Favorite Places

“Of all the places you visited so far, what is your favorite?”

OK, that is a difficult question to answer since we are seeing so many parts of the western U.S. for the first time. The variety of landscapes in this vast, beautiful country is truly amazing. I reflect on the places we’ve been and think "would I want to go back and spend more time exploring?" For almost each place we’ve seen, I have to say YES. Definitely, yes! However, to pick just one location to be my favorite over all the rest is just not possible. Yet. Here’s how I can rate the places we've seen so far based on favorite attribute.

1. For sunshine and warmth, Arizona is #1. Warmth may be an understatement for some of the days we’ve enjoyed here, but give us a hot sunny day anytime over a cold, rainy day in Indianapolis. 
2. For picture-perfect sunsets and friends generous and dear, it’s strong tie between Scottsdale Arizona and San Diego California. Friends, you know who you are and we love you all! 
   
   

   

   San Diego sunset

3. For fantastic skies of varying weather and mountains in all directions, the Norwood-Telluride, Colorado top the list so far. 
   
   
   
4. For impressive canyon views and breath-taking hiking trails, Utah won me over. Arches and Canyonlands National Parks near Moab and Zion National Park to the southwest were simply gorgeous. Driving through the GrandStaircase-Escalante National Monument on our way to Zion National Park, we saw a rainbow of color in the geologic progression of buttes and canyons.

   

   Arches

   
   

   

   Canyonlands
5. Biggest disappointment of the trip was not being able to see Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. They were tops on our list to see for our 34^th anniversary (Sept. 25), however the Artic freeze came down from Canada too early this fall. Our RV, quite frankly, is not well-equipped to endure below freezing temps for any length of time. With snowfall of 6-8” accumulation and a hard freeze with nights in the teens by Sept. 20^th, we had to move south. We wasted no time and drove south to lovely Moab, Utah. We were not disappointed once there.
6. Big Bend Recreational Area, part of the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), was a delightful surprise. 7-8 miles northeast of Moab, right along the Colorado River, we stayed at this dry campground for 5 nights. Narrow windy roads, tall red-orange canyon walls, and cool starry nights.
   
7. For beautiful state parks, historical national parks and monuments and abundant wildlife in plain view, all in relative close driving proximity, southwestern South Dakota captured my heart. 

   

   Badlands

   
   

   

   Mount Rushmore

   

   Pronghorn antelope at Custer State Park

   
   
8. For hypnotizing ocean views and year-round floral landscapes filled with birds and palms of all kinds, San Diego earns top spot. 
   
9. La Jolla Cove was a great place to peer through a telephoto lens and get lost watching the seals and sea lions, the pelicans and seagulls, the people and the planes, all while keeping an eye on the ocean for the “tail-tale” signs of whales breaching the waves. 
   
10. Best state park also holds a tie between Custer State Park in South Dakota and Catalina State Park just north of Tucson Arizona. 

    

    Legion Lake at Custer State Park
    

Catalina State Park

Overall, we’ve been quite impressed by all the parks and hiking trails in Arizona. We’ve enjoyed the regional parks around Phoenix, such as McDowell Mountain Ranch, Cave Creek and the Gateway Loop Trail, which is part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. We attended an awesome stargazing event at Cave Creek Regional Park the first night camping there. We loved the trails and wildlife of the state parks such as Tonto National Bridges near Payson, where we saw a hovel of javelina during the day; and Catalina State Park in Oro Valley, where we attended a fantastic Nature Program and participated in informative hiking walks on birds and geology. We did the Cave Tour at Kartchner Caverns State Park, southeast of Tucson.

In our rush to Utah’s Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park before the freezing temps hit, we sped right through Page in northern Arizona and bypassed beautiful areas such as Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and The Wave. So, we will just have to plan another trip to Arizona next year. And previously, we’ve visited some of Arizona’s national parks and national monuments highlighting unique geologic formations and landscapes, such as Grand Canyon to the northwest, Canyon de Chelly to the northeast and Saguaro National Park to the southwest. This trip called for new xsplorin’.

Looking forward to sharing more favorite places as we travel onward.