Sedona

We had hoped to see fall color in Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon  today. When we got there, we realized that not many leaves had changed yet.

On the way home, traffic on I-17 was all backed up and it took twice as long as it should to get home.

San Antonio (March 7-10, 2023)

 One of Steve's daughters was graduating from Air Force basic training in San Antonio, so we loaded up the minivan and drove to her graduation. We had a scary moment just north of Tucson as a tire on the freeway bounced and barely missed our car. As we entered San Antonio, the I-10 was closed and we needed to be rerouted. We nearly got T-boned by a car leaving a parking lot, which was also scary. Luckily, we all arrived in one piece and were able to attend her graduation the next morning.

Cadets during graduation ceremony. 

The next day, there was an additional ceremony on the parade grounds.

Following the ceremony, we went to the Riverwalk in San Antonio where we took a boat tour and then had lunch at a seafood restaurant. The lunch didn't agree with me, so I got to "sightsee" in the bathroom, while everyone else went to the Alamo.

We then hung out on the base for a while, to make sure she would make it back by curfew.

We started the drive home late that afternoon. By the time we got to Fort Stockton, we were tired and spent the night at a roadside motel. 

The next morning, we finished our drive home and caught this glimpse of a train transporting military vehicles.

Prescott

We decided to take a quick road trip to Prescott to get out of the heat.

Our dog packed his compass so we didn't get lost.

We spent a few hours at Goldwater Lake.

We also saw javelins near Lynx Lake.

Salt Mines

We were out jeeping near Camp Verde and decided to check out the salt mines. From a distance, it looked like a big pile of snow.

Road Trip to Idaho and Yellowstone (Oct 1-8, 2021)

We decided to take another road trip this year, this time that would take us through Utah, into Idaho, then to Yellowstone, and back to Idaho, before heading home through Nevada. The image shows the "figure-8" route we planned to follow.

Day 1 (Oct 1)

The plan was to leave Phoenix and get to Springvillefor the night. We thought we were taking the faster route through Utah by getting off the interstate, but instead ran into a rancher driving their sheep across the road.

We eventually arrived in Springville and had dinner and spent the night. The next morning, we started our drive towards West Yellowstone MT, with a few planned stops.

Day 2 (Oct 2)

We drove through Utah then headed to Pocatello ID, taking a nice scenic road through the mountains to reach Lava Hot Springs. 

We spent about an hour in the springs, then headed to Blackfoot ID to see the Museum of Clean 

And then we stopped at the Idaho Potato Museum. 

The potato ice cream was delicious (we tried huckleberry).

After driving several more hours, we stopped to visit Upper and Lower Mesa Falls near Aston ID.

From there, we drove to West Yellowstone MT for the night.

Road Trip - Days 3-5 - Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP

Days 3-5 (Oct 3-5)

We spent the next few days visiting Yellowstone Park. We started by driving clockwise around the top half of the upper loop in Yellowstone NP, stopping to view different thermal areas and wildlife.

Due to road closures, we had to turn around and come back the same way once we reached Tower Falls. 

That evening, we had dinner in West Yellowstone and spent the night at our hotel.

The next day we drove clockwise around the lower loop, starting at the top and working our way around, ending with Old Faithful.

The next morning, we drove along the bottom of the lower loop on our way out of Yellowstone.

After leaving Yellowstone, we headed to Grand Teton National Park.

We explored a few trails and scenic points, enjoying the scenery and wildlife.

Later that evening, we arrived in Jackson WY, where we had dinner and spent the night.