When we first decided to spend the winter here, we (foolishly) calculated that it would be cheaper to just buy new winter gear than to trek all the way to Arizona to retrieve our stuff from storage. At the time, I think I was thinking we'd just need XC skiis and some winter socks. If I wasn't so obsessed with doing ALL THE THINGS, that probably would have been accurate.
But I missed my GoreTex snowpants, and my flat-light goggles, and my favorite mittens. And winter won't last forever, so I also know that soon enough, I'll miss my tent, and my large backpack, and the MTB rack for my car. Time to visit the storage unit!!
The trip took me from the snowy mountains of Colorado to the warm desert of Arizona.
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| Sunrise at home - Ouray, CO. |
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Ridgway, CO about 15 miles from home.
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| Mountain Village, Colorado - about 50 miles from home. |
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| Rt. 145 south of Ophir, Colorado, looking at the mountain they appropriately call the Matterhorn. |
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| Less snow and smaller mountains in Cortez, Colorado, about 113 miles from home. |
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| Starting to look like the desert. On the Ute Reservation in the farthest part of Southwestern Colorado. |
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| More desert, with the promise of snowy mountains ahead, in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona - 160 miles from home. |
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| More flat dry brown desert. Kayenta, AZ - 220 miles from home. |
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| Boring boring boring. Tuba City, AZ - 293 miles from home. |
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| So many decisions. This time, to Flagstaff, but next time ....?????? |
That was the first day. There was lots of singing along to all the music I only listen to when alone (e.g., Indigo Girls) and, obviously, snapping photos out the windshield. I spent the night at a hotel in Flagstaff, went for a hike the next morning, and then headed to Tucson.
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| Early spring in all its muddy glory in Ft. Tuthill Park in Flagstaff -- 388 miles from home. |
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| South of Flagstaff on I-17 - 427 miles from home. |
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North Phoenix -- 530 miles from home -- and where the traffic starts to get obnoxious.
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Picacho Peak - on the hiking bucket list since 2012 - south of Phoenix and 600 miles from home.
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| Finally at my destination in Tucson - 600 miles from home - welcomed by these two lovebugs!! |
The best part of the road trip (other than liberating my snowboard from storage) was spending time with great friends from Arizona, Kerri and Kate. We went out to dinner, drank wine, complained about the current state of affairs, and played Cards Against Humanity - Trump version. So. Much. Laughter.
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| Kate, Kerri and Me. |
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| Dinner on a patio - one of the benefits of February in the desert! |
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| If you haven't experienced Cards Against Humanity, you need to. Right now. My sides still hurt from laughing. |
On the second day in Tucson, I drove down to Sierra Vista, home of Ft. Huachuca and our storage unit. I was a little surprised at the absence of the "wow factor" I used to have when driving towards these mountains. Side effect of living in Colorado, I guess.
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| Sierra Vista, Arizona - we lived here from 2012-2014 and again for a few months in 2016 |
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There are few things as beautiful as a sunset in Southern Arizona.
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| My snowboard!!!!! My MTB rack!!!! I'm sorry I left you in the storage unit for so long! |
Having liberated the important stuff from the storage unit, gotten my "girl fix" with Kerri & Kate, and loved on some DoodleDogs, I turned the car around and headed back to my pack and the Colorado mountains. Mission Accomplished.
