bugsy running on lone rock beach with the airstream and f-150 in the background

Tag: desert

  • Seven nights in Tucson, AZ (visit #4)–Tucson for Christmas trip

    Seven nights in Tucson, AZ (visit #4)–Tucson for Christmas trip

    We visited Tucson in December 2023/January 2024 as part of our Tucson for Christmas trip. Read about our first trip in 2018 here, our second in 2021 here, our third in 2022 here, and our Tucson Favorites here! This post combines a stay of five nights with a separate two-night stopover: we drove two hours south from White Tank Mountain…

    Read More

    //

  • Death Valley National Park

    Death Valley National Park

    We visited Death Valley in December 2023, as part of our Tucson for Christmas trip. Death Valley is HUGE: it’s the largest US national park outside of Alaska, larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. It’s also the hottest, driest, and lowest national park, and the hottest place Earth, once hitting 134°F! (Beware of the heat if…

    Read More

    //

  • Three nights in Palm Springs, CA–Big Trip #4

    Three nights in Palm Springs, CA–Big Trip #4

    We were in Palm Springs in late October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. The main reason we wanted to go to Palm Springs as we headed east from Oceanside on the coast was for its signature Desert Modern architecture–the local spin on mid-century modern, adapted for a sunny, leisurely lifestyle. J also wanted to…

    Read More

    //

  • Two nights at Lost Dutchman State Park, AZ–Winter Warmth trip

    Two nights at Lost Dutchman State Park, AZ–Winter Warmth trip

    We were in Lost Dutchman in February 2021, as part of our Winter Warmth Trip. Lucky us: we left one absurdly beautiful Arizona state park and headed to another. From Catalina State Park just north of Tucson it’s a 1.5-hour drive up to Lost Dutchman State Park, east of Apache Junction, a suburb of Phoenix.…

    Read More

    //

  • Two nights in Catalina State Park, AZ–Winter Warmth trip

    Two nights in Catalina State Park, AZ–Winter Warmth trip

    We were in Catalina in February 2021, as part of our Winter Warmth Trip. Read about our second visit in 2023 here. If you’re anywhere near Tucson, just go to Catalina State Park. Just go! Only about 20 minutes north of Tucson, Catalina is insanely gorgeous, the hikes are (mostly) dog-friendly, and the campground is…

    Read More

    //

  • Four nights in Tucson, AZ (visit #2)–Winter Warmth trip

    Four nights in Tucson, AZ (visit #2)–Winter Warmth trip

    We were in Tucson in early February 2021, as part of our Winter Warmth Trip. Read about our first visit in 2019 here, our third in 2022 here, and our fourth in 2023 here. And I finally wrote a Tucson Favorites post! It’s a long drive from Marfa to Tucson! We don’t normally like to…

    Read More

    //

  • Tarantulas!

    Tarantulas!

    All through my formative years, my aunt and uncle had a pet tarantula. A strange choice of pet, no doubt, but Uncle Jim loves the Desert Southwest more than just about anyone else I know, so I guess it made an odd sort of sense. My first tarantula-cousin was a male named Fred who came…

    Read More

    //