Headin’ South–to Arizona That Is!

One week on the road and I’m having a hard time getting inspired enough to write about the trip down south. We left Montana last Saturday and spent the first night in snowy, blowy Willard Bay State Park just north of Ogden.

We knew the first night was just a “get it out of the way” kind of night.

Brrrr-first night in North Willard Bay State Park, just north of Ogden, Utah.

You can’t get to warmth in one day from Montana in the winter.

We knew this from last year’s trip. What we didn’t count on was it taking ONE WEEK to find warm weather. Yep, ONE WEEK. We tried to outrun the cold and biting wind. We tried moving west.

Campsite at Red Cliffs Preserve, north of Saint George, UT

Camp spot from high up--a bit of a scramble but worth it!

We tried moving south.

Camping on the Mohave Desert

We even tried moving east.

Valley of Fire Utah State Park

Fascinating Rock Formations. This one I call "Baxter" in honor of my friend's amazing dog.

Mountain Sheep in Valley of Fire State Park, Utah

The wind followed us everywhere we went. But we pig-heartedly refused to travel north.

Seven days later we arrive in Sedona and find the sun, and the heat—but not the wind. Who would have thunk it would take that long? I really shouldn’t be complaining as loudly as I am. We did have about an hour of shorts-weather in Red Cliffs Preserve north of Saint George. Just long enough to get out the gin and tonics to toast the summer. But….that was not nearly as long lasting as we wanted. The forecast was for snow the next few days so we headed down to the Mohave Desert and flattened ourselves down in a sweet little canyon trying to avoid the wind. Hmmmm. Canyon. Wind. Whistling Wind. Rattle the trailer off its stabilizing jacks kind of wind. Whooeee. Two nights of that—albeit nice and secluded camping—we headed southeast to the Valley of Fire State Park.

Gorgeous scenery. Wonderful rock formations. Home of the famous Elephant Rock (of which I failed to take a picture!)

But I did get quite a few pictures of dinosaur tracks just steps away from our campsite in the Red Cliffs Preserve. I will only bore you with one:

Well, off we go hitting the road again. We have no destination in mind…just following the good weather. And since a snow storm is due in Sedona tonight it is time to head out. Adios–for now.