We have zig-zagged across the country and, boy-oh-boy, do we have some gems to share! Browse campsites, off-road trails, scenic outlooks, oddities, museums, hiking trails, and more.
There is something about old ghost towns that attracts oddities. Last year, we stayed overnight in Bisbee, Arizona—an old mining town that was resurrected by a group of artists. Today, we took a pit stop at a neighboring town where all that is left is one street, Erie Street.
All we wanted was a view. And a place to cook. We had intended to make it out to some hot springs in Truth or Consequences, but after wandering through the Biosphere 2 and shopping for supplies for the night, we looked at the sun and were determined not to have another night like the Great Kofa Compromise.
Cults, pseudoscience, and an oil fortune meet in the Arizona desert of Oracle, outside Tucson, with Biosphere 2—a money pit turned research facility.
Leaving the Superstition Mountains, we made a not-so-bee-line for Tucson, Arizona. In an effort to avoid tiresome highways, we happened across Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. This collection of ancient structures is remarkable for the size of the titular, free standing "Great House."
The morning broke with fire in the sky. This is certainly one of the upsides of nomadic life. If I spend too much time indoors, I gradually approach a nocturnal sleeping schedule. On the road, we often rise in anticipation of the sun.
Now for some more camping but of the free variety. We are headed back to Arizona and the Kofa Wilderness Refuge for some dry camping and some hot cooking. I'm picking up steaks to cook in the wild.
"What brings you to the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel?" Asked the man behind the counter. We looked at each other and sigh, "Showers."
Finally, my new lens has come in handy to photograph the rarest fish found in the wild. The Devils Hole Pupfish only lives in a subterranean cave isolated in the Nevada desert. Technically, this site is an annex of Death Valley National Park but it is quite a distance from the main National Park. Think of it like Hawaii, relatively small and distant from the main 48, but a treasure unto itself.
While rougher than the road to the Racetrack, Echo Canyon's 4-wheeling route was a much more fun drive both for the lack of washboard and the the brilliantly colored cliffs that flank the road.
You all know about The Racetrack. You've seen it in pictures: the cracked earth scraped by trails of surreally moving stones. The majority of the distance to the racetrack is paved road. But the majority of the time spent getting to the racetrack is the slow going of the unpacked, high clearance, 4-wheel drive.