenic lookout and sketched some landscapes until the sun started to set. Just as the sun was setting the full moon started to rise. After dark I headed back to my campsite, ate, and stayed up for awhile painting by headlamp. I decided real quick I wouldn’t be doing that again. I DID have my first, but not my last, skunk sighting. both a male and female wondered around my site next to the creek. Finally, I watched the full moon come over the ridge. It was so bright that everything casted a shadow. Day one and I already felt so much joy.
Day 2
I left Davis Mountains State Park and drove about an hour to the Prada installation. Since I’ve never had breakfast at Tiffany’s, I figured breakfast at Prada was the next best thing. Next stop was in New Mexico. Me and NM go way back and every time I visit the state I feel like I’ve been united with a long distance friend. That night I camped at Oliver Lee State Park, just about 45 mins from White Sands at the base of the Sacramento Mountains. I stumbled upon it by chance last time I was in the area. Its beautiful, quaint and super underrated.
After setting up camp, I went to White Sands National Monument just in time for the sun set tour. There was a lot of activities that night and the park had extended hours till 10pm because of the full moon. I had a lot on my mind, just one of the reasons I wanted to take a road trip solo, and they were starting to surface. Fast forward to sunset, I might of had a slight breakdown. Usually, I’m hesitant to share emotional things, but wait it gets better! Instead of doing ALL the things, I listened to my body/mind/gut/whatever you want to call it, and decided that I just needed to call it a night. So as I’m driving down a pitch black road leaving the park, and I see something standing in the road. Like, a big animal. Is that a cow? No, it’s bigger! Are moose a thing in this area? what …? That is a freaking white antelope! I took one quick crappy photo before it turned and leaped into the dunes. I narrated all this to my sister who was on the phone with me. My mood had instantly been turned around. Who cares about all the crap I been dreading to deal with, I just witnessed the coolest thing ever. I later did some research on what exactly I saw that night and it was an Oryx. Originally from the Arabian Peninsula, Oryxes are extinct in the wild but they just so happen to exist in a captive breeding program in southern New Mexico, right near White sands. If you want to get a little deeper and symbolic, an Oryx symbolizes that you’re traveling on right path in life and you’re at the right place at the right time.
Prime example: me seeing an Oryx!
Day 3
I woke up just before the sun to a beautiful sky full of pastel clouds and right in the middle was a glowing full moon. As I headed out of New Mexico I stopped by a look out point over some small lakes that reflected the mountains off in the distance. My next stop was Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona. I hadn’t heard of this park until I started planning my trip and I was shocked when I got there. Southern Arizona used to be a lush temperate landscape but as the earth shifted, it became drier and the deserts started to spread and surround the higher elevated areas. So surrounded by dry deserts are these isolated mountains with very contrasting ecosystems. They’re called Mountain Islands. At the visitors center there was gossip of a band of Coati (look ‘em up, cute as hell!) just off the main trail so I of course went on the hunt but had no luck. I did see a huge buck and some does. Once I set up my camp I drove to a trail head at the top of the mountain and set out of about a 4 mile hike in and around the most crazy looking rock formations. There are SO MANY COOL ROCKS! These rocks were stacked like giant totem poles and seemed like they went on forever. The area has quite a few big cats and bears so mentally I was a little on the paranoid side but every 5 minute I was distracted by another view of cool rocks. I made it back to my car just as the sun was going down and got back to my camp site to find my second skunk of the trip. It was turning in to a theme.
Day 4
I left Chiricahua National Monument and headed to Saguaro National Park. It was nice and hot by the time I got there so I thought I would do a easy hike, but instead they have an 8 mile winding paved road through the Saguaro forest. Fantastic! I could have done the drive easily in 45 minutes to an hour but there were just so many spots to pull over and check things out. I ended up staying for over three hours. The Saguaro Cactus is special because it only grows in the Sonoran Desert. The forrest at Saguaro National Park lost a lot of there Saguaro population after extreme winter freezes. Over the last 100 years generations have been trying to preserve the small Saguaro population that still exists. It was still early afternoon by the time I started towards Catalina State Park which was just North East of Tucson. As I set up camp I realized I was surrounded by the cutest little prairie dogs (sadly, no picture). I had quite some time before sunset and an amazing view of the Santa Catalina Mountains so I spent the evening making phone calls to friends and family and sketching my surroundings.
Day 5
The next day I drove up to Phoenix, AZ to meet my friend, Scott, at Micky D’s Cafe (which is an actual diner and not slang for McDonalds). We set up camp at Lost Dutchman state Park then it only made since to checked out the Lost Dutchman’s Ghost Town down the road. We decided to cool off at Canyon Lake, so we pick up Scott’s dog Stella and spend the rest of the day by the water. Once we got back to the state park we took a little trail up to the base of the Superstition Mountains, which formed from a collapsed volcano millions of years ago. At dusk I follow the cutest, quickest flock of Quails in and around our campsite. Later that night Stella got spooked by a huge tarantula walking under our picnic table. That thing was gnarly. It was a pretty relaxed day just catching up with a old friend.
Day 6
We woke up early so Scott could take me flying around Mesa, AZ. We flew over some of the spots we visited the day before like Canyon Lake and Superstition Mountains. Then we caravanned to Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments, both are ancient dwellings of the Sinagua people. They were pretty short stops but very informative and interesting. We set up camp at Dead House Ranch State Park, strange name but apparently one of the most popular state parks in Arizona. That evening we took a walk through Cottonwood, AZ. I got a hand full of rocks from the most legit rock shops i’ve ever been to then we got dinner at the Colt Grill. Sure enough, another night camping means another skunk sighting. We watched the moon rise then headed to bed.
Day 7
We watched the sun rise from the tent then we decided last minute to check out the Annual Verde River Days event down by the lake. We sat under yellow trees and ate our pancake breakfast (the main reason we decided to go) and enjoyed the morning air. We made a quick lap around the lake then back on the road! We drove through Sedona and straight to a first come first serve camp site, call Pine Flats. It was right off the main road. We found a camp site pushed back against the creek. Once we were all set up for the night we went to Slide Rock State Park and we stumbled upon ANOTHER fall festival. One of my favorite things from this trip was discovering the apple orchard at Slide Rock. We walked through a field filled with Red Delicious apple tree in Oak Creek Canyon surrounded by giant red and white rock formations. It was a magical moment that was a complete surprise. The Orchard at Slide Rock has close to 300 apples trees but there is only one original tree left that was planted in 1912. The reason Slide Rock is named Slide Rock is because going through the red rock canyon is a river that has many spots perfect for sliding on. The water was freezing of course but when you’re in Arizona its a great place to cool off, even in September. We decided to do a short sunset hike just off a scenic overlook. One thing we noticed about Sedona real quick is that there are trails everywhere and there are people everywhere on those trails. Its definitely less solitude but everywhere you look is breathe taking so that explains that. We returned to camp for dinner and not only did we get visited by another, you guessed it, skunk but three of the biggest raccoons I have ever seen were creeping on us real hard from the creek. I had officially been on the road for a week so me and Scott made chocolate cake to celebrate.
Day 8
I woke up to Stella nestling her face in to my pillow and Scott singing my happy birthday. I planned my road trip so my birthday would fall right smack in the middle. As we headed into town my phone blew up with text from my mom and pictures of me as a baby. We went to Starbucks for my free birthday coffee and some wifi so I could reserve some camping spots for the next couple of days. Then we headed out to hike Cathedral Rock. The trail ended between two huge rock formations that windowed a beautiful view on both sides. We sat and talked in the shade and let the breeze cool us off. We noticed the wind was started to really pick up from a storm off in the distance. As we headed back to the trail head my foot slip off a rock, just a little stumble and I caught my self … on a cactus! Good thing I was prepared with my handy dandy first aid kit. After pulling out a couple of huge needles I had to let Scott pull out the rest. It was actually comical, Happy Birthday to me right? We got back to the car and snacked as we watched the storm get closer. It was a chill day full of good talks and being present. Scott drove home to Phoenix and I was on to the next camping spot in Bed Rock City.
Day 9
I got coffee at Fred’s Diner and walked around the Flintstone’s Bedrock City Theme Park complete with a large brontosaurus to slide down after a long day’s work. From there it was about a 30 minute drive into the Grand Canyon National Park. Magically as I got to the pay gate the lady notified me that their system had gone down, meaning I got in to the park for FREE! As I drove in I noticed quite a few cars parked on the side of the road. I’m shaking my head, thinking “how are people just gonna stop like that and not even pull off …” then I realized there were a huge male elk about 15 feet from the road. So I also pulled over and got some photos. I know you’re not supposed to approach wild animals at parks but I made sure to stay a safe distance away. I was wondering if I was going to be lucky enough to see an elk while I was there and sure enough not even 15 minutes in the park I saw the most glorious one. Elk #1. I did not make a reservation at the Grand Canyon because there were no openings but I went by the camp sites just to check and sure enough they had a spot open for one night. Perfect, because that’s all I needed. Note: there was a mom and baby elk just chilling by the parking lot. Elk #2 and #3. I went by the book store and chatted with the lady that was checking me out. Her name was Linda and I was that person taking way too long in line. Me and Linda just clicked and it all started with her applauding my book choice. When I started my trip I got a lot of worried “be safe”s and “you’re going alone?”s which are not real confident boosters. Linda was an older lady and when I told her about my road trip I expected the whole “did you get bear spray yet?” talk, but she was nothing but excited and supportive. I told her my plans for the next week and found we actually had quite a bit in common. I had small talk with plenty of people on my trip but I like to think I made friends with Linda. ANYWHO … I got all set up at camp around lunch time. I stopped by Kolb Studio where they had an exhibition that showcased work from the recent Grand Canyon Celebration of Art. What’s that, you say? It’s a week long event every September where artist from all over come to paint in Plain Air at the Grand Canyon. A new future goal. It was inspiriting to see so many different takes and styles and viewpoints all of the same subject matter. Next I headed out to start Angel Trail. I was bummed that it was over cast all day but once I got hiking I realized it was better than the scorching sun. Only about 1% of visitors go below the rim of the canyon so I made sure I hiked down into the canyon even if it was only a mile. As hiked back to the rim, me and a few other hikers were stopped by a heard of big horn sheep. The males were not about to let us pass them until they ate all the grass. We got to the top right as the sun was setting. I laid down in my tent and listened to elk screeching (please look it up if you don’t know the sound) off in the distance as it started to rain. A Grand Canyon’s lullaby.
Day 10
It had rained most of my night at the Grand Canyon and it was still drizzling as I loaded up camp. As I pulled out of the campgrounds, 2 mama Elks and their 4 baby Elks crossed the road right in front of my car. That is Elk #4 - #9. And down the street grazing right in front of the Lodge was a young male Elk. That is a grand total of 10 Elks seen at the Grand Canyon. And I wondered if I would get to see any. I went by the coffee shop and decided to take one more stroll around the south rim to get some sketches. There were low clouds moving in and out of the canyon. I was so beautiful I hurt to leave. I drove 30 minutes to the east entrance of the park along what I imagined was a beautiful scenic route overlooking the canyon. But I kept driving in and out of fog so thick I could see maybe 15 feet in front of me. Next stop was Waputki National Monument. The rocks and soil were black which contrasted nicely with the freshly watered bushes and grass. Then I headed to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument where I learned that the black hills in the area were cinder dunes created by the Volcano 1,000 years ago. Overall it was a gloomy day, but the low clouds and black volcanic rocks created a uniquely eerie scene. Last stop of the day was the Meteor Crater, the world’s best preserved meteorite impact site that measures 1 mile across. The sun came out of the clouds just in time to set. I watched the sunset and then rolled in to Homolovi State Park for the night. No skunks here but I swear I saw the silhouette of a man walking his extremely fluffy cat on a leash. No lie. And sadly no picture.
Day 11
I took my time packing up and enjoyed the morning air of my last day in Arizona. I made sure to stop by the visitor’s center at Homolovi State Park before leaving. I drove a whole hour out before I realized I had left my camera. Thankfully there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic at the park. So after my two hour detour to retrieve my camera I made it to the Petrified Forest National Park. The whole park is along a single road made for easy pit stops at scenic spots and points of interests. It takes millions of years to form petrified wood. First the wood is covered with sediment keeping it from decomposing, as groundwater flows through the rock, it replaces the organic material with inorganic material that later crystalizes casting a perfect replica of the piece of wood. The trees from this forest had grown tall, fallen and became petrified before the dinosaurs even walked the earth. That’s crazy old! I was a little awe struck knowing all that and then getting to touch and handle something that old. Down the road I hiked a short loop trail at Blue Mesa where I was surrounded by mounds with distinct layers of grayish purple and amber. It was breathtaking to be that immersed in Arizona’s painted desert. That night I camped at Blue Water State Park just across the New Mexico border. A thunder storm rolled in as I set up my tent. One of my all time favorite things is a good thunderstorm and New Mexico has some of the best! I drifted off to sleep as the ground trembling thunder drifted further away.
Day 12
I got up with the sun and thought I would find this blue water that Blue Water State Park was named for. I hiked along the lake until I hit the creek and might have made a wrong turn. I definitely took the long way back to the car but it was still I nice stroll. During road trips, car maintenance is to be expected but a simple oil changed turned into a few other things. Jiffy Lube took up a good bulk of my day before finally making it to Santa Fe. Back story: I love clouds, so much so that I’m apart of the Cloud Appreciate Society, yes that’s a real thing. So I had to stop and watch the sunset. Literally everything was tinted pink and I couldn’t have been more giddy. It was a good end to a not so exciting day. I got to Hyde Memorial State Park after dark and enjoyed the stars surrounding the tall pines.
Day 13
I drove into Santa Fe the next morning and sat at Montezuma Coffee Shop to plan my day. First stop Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, duh. The exhibit briefly covered her entire life and her different phases of work. I saw earlier work from her schooling and some of her lesser known paintings as well as her more iconic images. I loved it all! Next was the New Mexico Museum of Art, where they touched on distinct artist groups that formed in New Mexico over the last century (Taos Society of Artists, Los Cinco Pintores, Transcendental Painting Group, Rio Grande Painters, and the Stieglitz circle). I got a bite to eat then wondered around the Santa Fe Plaza, browsing vendors and some street side performers. A young man was set up with a typewriter to write personalized poems. After looking at the rows and rows of turquoise jewelry and Native American inspired art, I decided a poem would better encapsulate my trip to Santa Fe. I prompted the writer with the theme “solo traveler” and as he read it to me, I started to get all teary eyed. It hangs in my studio now and is hands down one of my favorite souvenirs. I headed back to camp at Hyde State Park again. I had to be up EXTRA early to make it to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque.
Day 14
Even though I left Santa Fe at 4:30am to get to Albuquerque in time for the mass ascent of hot air balloons, I clearly underestimated the amount of people and traffic I would have to deal with. It takes an hour to get from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, but I ended up sitting in traffic for over two hours. The sun started to rise and I gave up getting in the festival and just parked on a side street. I ended up meeting some people also watching the balloons. I found a fellow photographer and his wife who were standing in the back of a guy’s truck. We were all strangers, but we got to know each other as we chatted and watched the different balloons float up and down. Time seemed to fly by. It was already 9:30am and we all needed coffee and to find a bathroom. I went and sat at a coffee shop for lunch and watched as low balloons drifted over the shopping center. One that looked like the New Mexico flag had landed right across the street. The barista explained how you can’t steer a balloon so they just land wherever they can. It’s a tradition for the pilot to bring a bottle of wine to gift incase they land on someone’s private property. After lunch I had a long drive to Oasis State Park. About two hours in I drove under a giant grey dome. I was in the middle of flat lands where the sky is huge but I couldn’t see one spec of blue sky. I ate an early dinner and warmed up by my camping stove. I thought maybe a walk around the pond would warm me up. I could tell it was getting dark, but the overcast was so thick I couldn’t tell which way the sun was setting. It was getting colder and windier so I sat in my tent and read. I couldn’t see the sunset but I could tell it was dusk when the evening birds started to chatter and swoop around.
Day 14
I woke up to rain tapping on my tent. There was nothing left to do but drive home. It was 30 minutes to the Texas Border then another 7.5 hours to get to Austin.
I had spent the last two weeks on the road. I traveled 3,000 miles, visited 9 State Parks, 6 National Monuments, and 2 National Parks.
I saw 5 deer, 3 raccoons, 3 bunnies, a drift of Quail, 2 tarantulas, 1 oryx, 5 skunks, sooo many round tailed ground squirrels, 1 hawk that grabbed a fish right out the lake, 1 heard of big horn sheep, 3 blue birds, several ravens, 8 elk, and the Grand Canyon’s most dangerous creature, the ground squirrel!
The grand total for the trip (including camp sites for two weeks, food, gas, and souvenirs) was $1317. Which was well below my budget. Excellent birthday for sure!
When planning my road trips, I use Roadtriipers.com to create a route and then search for more stops along the way that interest me. I highly recommend Road Trippers especially if you’re a planner. Be sure to check out my route from Austin to the Grand Canyon and from the Grand Canyon to Austin to see more details about each stop, where I camped, and places I had to skip.
Route from Austin, Tx to the G