From Red Rock to Saguaro Cactus

Snow Canyon State Park, Utah

This is our 6^th or 7^th Utah State park where we have stayed so far.  The locations are beautiful and the sites are usually well separated from each other.  This location was beautiful, but the section of this park where we stayed was pretty tightly bunched, leaving precious little space for Hilda’s slides, but we managed to make it work.   We did do a hike and I had a nice bike ride, but we also spent a lot of time with my parents, and my brother and sister-in-law, who live in the area. 

Santa Clara (Paradise Village Resort), Utah

We parked our trailer in the storage location at this resort and moved into a house for a week.  three of our kids, two spouses and a grandchild join us there.  The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas worked best since three of our family are in the health care/social services profession, making a holiday vacation impossible. We hiked, played card and board games, watched movies, made gingerbread houses, and generally enjoyed each other’s company.  We had a week-late Thanksgiving dinner, and the next morning we had a two-weeks-early Christmas morning, so we could celebrate both holidays with our family during that week. Our friends the Harmons joined us for a couple of days which added to the fun.

Grand Canyon, Arizona

In mid-December we moved back into our trailer and headed out to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  It was pretty cold up there, but we still hiked along the rim and visited some of the shops that were open in the Village.  Being winter and between holidays, not many people were there.

Sedona (Dead Horse Ranch State Park), Arizona

We spent three days near Sedona and enjoyed two hikes in the area.  Sedona is at lower elevation, so the weather was cool but great for hiking.  The setting of Sedona is beautiful, nearly surrounded by striking red mountains. 

Mesa, Arizona (Monte Vista RV Resort)

We spent a few days in Mesa, doing laundry, some shopping and taking a Covid test to ensure we were negative before visiting friends in Show Low.  We did visit the Heard Museum of Native American art and artifacts.  A worthwhile visit if you want to learn more about the Native American experience. The fourth photo below is a 2020 piece of artwork inspired by wearing masks for Covid-19. I would love to wear that mask, except that it is made of leather, so it wouldn’t actually work as a mask.

Show Low, Arizona

We left Hilda (the trailer) in Mesa and drove up to Show Low to spend Christmas with Dave’s friend from high school (Duane) and his wife Beth along with some of their extended family.  It had been years since we had been together, so we talked, ate and played games.  Great fun, and lots of chocolate.

Picacho Peak State Park, Arizona

We returned to Hilda and went south towards Tuscon and spent four nights at Picacho State Park.  We took several hikes in the area, enjoying the desert plants and animals, especially the giant Saguaro Cacti.   All four nights had beautiful desert sky sunsets.  We also visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which was really interesting and enjoyable.  It has indoor and outdoor exhibits showcasing animals and plants of the Sonora Desert.

Next up, further south, then fairly quickly across New Mexico (which is still pretty much closed to outsiders) and into Texas!