So, you’re laser-focused for a year in advance on your open-ended travel adventure - checking every detail – and even with 99.99% certainty that all possible pitfalls are covered, the universe usually has other plans: like the email we received a day before our scheduled campervan pick up informing us our booking was cancelled and deposit refunded due to an accident that morning. At the time, we were being hosted by a good friend in Arizona, but turning two days into two weeks just might have been a bit much. BoHo Vans to the rescue. These guys not only delivered an exceptional product with no advance notice (Tusk), but also natural and unforced customer service that left us feeling like we were part of something really special – an adventure - and freedom to hang out with no ground light or noise for a while. Their story is one of a brilliant idea, hard work, some capital investment thanks to Shark Tank and a contagious love for the outdoors. We’re sold and can’t wait for another trip “semi-off grid”.
Getting used to a 20 ft X 9 ft tall vehicle after four weeks zipping around from Hyannis to Memphis in a MINI took a little time, but the first drive from Tempe to Sedona in our new rolling home was well worth the adjustment. The hike early the next day through The Ghost Town Trail found us running around like kids on Christmas morning - excited by all that was unfolding. We left Australia in April and even after the European villages, beaches with sandstone cliffs, big cities, and wooded mountain-scapes, the burnt orange monoliths really were a spectacular contrast. We were so hyped up that we finished the hike 30 minutes quicker than the estimated time. Not bad for two grey(ing) nomads.
Some of our plans during this National Park tour in the Southwest were pretty random. We drove up to the “The Ancient Way Café” campground in Ramah, NM and on first sight immediately thought: Bagdad Café – deserted, a little long in the tooth, but completely intriguing. The people we eventually spoke to unveiled a rich cultural institution, fully immersed with the locals. Ramah lies between the Zuni Indian Reservation, the Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation, and the Cibola National Forest and that drive to get there was worth navigating the roads off the beaten track. After a quiet night in this spot – except for the local coyotes howling - we drove up the street and scaled El Morro National Monument (The Headland) with its impressive vistas and unearthed remains of a 300+ room prehistoric pueblo. It is on par with European ruins and sacred Aboriginal sites in Australia both in beauty and significance. Hard to believe neither of us had heard of it before. The visitor's center told all sides of its notoriety: from indigenous importance through colonization by the Spanish and its significant trade route positioning. What an amazing hike! The universe delivered even more than hoped for.
HipCamp quickly became our friend in the first few days of the trip. This app operates like AirBnb, but for off-the-beaten-track, privately owned camping sites. Our first “dispersed” booking landed us up a dirt road at the southernmost tip of the Rocky Mountains and Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. Tree House Camp is an oasis in the piñon pine forest above Santa Fe and was an easy introduction to the “wild”. The solar panel came through with shining colours and we never once missed electrical hookup. (NOTE: modern showers and toilets were just a short walk away if needed – we weren’t that disconnected yet.) We hiked, listened to the quiet, and began to completely unwind and before calling it a night, joined the manager Bobcat Brad for a star gazing session. Who knew there were so many ways to spot Ursa Major, the Big Dipper, the Saucepan and the man in the moon.
With Santa Fe a short roll down the hill, we took advantage of location and spent some time roaming the terra cotta town. The Georgia O’Keeffe museum was a highlight and her take on the local landscapes kept coming back to mind throughout this tour of the Southwest.
After a reluctant and rainy trip to Starbucks for a weak interpretation of an Aussie flat white, we packed up Tusk and were on our way. Heading north, the skies looked ominous - it was going to be a wet drive. Just past Española, with wipers at full-speed wave, the driver’s side took flight, smashing in the road behind us. Uh oh . . . Not having a car for the past twenty years and not living in the US, our instincts for car emergencies were MIA. Tarek, our super-responsive BoHo Ops Mgr. was on speed dial and he assured us that there was an AutoZone a few miles away. Oh. Right. Feeling like Dumb and Dumber, we headed there, got a new-and-improved blade and were back on the road. The rain persisted, only clearing as we arrived at our destination - Great Sand Dunes National Park where the whipped-cream shapes in front of us were reminiscent of our 2019 dunes hike in the Sahara. We started our journey upwards, determined to get to the top, all the while marveling at how these massive piles of sand ended up in the middle of the mountains. There’s no beach or desert in sight! Later we learn that this was once a large lake basin whose southern mountain-rim gave way, creating the Rio Grande. Over the eons, the sand bed has been blown northward into these great dunes. We arrive at what we think is the top (or close enough) and remember to take a few minutes pause, anxious to get our kid on and run back down. In the pause, we heard the sand blowing and marveled as it moved like water - waves and waterfalls of dust. Nature’s wonder.
The run down is exhilarating - like playing in a giant sandbox - and the high continues when we meet Chris, our HipCamp host, and drive into the Dunes Desert Camp for another night of disbursed camping. Bar one other camper (from Mississippi with relatives in Morgan City - small world!), we were on our own in this vast basin. Overnight the rain parted, but the air was extra crisp. There was some full-moon viewing, but mostly hunkering down with blankets. Well worth the chill. The play of light on the cliffs and mesa surrounds were a painter’s dream – a contrast to the rainy travel day ahead. The pictures say so much more than we can.
Grey skies and continuous rain obliterated the likely-spectacular views of our rambling through the San Juan Mountains. One of us took comfort that our vantage point - rocking along the edge of hairpin turns - was invisible. When we could get signal, we kept an eye on the changing weather app predictions for Mesa Verde. Would it be rain or shine? Again, the weather gods were with us and the sun came out before getting to Morefield Campground, our lodging location for the night. We mustered the energy for a pre-sunset hike and the next day, a post-sunrise one as well. And then it was on to Cliff Palace to get another taste of how some of the Native American people lived 700 years ago. One of us had visited in the 80s and memories of that first experience seeing ancient structures came flooding back. Nothing had changed in the touring of this valuable piece of history. Nothing had changed in the size of the crowds moving through either - but we later realized it was just a foreshadowing of the ever-increasing number of tourists in the parks we were about to visit.
Greetings from Moab. The social media infamous wall mural has become not just an Instagram influencer favourite, but a symbol of this laid back and unselfconscious town that serves as the starting point for Arches National Park. We had the added benefit of insider knowledge from local friends and were not only well fed and "watered", but given personalised tours of the imposing natural stone arches, soaring towers and balanced rocks that dot the overpowering landscape. It was one of those experiences where around every corner a vista inspires either an "OMFG" or "this is unbelievable". We were told that the crowds weren't too bad by normal standards, but a pre-booking requirement revealed a desire to manage crowd size as you wander, gawk and selfie your way around this tourist playground. That night we celebrated conquering Delicate Arch with an amazing meal at Birdy's Finer Diner. Service was impeccable, the food memorable and the conversation and connection kept us long past our table's turnover time. It always helps who you know in popular venues. Thanks Matt and Wendell for showing us your unique part of the Southwest. We only scratched the surface and have to make it back soon.
Surprisingly, our departure involved less of a post Birdy's sore head than expected - we were ready for more red rock rambling. Matt and Wendell suggested a route which would take us for a look-see at Canyonlands and then on to Capitol Reef for our daily cardio hike and our plot of land for the night. So glad we took their advice as the Canyonlands vista from Shafer Viewpoint was super impressive. It brought back memories of our visit to the Grand Canyon in 2000 on our cross-country move to San Francisco - a lifetime ago. And just like that visit, it was a quick view with our fellow sightseers and we were on our way again. Even when you seem to have all the time and freedom in the world to roam, there is always some kind of schedule to stay on - especially in a rented home-on-wheels with a return-by date.
Capitol Reef was equally inspiring, particularly our surprisingly solitary climb past Chimney Rock, around the Mesa and down again. Where had all the people from the Visitor Center gone? Wherever... we were happy having most of the trail to ourselves. After, we motored onto our third HipCamp find at Red River Ranch with only a port-o-loo as distant company - that basic requirement - plus a campfire at foot and the stars above later that night.
Driving through the early autumn-hued aspens into Bryce Canyon, we found all of the people that vanished from the Capitol Reef Visitor Center. Them and a whole lot more. Our first clue came when we were told at the entrance gate that we needed to park ahead and take the shuttle further in - trailhead parking was full. We tried not to be spoiled-sports about sharing our experience with loads of others, but we were only somewhat successful. How could so many people invade our private little adventure?!!! At least we managed to crop them out of most of our pics. Persevering and pouting our way around the Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden trails, this magical place eventually cast its spell. By the end of our trekking through the nature-made gothic-esque architecture, resembling giant swirls of orange sherbet, our spoiled spirits had lifted.
And then there was Zion…. We drove down Route 9 and through the deserted East Entrance paying no park entrance fee just after 4:30 and wondered what was going on. It took us a quick Google to figure out that Route 9 is a public road that anyone can drive through but entrance fees only apply during the opening hours of the park. So we kept on driving and looking up at the mammoth mountains of solid rock surrounding what now seemed like our teeny-tiny van. “Gobsmacked”, as we say in Australia. We were both speechless, only able to snap a few shot from the moving van - it was simply overwhelming and emotional in that way that only a natural wonder can be. By the time we wound our way to the South Entrance, we both had those “what-just-happened?” looks on our faces. The drive was that incredible. Knowing we would see more the next day, we braved our way on to the Zion Wright Family Ranch an eco campground we had booked for the night. “Braved” because there were various reviews which described the treacherous drive up the dirt road to get to the gold standard vistas. Turns out our worries were for nothing as Tusk handled it quite well. Even with all of the special places we had camped so far, this one took the proverbial cake. While we weren’t alone up there, we found plenty of distance amongst all of the campers to settle in for the sunset, sparkling fire and moon-free star scape. If you've never seen the fully dense Milky Way in a low or no ground lit sky, find somewhere to experience it. This place was one of the better we've been to.
Our Zion love affair came to an abrupt end in the morning amongst the throngs of her other lovers. In the shadows of the foreshadowed crowds, we queued for 45 minutes to take the 20 minute shuttle to our selected trailhead for today's cardio workout: The Emerald Pool Trail. (Light bulb moment and obvious note to readers: avoid the major parks on the weekends if you can - we had gone to Bryce on Saturday and were at Zion on Sunday in high season - rookie mistake!) Of course the trek was worth the wait and the added surprise of watching rock rappellers descend to the Upper Emerald Pool was the needed reward for all our hopping and skipping and maneuvering around the throngs of walking-stick-carrying weekend warriors.
It was hard to believe this was all coming to an end. It was even a surprise to us how much we enjoyed these two weeks. A road trip on steroids, at times alone in a massive field overlooking a burnt orange masterpiece. We've never claimed to be adventure boys, but the more we venture, the more we crave. Our last stop was overlooking the Colorado River in Glen Canyon, AZ. We had this down pat and relaxed into our final experience before the quick drive back to Tempe and goodbye to Tusk.
. . . and by the way, it was over 2,000 miles and miles and miles in our converted Dodge RAM Promaster. That distance was on top of the miles in the cute little red MINI we had already driven across the US - all the while stopping to be well fed and “watered’ by family and friends - talk about size extremes. It had been loads of laughs, serious “deep and meaningfuls” and countless “so what have you been up to since COVID” conversations. All good for the soul.
Our families are big in number and growing each year and so far, we’ve caught up with as many members from both sides as we could. Add in a few spontaneous old-friend-reunions plus our mega semi-off-grid adventure and we covered more than just miles. There was non-stop connection and then disconnection - both bringing their own unique benefits. There’s recent medical recognition of the powers of the great outdoors (finally). Those theories keep gaining proof with us on every drive and walk about.
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