Reality Sets In

Arizona is the first stop that hasn't felt at least a little bit like a vacation. Maybe that's because it's the first place on the trip (other than with family) that we've both been to before. Maybe that's because much of our time has been spent making arrangements for our arrival in Portland. Or, maybe it's just because the end is getting so close. The funny thing is that the non-vacation-y part doesn't feel that bad! It actually feels nice to be close to settling down for a while. 

It feels nice to have our cats back ... finally! 

It feels nice to visit with old friends! We had the opportunity to visit with the Dolloffs and see their amazing new home and take a walk through their cool neighborhood: an enclave in Scottsdale that has everything you'd expect from an upscale suburb ... plus horses, goats, chickens and turkeys.

Tim and I even had the chance to play a game in person for the first time in about a year! I swear, the only reason he won is that my mask kept fogging up my glasses.

Cats, friends, and familiarity made Arizona feel a lot more like home than anyplace we'd been so far.

We also had a pleasant little house to call home ...

... and one morning I woke up to a sky full of hot air balloons.

For all of the normalcy we felt, there was still a little bit of adventure. On Saturday, we drove north to Flagstaff, then back south to Phoenix through Sedona. The scenery was amazing, but unfortunately we happened to be visiting during Spring Break week. We attempted to hike a trail near Sedona that a co-worker had recommended, but when we arrived at the trailhead, there was a line of no less than 15 cars waiting for one of the few parking spots to open up. At that point we said we'd done enough hiking this trip already and called it a day.

Well, we didn't exactly call it a day. We made a brief stop at the small but charming Montezuma Castle National Monument just north of Phoenix. It's a serene little park that features a beautiful walk along a river and some amazing cliff dwellings.

And then reality truly set in. Yesterday morning, Rachel left Nathan and I in Arizona so that she could take care of some remaining business (including picking up Bailey) in Long Beach. We'll only be without her for a couple of days, but it occurred to me as she was driving away that it's the first time we'd been away from each other for more than a few hours in more than a year. It felt like losing a limb.

All of that said, Nate and I had a couple of "Boys' Days," and, even better, we'll get a chance to visit with the Michelyras in just a few day. California, here we come!

A Bittersweet Moment (Mile 9,181, Trail Mile 201.85)

And just like that, the end came into clear view. After two more uneventful workdays in Carlsbad, we left New Mexico and drove west, away from the last "marquee" stop on our trip. That's not to say it was the last fun we'll have. We'll be seeing some old friends, the Dolloffs and the Michelyras, in Phoenix and Mammoth Lakes, but Carlsbad was the last location selected for its novelty - and for its National Parks. Our last two stops are opportunities to see friendly faces, pick up the cats, and take care of few odds and ends of unfinished business before heading north to Portland. This is not the beginning of the end, because the big trip will be followed by some big adventures of a different type: a new home and a new life. But, as Winston Churchill said, this is the end of the beginning.

Adding insult to injury, it was a LONG drive day ... a full 9 hours, nearly 10 with restroom stops and such. We caught some gnarly wind and dust storms in the desert!

As we drove into Phoenix, it was almost like being home again. We saw a sign of our old life:

Followed by some rush hour traffic that felt very much like a relic of our old life.

But, at the end, we were greeted by a cheerful little home in a pleasant neighborhood ...

... with a pool in the backyard ...

... and a lovely park across the street. 

Here's how the map looks, as the circle begins to close.

  

Nathan's Stuff: Miles

 Once again, I'm very excited to see Miles.  I miss him. I saw him in New Mexico but that was it.  I haven't seen him since.  Miles and I have been hanging since covid started. We went to each others house everyday.  Miles, if you're reading this, you're lucky I had a pool.  The first few times we played in there it was fun until we started getting bored after awhile.  We had a lot of fun.  I wish Miles and I both were moving to Portland.  I do actually have relatives in Portland though, so that will be very awesome. 

Nathan's Stuff: Pets

 I'm sad that this trip is ending, but I'm glad to say we're getting the pets back soon.  Also, I'm going to see friends while they're taking care of our animals.  We might see our finds the Dolloff's, but were for sure going to see my friend Miles and his family. I really missed Miles so much over these last few months but now I get to see him finally.  

Land of Enchantment

Carlsbad, New Mexico is, without a doubt, the most forlorn, unloved, and depressing town that Rachel and I have ever visited. That's saying something! And, I LOVE New Mexico ... I want to retire here, for goodness sake! We had high hopes, since this is the gateway community to two full-blown, card-carrying National Parks: Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns. That should mean something, right? As best we can tell, not a soul has ever sunk a penny into anything that might liven this place up, make it feel homey, or simply add something that might show that Carlsbad's residents love it. This was a common scene:

To be clear, it's not like we drove around town looking for the worst of the worst. This was just a small step below normal in this town. It feels almost like, when something breaks down, the desert sun scares anyone away from actually fixing it ... so things fall apart ... and then they sit. 

My first reaction was one of sympathy. Maybe this is just an economically depressed community. After looking up the statistics, that doesn't appear to be it. Finally, we drew the conclusion that this odd combination must be a factor of the town's economy: not that it's depressed, but by what drives it. This is largely an oil, fracking, and natural gas producing town. It's just a guess, but it seems like there's a lot of transients ... folks who drop in with their pickup trucks and their motor homes, stick around to work in the fields for a while, and then move on. Maybe that's it. And maybe it's not. Maybe it's just a place that the world forgot, and which doesn't particularly care to be remembered.

On the brighter side: National Parks! Two of them. We spent our weekends hiking both aboveground and below. First, we checked out Guadalupe Mountains. 

This is a place with a lot of desert, a lot of sun, and a lot of wind! At the visitor center, the Ranger gave us a couple of recommendations. One was a trail that had also been recommended to me by a friend, but it consisted of an 8-mile trek with 3,000 feet of elevation gain. We're pretty hearty hikers, but that's a LOT of climbing. And, we were warned by multiple sources that the winds at the top of the mountain are intense. We agonized over the decision a bit, but ultimately common sense (and my bad hip) got the better of us, and we decided to go with the other recommendation: Devil's Hall.

Along the trail, we came across a rock troll ...

A tree troll ...

And a cave troll ...

On Sunday, we checked out Carlsbad Caverns.

Our experience at this park was the polar opposite of our impression of the town. We've been to plenty of cave parks, and they're generally not my favorite. Carlsbad Caverns was, by an order of magnitude, the most amazing, jaw-dropping cave experience I've ever had! We decided to take the long route and enter by the natural entrance.

Once inside, it was impossible not to be floored by the enormity of everything in this cave system. You could never come close to representing it with photos. Our hike was about 2.5 miles ... and that's below ground. At one point, we read that the room we were in was the size of 6 football fields!

This place is so huge, there's actually a snack bar inside the cave. Seriously.

As an aside, the National Parks are identified by codes. The code for each park is made up of the first two letters of the first two words in its name. If it has a one-word name, it's the first four letters in the name. So, for example, Yosemite is YOSE and Guadalupe Mountains is GUMO. However, the Park Service granted a special dispensation to Carlsbad Caverns to spare it the indignity of being called CACA (cue sad trombone noise). It's referred to simply as CAVE.

Weekdays here we modest. We took a few evening walks.

Our house actually has a replica old-school arcade game. Nathan has gotten pretty good at Asteroids, though I can usually still eek out a win.

But, other than that, there really wasn't much to lure us out of the house. 

Our second weekend, it was back to GUMO. We explored a little and tried a few varied trails in a couple of different locations.

As you can see, our trip to Marcus Overlook proved the rangers right about the serious wind problem this park has! On Sunday, Nathan took charge and chose our hike: the Smith Spring trail. We enjoyed a little of the local history and a couple of picturesque springs. The scenery around the upper spring was so charming that I think this hike, though modest, was my favorite in this park.

When our second weekend was over, we were ready to move on. The parks helped us make the best of the bummer town, but it was time to head to greener pastures. Or, as we were heading next to Arizona, at least less depressing ones.