Crazy road trip ends

September 5, 2019:

I get up at daybreak and go across the street to the Cracker Barrel Restaurant for a hearty breakfast.  I then take another pass through downtown Flagstaff, get fuel and head out on route 17 south for Phoenix, Arizona.  I decide that I can play for a couple of hours and still arrive home in mid afternoon so I take the exit for scenic route 89A to Sedona, Arizona.  This is a beautiful drive, much slower but worth the effort.  In Sedona, I go to a parking area for the Cathedral Rock Trail.  I decide to limit myself to one hour on the trail and soon that it is a steep climb up slick rock.  I was wanting an easy scenic walk, not a stress test, so I ambled up part way to where there was a decent view and turned back.   

The Cathedral Rock trailhead

The trail follows the cairns, but that's only a suggestion 

Steeply uphill at this point and slippery

This is about where I stopped and took in the view

Nice views in all directions

Another direction

Afterwards I drive through the excessive maze of roundabouts that have been constructed in Sedona.  The Sedona area is so beautiful that it should have been saved as a National Park. Instead it’s a huge wealthy gated community for the privileged with a cheap touristy downtown mired in traffic congestion.

Back onto route 17 I do the long steep downhill glide down into the Phoenix area, then the rat race through Phoenix, (not so bad at noon time) and then onto route 10 south for Tucson, Arizona.  I make a couple pit stops along the way and arrive at the house about 3 PM in100 degree temperature.  The good news is that it is starting to cool off a little.  

During the course of this (95) day trip I managed to put 8,940 miles on the van (snowflake) with no breakdowns and my van interior modifications held up better than expected.  I didn’t do all that I had planned or expected to do, (I never do).  I did no dispersed BLM camping and very little hiking, but much more urban wandering / walking.  There were lots of museums, old Spanish missions, the California sea coast, Native Indian country, a few state capitals, an overdue visit to a daughter in Portland, Oregon and a visit to an old friend in Minnesota. 

I stayed overnight (94) nights in (53) different towns, of which approximately (74) were overnight on the street.  I didn’t stay anywhere long enough to attract much attention, usually only 1-2 days which I must admit became tiring.  This was an urban camping trip primarily.  I only spent $10 on a campground and that was the first day in a National Park, but I did stay at (8) motels.  I stayed at no private, county, town, or state campgrounds.  I crammed a lot into each day and was constantly on the move as the list below shows;

Looking back on this adventure, many people don't quite understand the allure of this "living on the street" lifestyle.  My son even told me that when he was talking to his sister, she said: There's something wrong with Dad, this isn't normal ! 

 In order to justify this, we converts like to wax poetic on the "Freedom of the Road".  A van doesn't have the restraints of an RV, a van can be parked almost anywhere and no campground is necessary. When you tire of driving, you just pull over into a reasonable parking space and spend the night.  Of course if you have a fancy conversion van or have modified your van to look like a camper, then you have lost the "stealth" capability somewhat.  

The major shortcoming of the van is the lack of four wheel drive

to get into remote back country areas.  There is no easy fix for this short of spending megabucks or going the truck camper route.  But, I do have an idea, how about putting a van body on a 3/4 ton four wheel drive pickup chassis.  It could be like a Monster Truck !

Twinkles says my daughter may be right ?  Twinkles would also like to add that this three month trip was too long for me to be away from her and that I will have to settle for a maximum of two months in the future. 

This will be the end of this blog for a while, I need a break, hope you enjoyed it.