Homeward Bound
It’s crazy to think that we only have 3 weeks left of this leg in our Ruby! We have made plans to be back before the Holiday season because who doesn’t love a good Holiday season and a MN winter?!? So our official return date is planned for November 22nd! Just in time to stuff our faces with some delish turkey and stuffing :P
Where we at??
We just crossed the border back into NM as we have once again, modified our route :) It shouldn’t be a surprise anymore really. We were planning to continue North in AZ towards the Grand Canyon and Page area which is no longer happening due to time and some things being closed. We have been racking our brains on the best way to get home from Arizona (although not really a great way since we are 2,000 miles away…) for weeks and have finally settled on a plan we are excited about! Actually, with the new plan, after leaving Sedona we are technically on our way home, or at least in the right direction :)
So what’s the route?
WHOOF - you have no idea how good this feels to commit to! We have been jogging our brains on how the heck we get home on a path that makes sense and doesn’t feel like it’ll kill us, but here is what we are tracking towards -
What have we been up to??
Since Colorado, we have hit up the Northwest corner of NM and a couple places in Central / Western AZ! We have experienced crazy weather from snow days to gorgeous summer sun and 70s which wasn’t expected being this far south, but hey! #globalwarming
New Mexico: we didn’t really have much for expectation for NM going in and only really explored the NW corner of the state. First, I will say NM is very strict on COVID which I’m all for; however, it made some things, like finding showers, public restrooms, and attempting to play tennis really difficult. New Mexico is also a lot of high desert which isn’t really our scene. And after spending a good chunk of time in the red rocks of Utah, we just were kind of over high desert. Another note about NM (not to generalize), but it felt less safe than a lot of places we have been. We noticed a lot of dudes in big trucks whipping donuts in parking lots and hanging out on their hood smoking. BUT we had some quality time with bestie Lauren in Abq and really loved the Jemez (pronounced “hay-mez” - note to self) mountains!
Note: we drove back into NM last night and plan to explore the Santa Fe / Las Vegas area which I heard is really beautiful as well! New Mexico TBC…
Highlights:
Jemez Mountains - this was easily our FAVORITE part of NM in terms of landscape. We found some really great camping in the mountains, took a bath in a natural hot spring, and just enjoyed the pine forest. The scenic drive through these mountains is really great!
Bandelier NM - since the cliff dwelling tours were closed in Mesa Verde, we were happy to find the ones at Bandelier open! We spent a couple hours jumping in and out of ancient caves carved into the red rock that were once occupied.
Valles Caldera - this is an interesting place we stumbled upon near the Jemez mountains. It’s a National preserve that is managed by the national park system and really neat. We actually ended up posting up near here for an entire day - it’s just a wide open valley created long ago post-volcano eruption. It’s a feeding space for elk and many other animals!
ABQ - spending a few days with the bestie just can’t be beat! We got to enjoy a much needed proper shower, take over the kitchen and make some apple crisp, and drink glasses of wine in good company. <3
Diesel prices! Best we’ve ran into yet on the trip, some even less than $2/gallon!
Lowlights:
Wrecking my bike in Taos (not your fault, NM) :/
Many closures - rec centers, public shower facilities, National Forest campground closures (due to the season), tennis courts, etc.
SNOW!!!! You might think I’m crazy, but it snowed while we were in western NM - for like an entire day. Pure white-out like conditions. This called for a multi-day hibernation for Jen & Jake.
Taos - not necessarily a lowlight, but I had some high hopes for Taos and didn’t really feel like it lived up to the hype. I know it’s more of a winter-scape town, so maybe we just went there at the wrong time. It was just a city for us! We even did a couple hikes which were fine and overlooked the city mostly, but nothing amazing.
Terribly rough roads, everywhere in this state
Arizona: our time in AZ also started with a continuation of the snowstorm that came upon us in NM. Snow in Arizona - I just wouldn’t have guessed it! But it went from a high of like 25F to a high of 75F within a matter of 50 miles and 3 days, so I can’t really complain. Arizona really surprised me in how much forest there was as I was expecting lots of dry, desert. We only made it to Flagstaff & Sedona and cut out the northern section due to time & some things being closed with “winter” and COVID…
Highlights:
Humphrys Peak - highest point in AZ (near Flagstaff) sitting around 12,600! Really rewarding climb but also came with really scary weather at the peak.
Cathedral Rock, Sedona - a really neat hike that is short, but a lot of rock scramble. It brings you to great views of some unique red rocks & the hike is just fun, if you’re into that kind of thing! There are LOADS of people on this trail though, so I would definitely suggest sunrise or sunset.
Soldier Pass, Sedona - another Sedona hike that was challenging to find parking near, but ended up being really unique! There is a cave a bit off the trail that you can go inside and through. Definitely a good mix between the other hikes we have been on :)
Hot air balloon show - we parked at a dispersed site some miles out of Sedona, and I was outside doing yoga one morning when a handful of hot air balloons started showing up in the sky! At least 5 ended up coming overhead in the field near us.
Pine forest dispersed camping - we found some amazing public lands around Flagstaff, so spacious & our (including Cleo) favorite kind of forest!
Petrified Forest NP - another NP we really knew nothing about, but was enjoyable! We explored this park on one of the snow days, so everything was covered in a frost of white. We bundled up and got out on a couple trails too - check out some pics below, including Jake’s senior pic!
Lowlights:
Sedona parking - we were really excited for Sedona, but found it to be a non-RV friendly city by a long shot. I was mostly really bummed my bike was broken because it would have been the perfect city for us to explore by bike!
Trails - all trailheads we went to were through a neighborhood. Almost all had very, very strict parking rules. Ruby is a large rig and either did not fit in most parking lots or was restricted from parking in them due to her size. Thus, all of our hikes ended up being longer than expected since we had to park a ways away and then walk to the trailhead! That being said, some of the trails were really neat & I thoroughly enjoyed trail running here!
More high desert…and more rough dirt roads…
Still a broken bike…
It feels wild that this long-anticipated journey is coming to a close, but we are excited for what’s ahead (many more Ruby adventures of course!!!)
Things I’ll probably do within the first week back -
Take a few long baths in the candlelight 🕯
Hang with the fam <3 Check out Coralie’s walking skills, Augie’s touchdown dance, Joshua’s new apartment, Mom & Dad’s new vehicles, and maybe even catch Logan’s late season football game :) Whoof - I’ve been gone a hot minute!
Throw in a pan of brownies or something deliciously chocolatey that can only be made in an oven
Go meet one of my bestie’s new babe, sweet Beau 💙
Cook a few meals in our NEW kitchen that is being remodeled while we are OOO (thanks Julie & Galen :D)
Spend some quality time with my birds, all 3 that are left 🐓
Hit up the gym and pump 💪
“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.”
Peace, love, & let’s get driving…HOME - vroom, vroom!
yo’ girl Jen
