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

Tag: national monuments

  • Two nights in Bisbee, AZ–Winter Warmth trip

    Two nights in Bisbee, AZ–Winter Warmth trip

    We were in Bisbee in February 2021, as part of our Winter Warmth Trip. From Lost Dutchman up near Phoenix, we swung south again almost to Mexico for the last stop on our delightful little tour of Arizona. Bisbee is a small hamlet built into a hillside south of Tucson, full of art galleries, copper…

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  • One night in Valley of the Gods, UT (visit #2)–Big Trip #3

    One night in Valley of the Gods, UT (visit #2)–Big Trip #3

    We stayed in Valley of the Gods in October 2020, during Big Trip #3. Read here about our first visit in 2016, during Big Trip #1. I spilled the beans about a super boondocking spot in my last post, so might as well keep rolling with the theme and tell you about another one. Valley…

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  • Two days in Escalante, UT (visit #3)–Big Trip #3

    Two days in Escalante, UT (visit #3)–Big Trip #3

    We visited Escalante in October 2020, as part of Big Trip #3. Read about our first visit in 2016 here, and our second visit in 2018 here. Northern Utah is great, but southern Utah is really special. There’s something about those red/orange/white/swirly deserts that keeps us coming back. This was our third visit to Escalante; read…

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  • Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

    Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

    We visited Organ Pipe in November 2018, during Big Trip #2. This magical land of desert delights is an International Biosphere Reserve, home to virtually all the organ pipe cacti in the US. The organ pipe cactus, with is cluster of upright stems growing from a single low trunk, is named for its resemblance to…

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  • Four days in Flagstaff, AZ (visit #2)

    Four days in Flagstaff, AZ (visit #2)

    We visited Flagstaff in late November 2018, as part of Big Trip #2. Read about our first visit in 2016 here during Big Trip #1, and our third in 2023 here during our Tucson for Christmas trip. Flagstaff was one of our favorite cities on Big Trip #1, and we were excited to return for…

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  • One night in Monticello, Utah–Big Trip #2

    One night in Monticello, Utah–Big Trip #2

    We visited Monticello in November 2018 as part of Big Trip #2.  This wasn’t a well-planned stop. Our intention was to spend two nights in Monticello and have easy access to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park… but it’s still an hour drive to the Needles Visitor Center from Monticello, and a whopping two hours to…

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  • Three days in Kanab, UT–Big Trip #2

    Three days in Kanab, UT–Big Trip #2

    We visited Kanab in November 2018 as part of Big Trip #2. Kanab is perfectly positioned as a base for exploring the southern part of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a magical place under threat from the current administration. GSENM was our favorite area on our first Big Trip and we were thrilled to spend some…

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  • Two days in Custer, SD–Big Trip #1

    Two days in Custer, SD–Big Trip #1

    We visited Custer in May 2016 during Big Trip #1. Custer is a cute little Western town with a few restaurants, a couple bars, and even a coffeeshop with wifi. It’s the closest town to Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore. We were sort of expecting Mount Rushmore to be a check-the-box kind of visit,…

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  • Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

    Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

    We first visited GSENM in April 2016 on Big Trip #1, then again from Kanab and Escalante in November 2018 on Big Trip #2, and once more in October 2020 on Big Trip #3. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (recently drastically downsized and partitioned into three separate areas by the anti-environment Trump administration) is a wonderland of…

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  • Utah’s Scenic Byway 12 Corridor–Big Trip #1

    Utah’s Scenic Byway 12 Corridor–Big Trip #1

    We first visited Highway 12 in April 2016, as part of Big Trip #1. We’ve since returned to Escalante in 2018 and again in 2020, and boondocked outside Capitol Reef in 2020. The stretch of red canyon cliffs and alien rock formations along Utah Highway 12 from just south of Panguitch in the west to Torrey in the east was…

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