The Saguaro (correct pronunciation: suh-waa-row) cacti are the biggest cacti in the world. They grow slowly at first–an inch or so during the first 6-8 years. At 70 years old they start growing arms. They get to 12 -15 meters (40-50 feet) tall when they’re about 150 years old! 

Saguaro National Park is part of the Sonoran Desert and home to these enormous cacti. It was incredible to see so many different “personalities” of cacti–some stood armless as single columns, others had multiple limbs, some were growing stumps, others had limbs drooping toward the ground, and some even looked like they had faces on them! 

Since we were here in winter, we didn’t see the cream-colored flowers that appear on the cacti in early summer, which then attract birds, bees, bats and moths to feed on their nectar. In the summer the deep-red fruit ripens, which is then used to make syrup, jelly, ceremonial wine and other delicious foods (our first cactus treat was the prickly pear cactus ice cream in Sedona). 

There are multiple trails at Saguaro National Park, and we took the short but cacti-packed Desert Ecology Trail, which is paved and good for leashed dogs to walk across. We had parked our RV in a different area so had cut across Cactus Forest Loop Drive to get there (the Park is a bit tight for RVs to wind through), which however did mean that we got on a trail where we brushed up against spiky plants. Probably a hike to do in pants and long socks.

Even when we left the National Park, we could still see hundreds of Saguaro cacti, lined up along the hills and ridges for miles. It’s such an extraordinary site that we enjoyed.

Tombstone

About an hour away from Saguaro National Park is the town of Tombstone, known for its history as a lawless Wild West town (and a 1990s Val Kilmer/Kurt Russell movie of the same name loosely depicting the town in its heyday). On the fringes of the town is the Boothill Graveyard, the final resting place for the town’s first pioneers and was used from 1878 to sometime around 1884. While Tombstone was known as “The Town Too Tough to Die”, there are 256 graves here, with 93 unknown or unmarked. Because of the many violent deaths of the early days, the cemetery became known as Boothill Graveyard, where outlaws are buried next to their victims. Wandering up and down the rows in the graveyard, the reasons for death are often mentioned. There is also a little pamphlet that will list the cause of death if known–including illnesses like diptheria and pneumonia, fatal shootings, beatings, stoned to death by Apaches, murdered, hanged by mistake, poisoning, suicides, injuries caused by falling from horses, and falling from a wagon and being crushed by its wheels. All terrible days to die! Boothill was neglected for many years, but has since had work to preserve the main part of the cemetery as visitors see it today. 

We then attempted to see the Schieffelin Monument, the final resting place of Ed Schieffelin, the founder of Tombstone who kicked off the silver mining boom in the town. Unfortunately the road is deemed too “primitive”--it’s a very bumpy gravel road to get there and a bit out of the way. Our RV immediately struggled and clanged around as soon as we started on the road, so we reversed pretty quickly! That evening, we parked on Middlemarch Road just outside Tombstone for the night, in a fairly quiet but windy spot overlooking the town below.

On our way to find a place to park for the night we passed the Trump store and had to take a photo (even though it was closed). We ended up parking on some BLM land not far from town.

Route Map

Lisette had never heard about Biosphere 2 before Michael had added it to our itinerary. Here’s the basic background about it today: It’s a large, self-contained ecological research facility in Oracle, Arizona. The facility spans 3.14 acres and has various biomes, including a rainforest, ocean, desert, mangrove wetlands, and agricultural areas. It’s now run by the University of Arizona as a research center for studying climate change, environmental science, and the impact of human activity on ecosystems. 

But the history of Biosphere 2 is just as fascinating. It was originally built in the late 1980s to study the interactions between different environments and test the feasibility of space colonization. The first mission, which was between 1991-93 and had 8 people living inside, closed off to the rest of the world. Oxygen levels inside fell dangerously low, forcing researchers to pump in extra oxygen. There was a cockroach and ant infestation. They were meant to be self-sufficient and grow their own food, but the crops didn’t produce enough, which meant that they all quickly lost a lot of weight and were always hungry. Crew members had a psychological breakdown. And after the mission was completed, former Trump advisor, Steve Bannon took offer to manage Biosphere 2, with the second mission that took place that same month sabotaged from the inside by members of the first crew. (The Guardian wrote this fantastic article that’s worth the read)! 

While Biosphere 2 doesn’t delve into its wild history when you visit, you can still see the original kitchen where the crew ate and their rooms. When you visit, there’s an app that you can download to do a self-guided tour (bring headphones) while you’re there, to take in all the different environments you’re seeing. For example, the LEO (The Landscape Evolution Observatory) at Biosphere 2 is the world’s largest Earth sciences experiment, designed to study how landscapes evolve over time. It consists of three identical artificial landscapes, with over 1,800 sensors monitoring water, carbon, and energy cycles for scientists to track changes in soil, topography, and biology as they evolve. By controlling climate conditions within Biosphere 2, researchers can simulate different environmental scenarios and study how climate change impacts water resources and ecosystems in arid regions, and better understand and prepare for the effects of climate change. We had a great time touring the facilities, and were impressed with the changes in climate that we noticeably felt when walking from one room to the next! It’s a stop that’s off the beaten path that’s definitely worth checking out. 

Tastes of Tucson

About 45 minutes’ drive from Biosphere 2 is the picturesque and sunny city of Tucson, which gets about 325 days of sunshine each year. It became the first city in the world to regulate light pollution specifically for space observation, back in the 1970s. UNESCO also named it as the first US Creative City of Gastronomy (the other US city with this designation is San Antonio in Texas), thanks to its deep agricultural roots going back more than 5,000 years. Today, you can still try many dishes that make use of the fruits of the prickly pear and giant saguaro cactus, mixed with dishes making use of corn that arrived from Mexico over 4,000 years ago, and international cuisine from the many immigrants that call Tucson home. After Mexico achieved independence from Spain in 1821, what is now Southern Arizona was part of Sonora, and its food culture shared the distinctive features of Sonoran-style food of northwestern Mexico. These include the use of flour tortillas, an emphasis on beef cooked over mesquite wood fires, and a blending of native and Mediterranean ingredients. 

One of the most popular restaurants in Tucson is El Charro Cafe, the oldest Mexican restaurant in Tucson. Apparently it is the birthplace of Chimichanga (a deep fried burrito), which was invented by the owner when she accidentally dropped a burro into the frying pan. The menu is extensive and there are many vegetarian, plant-based and gluten-free options, with dishes including ensaladas, sopas, enchiladas, tamales, burros, tacos, chile rellenos, fajitas, margaritas, and more! Lisette was thrilled to have plant-based options on the menu and we We ordered the Hola Hemp plant-based tamales (hemp seed, organic corn, flax, nopales and quinoa, featuring arroz blanco, green tomatillo sauce and frijoles charros), and some carne seca (in Spanish “dry meat”, a popular way of drying beef in the Southwest) enchiladas to go. The portions were generous and everything we ate was absolutely scrumptious! Highly recommend it! 

We then took our full bellies to check out the Rattlesnake Bridge, a bicycle and pedestrian bridge just east of downtown Tucson. Unfortunately the bridge was closed so we couldn’t walk across it, and it was eerily quiet when we went, despite it being the afternoon. 

The US Could Have Used the Metric System

As we drove south toward our campsite for the night (yes, another Desert Diamond Casino, we stayed at one while we were in Phoenix), we noticed that on the stretch of highway the signs were in kilometers, not miles! It turns out that Interstate 19, which runs from Tucson to Nogales, is the only highway in the country to be fully marked by kilometers, was part of a failed attempt to convert the US to the metric system. In 1975, the US Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act to make the metric system the preferred method of measurement, but it was dismantled 7 years later. Too bad, because even after living in the US for so long, we still prefer metric (especially for temperature)! 

San Xavier Del Bac Mission

Our final stop for the day was San Xavier Del Bac Mission, a pristinely white Catholic church that was continuing to get renovations when we went. Known as the “White Dove of the Desert”, it was completed in 1797 when Southern Arizona was part of New Spain. Today, this National Historic Landmark on Tohono O’odham Tribal Lands is regarded as one of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the US. Near the church there is a hill that you can walk up to with a grotto and a cross at the top. While we didn’t go all the way to the top, we did wander up and had a close encounter with a roadrunner! 

Bread and Hot Dogs

The next morning we continued to embrace the Tucson food scene, heading over to Barrio Bread, an Arizonan bakery (they have a branch in Tucson and Gilbert), which specializes in using traditional Sonoran grains and ingredients. They focus on sourdough loaves, and depending on what day of the week you go, they’ll use different grains in their other loaves for the day. We bought a regular sourdough and one with Khorasan, an ancient grain. Both were delicious–the crust is nice and crispy on the outside, while the bread inside is soft and fresh. 

Our early lunch stop was at El Sinaloense hot dog cart, a tiny cart stationed on the side of a busy road, which is also set up with a few tables because it is extremely busy and popular! The cart is run by a man originally from Sinaloa in Mexico (hence the name), and the cart can only fit him and one other worker. A Sonoran hot dog from the area is known for being wrapped in bacon, as well as tomatoes, onions, beans, hot peppers, hot sauce and crema. You can also add more toppings, such as mushrooms, cheese, more hot sauce, etc. Lisette also was able to eat a vegetarian hot dog, and both were filling and delicious! 
Thanks to our leaky toilet issue, we made our way to South Forty RV Resort, where we met the mobile RV mechanic who fixed the issue. Turns out the toilet was a bit loose, hence the leakiness. We also got a few other things fixed–including getting a better water pump (the one we had was excruciatingly noisy whenever we turned the water on), and getting the leaky front section of our RV sealed. It took several hours to fix, and it certainly was a lot of work, but necessary and hopefully the issue has now been fully resolved. At the very least, it was also nice to simply chill, do laundry and other errands, and get some rest.

Route Map

Next up: Phoenix! Lisette had been once before, but it was for a work trip for a mere day. As the capital of Arizona and apparently the fifth-most populous city in the US, we were looking forward to seeing what the city had to offer. Right next to Phoenix is the city of Scottsdale, known for its upscale spa resorts, golf courses, art and architecture. 

Frank Lloyd Wright in Scottsdale

While we weren’t looking to book any spa treatments, we did learn that famous American architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright spent a lot of time in Scottsdale. He and his last wife visited the city each year, with Taliesin West becoming his winter home and studio from 1937 until his death in 1959. Today, it’s Scottsdale’s only National Historic Landmark, with self-guided audio tours. We were interested in checking it out, but the tickets were a bit more than we wanted to spend for the day ($44), and we already had a packed schedule. 

Instead, our next best option was to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s turquoise spire, a 125-foot tower that was part of a proposed design for Arizona’s new State Capitol. At the time, the design was rejected for being too modern, but it was resurrected years later. Today, the turquoise and copper tones of the tower (representative of the Arizona landscape) sits on the corner of Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard and Scottsdale Road, making it a prominent attraction–but unfortunately in a location where we could only do a drive-by view of it as we continued driving on. 

The Desert Botanical Garden 

We love quirky and unique designs–whether that’s for art, architecture or natural wonders–so we enjoyed spending time at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. On select Saturday mornings, the Garden hosts “Dog Days at the Garden” so that leashed dogs can also explore the trails, and it just so happened that the Saturday we were there it was one of these mornings. Dogs need to enter by 11am, and we made it with about 15 minutes to spare.

There are a lot of different paved, looped trails at the Desert Botanical Garden, including a Sonoran Desert Nature Trail, Plants & People of the Sonoran Desert Trail, and Desert Discovery Trail, and much more. The only section that was off-limits for dogs was the butterfly exhibit. All of the trails are short and easy–they’re no longer than half a kilometer (one-third of a mile) each. We loved looking at and learning about the astonishing variety of cacti (including barrel, octopus and even “old man” varieties), agave plants, yucca, aloe, and much more. The Saguaro cacti, which are mostly found in the Sonoran Desert that spans parts of Arizona, California and northwestern Mexico, are fascinating as their “ribs” can contract and expand to help them survive the harsh desert climate. Its flowers are also the state plant of Arizona. We also learned that other cacti have spikes to help act as shade and absorb water better–fun facts! 

Besides seeing the myriad of plants, there were also hummingbirds and other birds taking advantage of the garden, a section focused on a bountiful garden of herbs and plants that can grow in the dry climate, and a section that provided information on how Native Americans lived off the land. Even if you’re not a green thumb (which Lisette definitely is not), we thought it was a fun place to visit for a couple of hours or so. It was also absolutely wonderful to bask in the warmth of the Phoenix sun wearing t-shirts–what a radical difference from the day before, when we were bundled up in beanies, gloves and our warmest winter clothing! 

Other Quirky Phoenix Highlights on Day One

Given our appreciation for the unique and unusual, we like checking Atlas Obscura for a few suggestions on places to visit when we’re in a town or city. For us, this meant checking out the nearby tomb of the first Arizona governor, George W. P. Hunt, who was nicknamed “The Walrus” thanks to his wide girth and impressive moustache. A freemason, he is buried in a white pyramid alongside his family at the top of a hill with a lovely view overlooking the city. 

A short walking distance from the tomb is another curious attraction, called Hole-in-the-Rock–which is quite literally that. It’s an easy hike to get up, and visitors are then greeted by a big gap in the rock where there’s a nice breeze, and where people can clamber through and see a view of the city in the distance. There’s not much more to this rock (sure, you can walk up and around it), and it was busy with people ogling to capture their windswept moments with the hole in the rock behind them.

Atlas Obscura seems to be a big fan of odd structures constructed over years by one person, and we were intrigued by the description of the Sunnyslope Rock Garden, which was built by one man who collected bits of dirt, sands, broken crockery, scrap metal, and other materials from about 1951 until his death in 1977. We’d read in some reviews that the rock garden can only be viewed from the fence outside, but as we pulled up, Marion, who owns the property and lives onsite, was going out and she gladly welcomed us in to give us a private tour.

Marion grew up in New York but visited her parents decades ago in Arizona, and she saw the Rock Garden during one trip and immediately fell in love with it. Here, we saw mini windmills adorned with mosaics, and figures of birds, people, dogs, and many others. Marion is also an artist and will do some touch ups to the sculptures, and she’s even made her own mark on the property, with a seat between a couple of carriage wheels and a silhouette of a horse, in front of which bears her name. While the house is in a residential area a bit out of the way from everything else (and it didn’t seem to be in the nicest neighborhood), it was well worth the visit and special tour for us.

While we didn’t tour Taliesin West, we did stop by another Frank Lloyd Wright creation–the First Christian Church, which has a spire that rises 23.4 meters (77 feet), supported by triangular pillars. The church was closed, but we could make out stained glass inside that sparkled in the light. 

For lunch, we went to the Fry Bread House, a James Beard award-winning restaurant established by Cecelia Miller, a Tohono O’odham woman and native of Arizona, that’s run by her family to this day. Fry bread (also known as Indian fry bread), is a dish by the indigenous people that’s a type of flatbread that’s fried and leavened. It’s the size of a pizza but soft and pillowy in texture, and can be eaten on its own, or topped with savory or sweet fillings. We ordered the vegetarian fried bread taco, which had refried beans, green chili strips, onions, lettuce, sour cream, and cheese atop the fry bread instead of a taco. Of course the portion was huge, so while Michael and I thought it was delicious and enjoyed trying the fry bread, we were relieved to share it (although everyone else at the restaurant seemed to be ordering their own)!

We’d been planning to go to a Thai restaurant for dinner, but we were stuffed from the fry bread, and when we arrived at the Walmart we’d planned to park at for the night, we quickly changed our minds as it seemed to be rather sketchy. Our plan B was going across town to the Desert Diamond Casino in Glendale. We both checked out the casino and when Lisette came back to the RV first, she noticed that there seemed to be a leak at the base of the toilet bowl, and yes, it was leaking pee onto the floor inside. While confused and slightly perturbed, she cleaned it up and hoped that it wasn’t anything to worry about. 

Day Two: Downtown, David Bowie and Driverless Cars 

The next morning, we drove back to Phoenix to check out the murals downtown, mostly focused on Roosevelt Row. Parking in a city can always be a challenge–but it’s even harder in an RV. On the first Fridays of each month, there’s an art walk where the streets come alive at night, with street vendors, live music, and of course the opportunity to further appreciate the art further with food and drink in hand.

While it was probably much quieter when we were there, we loved looking at the murals in the light of day, including images paying homage to Black History, Native American culture, and others making their own statements. We also had coffees at Futuro, a specialty coffee shop that also serves tea and pastries, and is part of a collective that includes a hair salon, a restaurant and an art gallery. The coffee on their menu–such as lechera (with sweetened condensed milk and piloncillo, basically a Mexican brown sugar), transported us back to our last trip to Mexico, and made us think about how we’d love to return!

Coffees in hand, we left downtown to check out multiple murals of David Bowie in an alley showing his different alter egos, before heading further north to MacAlpine's Diner & Soda Fountain, one of the few remaining original soda fountains in the United States. It opened back in the 1930s and it’s like stepping back in time. While we had lunch at Rice Paper Vietnamese Restaurant across the road (lots of unique and delicious varieties of rice paper rolls, and pho noodle soup was half price when we went!), Michael got his malt milkshake fix at MacAlpine’s, which was delicious. Besides classical American fare like burgers, ice cream sodas, banana split and other meals, MacAlpine’s is also renowned for its fresh pie slices, so go there hungry!

Our final mural fix was the Oak Street Alley Murals, which span a few blocks of captivating murals including Frida Kahlo, birds, sci-fi scenes and many others in the Coronado neighborhood. We were just a bit too early, but there’s an annual festival around mid March each year that brings the community together to meet the artists, and also conduct workshops.

By then, we were far away from our RV, so we ordered a Waymo–a driverless car–to bring us back. Despite living in San Francisco where the autonomous vehicle pilots took place, we’d never ordered one while we were there, but Phoenix is the only other city where this is available. I guess we didn’t try it in SF because we had a car, and if we weren’t getting around in that, it was because it was more convenient to ride public transport. So this was the first time for all of us, including Sheila! It was a very comfortable ride, with the Waymo easily navigating the streets, changing lanes, and showing us where we were on the screen. While driverless cars have been available in San Francisco for a couple of years or so now, it is still surreal to have these available in our lifetime, but we can appreciate the benefit of it in terms of making it easier for everyone to get around, and minimize accidents, road rage and other traffic issues.

After our adventures wrapped up in Phoenix, that same afternoon,we continued on to Casa Grande Ruins, a national monument not far from the city. The ruins stand out from miles away, as it almost looks like a UFO in the distance, as the ruins are sheltered by a roof structure to protect it from the elements. 

The Casa Grande Ruins consists of the ruins of several structures, which were built by the ancestral Sonoran Desert People's farming community around 1350 AD. While there’s extensive evidence of irrigation, its purpose is still a bit of a mystery. There’s also an exhibition at the site, which goes into more detail about this fascinating place.

As we parked for the evening, we noticed that our toilet was leaking pee inside.. Again… And this time, Lisette mentioned to Michael that she'd noticed this the evening prior. It seemed to only happen when our RV was parked on an incline sloping downward, which could indicate a seal issue at the base of the toilet bowl. Unfortunately since neither of us are experts and we didn’t want to make a toilet issue worse, this meant yet another search and call to find a mobile RV mechanic–our third time within a month on the road. While we’d expected to encounter issues, there’s definitely a lot that we’re uncovering in such a short amount of time. It made us wonder about the condition of the RV and the extent we’d have more issues as we went along… 

We parked that night in a fairly isolated area, which was helpful for two reasons. Firstly, Lisette was the first to christen our portable camping toilet (we ordered this one), which we’ve brought along for doing number twos. We agreed ahead of the trip that we’d only use the RV toilet for pee, because we didn’t want to clear out any other matter from our black water tank (it’s gross enough, thanks). The portable camping toilet is if we don’t have access to a public restroom. The verdict? Easy to use, and very useful! 

Secondly, being in a spot away from the city and people, we had an incredible sunset to ourselves, as well as a beautiful sunrise with the bright pink, orange and yellow colors accentuating the sky. It’s these moments that we’re grateful to have the opportunity to savor and enjoy!

Route Map

The morning was freezing and raining, but imagine our surprise when the rain started to turn into sleet, and then snow! Our second time seeing snow on this trip, and both times it’s in Arizona–a state where you’re more likely to conjure up images of sunny skies and hot desert temperatures!

We walked outside briefly with Sheila (a dog’s gotta go do her business, after all). There was a converted school bus that had stayed overnight as well in the parking lot, and it turned out that there was a family traveling in it, including 2 little kids that were having a blast throwing snowballs and playing in the snow as the dad filmed the experience–very cute. Once the snow had subsided somewhat around lunchtime (turning back into rain), we made our way to Montezuma Castle National Monument, one of the first national parks designated in the US by Theodore Roosevelt. 

Aztec in Name, But From the the Southern Sinagua People

Montezuma Castle (and nearby Tuzigoot–if you pay for entrance to Montezuma then Tuzigoot is also included), gives visitors a glimpse into the lives of the Southern Sinagua farmers who flourished in the Verde Valley hundreds of years ago. The indigenous people built this five-story, 20-room dwelling sometime between the years 1100 and 1300, which is entrenched into a cliff recess about 30 meters (100 feet) above the valley. Early American settlers marveled at the structure, assuming it was Aztec in origin, hence the name. Even though the dwellings were built using soft limestone, because it was protected from the elements it has lasted for over 700 years to be one of the best preserved prehistoric structures in the Southwest United States. Not far from Montezuma Castle is Castle A, a five-story apartment building with about 45 rooms.

Nobody knows why the Southern Sinagua migrated away from their pueblos by the early 1400s, abandoning the castle that they spent so much effort in constructing. Theories range from overpopulation, resource depletion, disease, conflicts, or something else altogether. Whatever happened, many Southern Sinagua likely migrated northward to pueblo villages, while others may have stayed in the Verde Valley.

In the visitor center, there’s an interesting exhibit that provides more insights into how the Southern Sinagua people lived. At the time, they had an abundance of resources: including water from the river and streams, and sufficient game–including deer, antelope, rabbit, bear, muskrat and duck. They also mined a salt deposit a few miles away. They also were artisans, crafting stone tools like axes, knives and hammers, as well as manos and metates for grinding corn. Other crafts included bone awls and needles, woven cotton garments, ornaments, as well as specialized, reddish-brown pottery that was likely used for cooking and storage.

Because it had been raining, when we got back to our RV we realized that the window by the kitchen was leaking, bringing trickles of water onto the countertop. Sigh… it’s fixable with some sealant, but we’d prefer not to have too many consecutive issues! 

Fortunately the rain subsided as we drove toward Phoenix, where the snow capped hills gradually gave way to commanding cacti lining the highways as we got closer. It was still cold and we stopped at a town called Surprise (Surprise!!), where we bought some groceries and slept in a nearby parking lot for the night–only to find that it was not far from a railway line, which kept us awake again. Who knew that besides getting quite a bit of snow, that Arizona has an abundance of railway traffic?

Route Map

After being surprised by seeing elk and snow during the mornings that we stayed in the Grand Canyon, when we woke up this morning we were greeted by sights of the snow and ice melting from the previous day’s snowfall. Upon leaving the Grand Canyon, we saw increasingly longer queues of cars looking to get into the park–we guess now that the weather was nicer and the season was starting, it’d get busier.

As we drove to Sedona, the weather became increasingly warmer, and we were in awe of the scenery–strikingly vibrant red rocks rose high above the earth to surround the desert town, making for dramatic views in all directions. We walked along North Route 89A (one of the main roads), which is full of restaurants, cafes, and shops. One of our favorite cacti is bright purple–a type of prickly pear. It turns out that prickly pears are also used extensively in food and drink–they can be eaten as is or made from syrups that go into margaritas, jam and candy, or mixed with coconut water for a refreshing drink. At the Black Cow Cafe on this main street, we tried it as an ice cream flavor, which tasted a bit like a sweet, mild melon.

As we kept walking south on the route, we arrived at Tlaquepaque Arts and Shopping Village (pronounced T-la-keh-pah-keh), which is modeled after a traditional Mexican village, with stucco walls, cobblestone paths, decorative arches, and lovely fountains. It’s filled with art galleries and boutique shops, and while we weren’t planning to buy anything, we enjoyed walking around and appreciating the architecture.

Amid the red rocks of Sedona, many people believe that there are vortices–swirling centers of energy that are helpful for healing, meditation, and self-exploration. A vortex is meant to be a mysterious cosmic force that is both sacred and powerful. Because of this, it’s no surprise that Sedona is a very mystical, new age-focused town, with lots of stores focused on yoga, meditation and spiritual tours among the rocks.

In the evening, we checked out the McDonald’s in Sedona, which is unique because it is the only one with teal colored arches (rather than the usual bright yellow) to stand out against the red rocks! Like McDonald’s or loathe them, we do appreciate how they localize their fast food chains across many cities around the world, creating their own tourist attractions. 

We realized that unfortunately Sedona is not an easy place to navigate or park if you have an RV or oversized vehicle. There aren’t many places to stay for the night, and the windy roads can be tough to drive around. There are very few RV parks (and the ones that exist are super expensive compared to the average price we’ve seen or stayed out in other places), unless you drive well away from Sedona to stay in another town. We were feeling a bit anxious as the sun started to set, as most of the offices at RV parks close from 5pm, and we didn’t have many options. We took a chance by parking outside of a gym that was open 24/7, trying to stay low key by parking on the fringes of the lot. 

Devil’s Bridge Trail, RV Pipe Fail

We were relieved to find that we slept in the gym parking lot with no incident, and we were free to hike the next morning in Sedona. There are over 50 hiking trails in Sedona, and the great thing is that they’re pretty much all dog friendly! 

We chose Devil’s Bridge Trail, because we wanted a somewhat moderate hike, and it also rewards hikers at the end with a perfect photo moment on the “devil’s bridge”, which is a natural sandstone arch and the largest one in Sedona. Parking around the hiking trails is not easy for RVs, but we were fortunate to find a spot on the side of the road not far to the start of the trail.

The hike we chose is about 2.9 kms long (1.8 miles) and starts off easy, as it’s fairly flat and the entire hike is paved with clear markers (plus it’s a popular trek, so there were quite a lot of other people doing the hike that we could follow). Along the way, there are plenty of places to take in the majestic landscape around you. As we neared the arch, the climb became more challenging, where we had to scamper up rocks as the elevation reached a top of 1,402 meters (4,600 feet), with a 121 meter (400 foot climb) in altitude.

Once we got to the end, we got to that spectacular view, and a short line of folks who wanted to run across the bridge and take that impressive photo with the sheer drop below. Sheila was in her element on the hike, enjoying the opportunity to sniff and scramble up and down the rocks with us–and she was the center of attention when Michael and Sheila got their turn to take a picture on the arch, with a few people commenting that their dog would not be so brave! 

We enjoyed the hike so much that we decided to scope out where we could go the following day. We drove along one of the roads, which had what were certainly very expensive adobe-style houses amid the landscape. At one point, we realized that we needed to do a 3-point turn in someone’s driveway to get back onto the main road–only to hear a loud scrape as our RV bottomed out, followed by water gushing along the curb! Uh-oh… was this our grey water (from the kitchen and shower), or our black water (from our toilet)... or both that had spilled out onto the streets?

We hurriedly drove back to the gym parking lot where we’d spent the previous night to diagnose what happened, and it was clear that a part of our pipe had snapped, and fortunately it was likely the one connecting to our grey water. No choice but to search online and call a mobile RV mechanic for the second time on this trip–and fortunately we were able to find someone who could help us in the morning at an RV park south of Sedona in a town called Cottonwood, where we drove toward and slept for the night. 

All Day RV Pipe Repairs 

The RV repair guy arrived after 8am, and determined that our grey water pipe had snapped, but that because the pipes were already sagging too low to the ground, it was only a matter of time before this would happen. He needed to come back around 1.30pm to finish off the repairs, so in the meantime we stayed at Rio Verde RV Park, a small RV park with a couple of hiking trails and clean facilities. Time for a hot shower and getting errands done! The manager, Mandy, is lovely and based on our experience, we’d recommend it to anyone looking to stay at an RV park near Sedona. 

We didn’t end up leaving the RV park until after 3.30pm, but this was just enough time to head back north to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross before it closed at 5pm. The Chapel is a Catholic church perched high atop a red rock with the most spectacular views all around–and perhaps some of the best vistas of any church we’ve been to in the world. Built from 1954 to 1956 within the Coconino National Forest, the church cuts a striking figure from the outside, with the chapel (with a large cross) embedded into the rock. It’s a short uphill hike to the church, with a grotto along the path, and signs greeting visitors in multiple languages.

Upon entering the church, there are towering floor-to-ceiling windows at the front to welcome all the sunlight through, and two sets of pews running parallel to each other facing the altar. At the front on the left hand side, there are footprints on the ground, where you can place your feet and look straight up–and see Jesus on the crucifix, and his eyes looking right at you. Lisette tried it and maybe it’s her Catholic upbringing, but she found the stare to be very intimidating! There’s also a gift shop downstairs near the entrance, but we didn’t go in as it was already closing for the day.

We left Sedona as we knew that there weren’t any RV camping options, and arrived at the town of Camp Verde, where we stayed at Cliff Castle Casino Hotel for the evening. After our experience at Red Rock Casino, we realized that casinos are fantastic options for sleeping for the night–they are generally safe and quiet, are open 24/7, have clean amenities that we can use, and as a bonus, we can sign up to try our luck to make a bit of money to help fund our trip, even if it’s only by a small amount. Initially when we pulled in we had security walk toward us because we couldn’t park in the general lot (and we thought we were going to get kicked out), but it turns out that there was a dedicated, separate lot for RVs and oversized vehicles–and we got a shuttle pick us up once we parked to drive us directly to the casino entrance. 

We ended up enjoying our time at this casino. We had dinner at Johnny Rockets, an old school American diner, which was great as it had vegan options for Lisette, including an Impossible Burger hamburger and a vegan milkshake. There was also a bowling alley next door, which we were tempted to do but didn’t (it was packed)! We ended up winning $74 (and at one point cashed out a whopping 4 cents!), before calling it a night.

Route Map

The Grand Canyon is easily Arizona’s most distinguishable landmark. At 277 miles long, as much as 18 miles wide and a full mile deep, it’s the second largest canyon in the world (the largest is Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in Tibet). The Grand Canyon’s walls contain rock layers that are up to 1.8 billion years old.

We stayed exclusively at the South Rim in the Grand Canyon, which is open year-round and is the busiest and most frequented area by visitors, as it’s also the most accessible and has the most amenities such as accommodation, tours, transportation, etc. The North Rim is more remote–due to its higher elevation it’s a lot cooler and only open between around mid-May to mid-October. Meanwhile, Michael and I visited the West Rim years ago, which has a lot of activities that are outside of that Park on Hualapai Tribal Land, including the Skywalk (a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge cantilevered 70 feet over the Grand Canyon), riding rapids, soaring in a zipline, and learning about tribal culture in Eagle Point’s authentic village. We were fortunate years ago to take a helicopter ride into the canyon when we went to the West Rim (as well as a small plane ride to/from Vegas to get there that also flew over Hoover Dam, which was a splurge, but definitely a fun and memorable experience! 

Our First Morning Surprise: Elk! 

But we digress… Going back to our first full day in the Grand Canyon, we had the incredible surprise of stepping outside of our RV to find about a dozen elk wandering around in our campsite! They were all very relaxed and not the least bit intimidated by the RVs, tents, and people milling about, and ambled along to leisurely munch on leaves. Sheila appeared to be way more curious about the elk (a new animal for her to spot), and she didn’t seem to know what to make out of the experience!

We were also happy to learn that there are dedicated bike trails around the South Rim, so we strapped Sheila back into her dog trailer to ride toward Yaki Point, which is the only scenic viewpoint that isn’t accessible by cars. We were enjoying our ride along the scenic trail, catching more in-depth glimpses at times of the canyon and the gorges below. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Michael’s pedal fell off, so we headed back to our campsite to fix it. It seems that it hadn’t been properly pushed in, which meant that the tread on the pedal had worn out, so Michael ended up finding some MacGyver-like ways to bash it back in. 

After making a filling Mediterranean chickpea salad for lunch, we were off to ride again, this time with a warm and content belly full of food… Only for Michael’s battery on his eBikes to stall! By this time, an icy and strong wind had started to blow, so we aimed to get back to our campsite as quickly as possible. We say “aimed” because we swapped eBike batteries since Michael had the additional weight of riding with Sheila’s dog trailer attached, and we made good time until Lisette had to ride the last bit uphill to the campsite, and her little legs struggled to push the pedals uphill–a jogger probably would have easily overtaken her at that stage!!

As the temperatures dropped in the evening, it was the perfect time to make a comforting meal. Lisette loves to cook–she’ll spend time each week reading through new recipes from food bloggers via social media or from their newsletters, will happily devote time to meal prep to make sure that random ingredients are used up, will eat food while reading about food, and is always eager to try new recipes. Tonight we used up some of the red lentils that had traveled with us from home to make this hearty Mediterranean lentil stew, which was a success! Lisette substituted soy sauce for the broth, and added one of our favorite hot sauces, Cholula, instead of using the fiery harissa. While Lisette does miss having her oven, it’s been wonderful to have a perfectly operating kitchen while we’re on the road.

Due to the snow covering our solar panels and the lack of direct sunlight, our batteries dropped quite a bit when it was snowing. Luckily we have a big enough battery bank to survive an extended time without sunlight.

Earlier that day, we’d met a family from London who were traveling around for about a year around the US, also spending a lot of time checking out many of the country’s national parks. The parents were homeschooling their two girls, and had previously also had a caravan to spend 18 months exploring Australia. This time, they had an epic expedition vehicle, which they’d customized and shipped from the UK (coincidentally it was the same one we spotted at Walnut Canyon - see the pic here).

For us, this current trip in an RV is a test to see how we’d handle it, but we’d love to have an expedition vehicle in the future to continue exploring countries across Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. We were able to check out their expedition vehicle in detail and get a lot of tips and insights for us to reference for later. It’s wonderful to folks along the way who are like-minded in wanting to explore the world. Nobody ever lives wanting to have spent more time behind a computer working, that’s for sure! 

Our Second Morning Surprise: Snow! 

Remember earlier when we mentioned that our first surprise on our first full day in the Grand Canyon was seeing elk mill about our campsite? On the second day, our immediate surprise was waking up to see snow outside! The temperature had dropped dramatically the afternoon prior, and as we fell asleep we’d heard the sound of the wind and what sounded like rain pattering on our RV. Well…we thought it was rain, but it was snow, which Lisette noticed as she lifted the blinds to take her daily morning photo. She started a habit of taking a photo each morning of the view outside the window on her side of the bed, with the goal of stitching it up at the end of this trip (don’t tell Michael though–the photos are all in vertical mode, which he’s going to hate as someone that insists on horizontal snapshots!). This morning was probably the prettiest morning image of the trip so far!

Given the cold, snowy day, it seemed like the perfect morning to make pancakes. Lisette has been making pancakes for years using this recipe, but alas, in her haste to finish cooking she blasted the heat too high on the stove, so quite a few pancakes looked cooked on the outside, but were still raw in the middle. Now we know how to work this stove for future cooking endeavors!

We used a big chunk of the day to do errands, including spending money to have nice hot showers and doing laundry. It cost $2.50 for a 5 minute hot shower, but after having many consecutive days of the quick “splash and dash” showers in the tiny space in our RV, a 5 minute hot shower just letting the water run in a more generous space felt simply luxurious! It also cost $2.50 for the washing machine and dryer respectively, but these are the errands that simply need to be done while on the road once in a while. 
In the late afternoon we checked out the Yavapai Museum of Geology, a free museum to learn more about the formation and composition of the canyon, which is also perched to have a spectacular view of the canyon itself. Heading back to our campsite, we took care to walk carefully that evening as the snow turned to slippery ice in sections of the road.

Route Map