Arizona

Disclaimer/Spoiler Alert: I’ve made the decision to post the blog exactly as I wrote it.  It tells the story of the beginning of my relationship, which unfortunately doesn’t work out later on.  He was an important part of my journey, so I’m keeping in intact, despite how hard it may be to read knowing that the outcome isn’t a happy one.  Thanks for following along!

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I was on my journey to Arizona and I wanted to stop by Gila National Forest on my way through southern New Mexico.  I spent the night at a rest stop, the last place to stay near Gila National Forest that still had a cell signal.  As soon as I finished work in the morning, I drove off into the wilderness.

The drive was amazing.  It was a beautiful day and I loved driving on the curvy mountain roads.  Each turn offered up a new, breathtaking view and I crawled along as slow as possible to take it all in.  I found a campsite on a cliff overlooking the Gila River and set up my hammock, taking an hour to just relax and enjoy the quiet. 

We were camped just a couple miles from Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, so I headed up there to find some hiking.  Dogs are allowed on many of the trails, but they aren’t allowed at the actual cliff dwellings.  I left Dakota in the van and did the short hike.  The cliff dwellings were incredible, I was amazed at how well-preserved they still were after 700 years.  I feel like I could totally live in a cliff dwelling! 

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On my way back to the trailhead, I spotted a big, blue van in the parking lot!  It was the friends I had just met near White Sands, but they were hiking by the time I got to the vans, and without a cell signal there would be no easy way to meet up.  How did anyone have friends before cell phones?  I took Dakota for a shorter hike on another trail where she stuffed her belly full of horse poop, despite my best efforts to keep her from snacking. 

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Back at camp I cooked dinner, made a campfire, and sat out under the stars.  Dakota didn’t care to join me, she tucked herself into bed pretty early, but I didn’t feel anxious about sitting out there alone.  I had gathered as much wood as I could find earlier, which wasn’t much, but I figured a short fire was better than no fire.  The fire actually lasted much longer than I thought it would and I had the most enjoyable evening sitting near the fire, listening to music, and watching for shooting stars.  The activities that used to make me sad a few months ago were starting to hurt less.

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The next morning, I had good intentions of being at the trailhead by 10am.  I planned to do an 8 Mile hike with Dakota and didn’t want it to be too hot, so an early start would be best. 10am rolled around and I was still tearing down camp.  I had coffee left and my hammock was calling me.  It’s mornings like these where I have the internal battle of the “shoulds.”  I should be at the trailhead by 10am. I should take my coffee in a thermos to go.  I should be packing.  I feel like I need to do all these things but on the other hand, I can’t help hearing, “I should take a minute to enjoy this.”  And that voice often wins.  I remind myself that this is the one time in my life where I don’t have to be on a time schedule.  There are very few things that I have to do, and the shoulds are just me putting imaginary pressure on myself.  So I sat in the hammock and watched Dakota explore the campsite.  I took my coffee and wandered toward the cliff, finding a spot overlooking the river and watching the hawks circle overhead.  I quieted the “shoulds” and just enjoyed the moment. 

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By the time we got to the trailhead, it was noon.  It wasn’t too hot, but it also wasn’t cool anymore.  There wasn’t much shade on the trail either, so I watched Dakota closely and let her set the pace.  As we climbed higher, the breeze picked up and the air cooled a bit.  Clouds rolled in and we enjoyed overcast skies the rest of the hike. 

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As we hiked, the canyon walls grew up around us.  Soon we were hiking in a slot canyon and my Utah heart felt right at home.  I had been worrying about how far Dakota could make it but, she kept pressing on, running off ahead and exploring around every bend.  Eventually, we came out of the narrow canyon to a river where I stopped to eat lunch before turning around and heading back to the trailhead.  The drive out of Gila was even more impressive than the drive in.

I found a spot just outside of Silver City, New Mexico that had great cell signal but was tucked among the trees, away from civilization.  I ended up staying in this spot for a few days, grateful for a place where I could work and still feel like I was camping.  I spent some time writing, hiking the nearby trails, and lounging in the hammock. 

During this time, I was also still chatting with the guy from my last post.  We had exchanged numbers just before I went off the grid into the Gila Wilderness and still was interested in talking to me when I returned. 

He had recently started recording a podcast so I spent some time listening to it, which made me feel awfully creepy to know so much about him before we had even been on a date.  He is a professional poker player and a river guide.  He had found a balance between funding his life with his poker skills while staying true to what he loves most by taking people out on the river.  He asked me if I’d like to chat on the phone sometime, and after spending so much time texting people I’ve dated lately, this was a breath of fresh air.

He called me and answered my, “Hey!” with a slow and sweet, “Howdy, Jenny.”  My world turned upside-down. He told me it was nice to hear my voice and I was immediately reminded of how creepy I was to have just listened to his voice for the last hour.

The conversation was easy and fun, and I was completely fascinated by him.  He’d be leaving Texas in a few weeks and heading to Colorado where he guides in the summer and we hoped to cross paths during that time.

From Silver City I drove to Tucson, Arizona.  I spent my first night there in a Walmart parking lot and my heart was missing my campsite and quiet morning routine I had gotten used to lately.  This choice was strategic though because the whole crew (Dakota, Forrest, and I) was incredibly dirty and we needed access to showers/baths/car washes.  My desert shower outside of Carlsbad was no longer cutting it and I found my hair would remain in the shape of a ponytail after I’d remove the hair tie. Dakota was now 75% dog and 25% dirt.  Forrest still had bugs splattered across him from Florida.  It was time to clean up.

Walmart was right next to Planet Fitness, where I take my showers, then it was off to clean up the other two and do some laundry.  Luckily, I found a car wash that also had a self-serve dog wash!  Although Dakota hates them, she usually does just fine with baths.  In Florida, she had her first experience with an actual dog wash tub (normally I just throw her in the shower), and she did alright with it.  I got her into the tub with minimal fighting and started washing her.  She wasn’t thrilled but was tolerating it alright, or so I thought.  Soon I look down in the suds and see that she has left a little poop surprise in the water and was threatening to step in it.  I couldn’t help but laugh as I tried to scoop the poo out of the water and could only think of all the times I’ve heard of kids pooping in the tub.  Who needs a kid when your dog can do the same thing?

Forrest’s bath was a bit less exciting and I made the most of my money by immediately taking the crew down a dirt road to our desert campsite for the night.  Although I wanted the clean to last longer, I was happy to be back in the dirt.

My work schedule has been hard in Arizona because they are on Mountain Time, but they don’t observe Daylight Savings Time, which means I start my first class at 3am and finish at 7am.  Typically, when I get up for work, I’m the only one awake, so I was startled to see someone else walking around their campsite when I let Dakota out.  Then I realized it was because they hadn’t gone to bed yet (it was 2:30 in the morning).  I do the best I can to try and get to sleep early but it’s awfully hard to call it a night at 7pm.

The next morning, I was off to Saguaro National Park.  There are two sides to the park, and they’re separated by Tucson.  I started my adventure in the East park and checked in at the visitor center to see if there were any trails where I could bring Dakota.  The ranger warned me that it was too hot for hiking and they were not advising anyone to go out to the trails.  A little heat wave was making its way through and the high temperatures for the day were in the 90s.  There was a short, ¼ mile paved loop where dogs were allowed, so I figured that would be plenty with it being as hot as it was.  I got Dakota out of the van and within a minute of being on the path she started pulling me back toward the van.  The ground was already so hot it was burning her paws. 

I put her back in the van and I took the hot stroll solo.  I loved being among the giant saguaros.  I always think they kind of look like people, stuck in a unique pose, many of them celebrating with their arms in the air.  Occasionally I’d find two cacti interacting, in this case it was a high five.

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We took a scenic drive and then it was time to beat the heat.  I had the next day off work and was ready for adventure.  There was a campsite I had my eye on that was up near the Coronado National Forest and it would get us up higher into the mountains, where it would hopefully be cooler.  I drove Forrest up a winding, bumpy road as we climbed higher and higher.  All of a sudden, I noticed I had hot air blowing on me instead of my A/C.  The van was overheating.  I had pushed Forrest just a little too far.  I immediately turned him around and began heading downhill where pulled into the first campsite just 50 feet down the road before it became a problem.

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The views from this campsite were expansive and I could see the entire city of Tucson.  The wildflowers were out of control and there was a strong wind blowing through to keep us just barely cool enough.  I watched the sunset and the dark silhouettes of the giant saguaros against the pastel sky.

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During this time, I had of course still been chatting with this guy and felt myself becoming more and more invested with each conversation.  He told me he wanted to meet me sooner than on his trip to Colorado and I was excited about the possibility of seeing him before then.  I asked him when he was thinking, and he told me after tomorrow he had two days off.  My heart started racing and my hands started sweating as I realized I’d be meeting him tomorrow.  He was willing to split the drive from Terlingua, Texas to Tucson, so we’d be meeting in El Paso.

The next morning, I took Dakota for an adventure to a waterfall.  It involved a lot of scrambling over big boulders and I loved watching her jump and navigate her way over these huge rocks as if she were still 2 years old.  We found the waterfall but couldn’t find a way to get close to it.  We tried a few different routes but none of them were accessible by both of us.  Eventually we headed back, encountering a lady who was terrified of dogs, and then it was off to El Paso.

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I spent the next two days looking and feeling a lot like the emoji with hearts in its eyes.  This guy was even more captivating in real life and our connection was unlike any I’d experienced before.  We took a trip to Holloman Lake, which is the spot I stayed at just outside of White Sands, and before I knew it, it was time to part ways. 

I was preparing myself for a sad goodbye and was surprised when I didn’t feel sad.  For the first time in a long time, I felt like this wasn’t actually goodbye.  I knew deep down that I’d be seeing him again.

I retraced my steps and arrived back in Tucson to visit Saguaro National Park West.  We made it a quick stop since there aren’t too many dog-friendly places to hike, and then drove off towards Mesa, Arizona.

My grandparents lived near Mesa when I was growing up and I was fortunate enough to visit them most years from the time I was a baby.  I had recently been wondering why I felt so connected to the desert and I realized it’s probably because I grew up there. 

My grandma loved the desert deeply.  Her house was covered in décor that matched the landscape and she’d tell me all about the plants and animals that inhabited the area.  She would take us hiking and point out the different types of cacti along the way.  Being back in the desert made me feel close to her again.

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My grandparents also always had some sort of camper or RV.  They’d travel across the country and visit family along the way.  Maybe it isn’t so crazy I ended up this way after all.

I found a campsite with a view of Superstition Mountain, my grandma’s favorite place, and spent the evening thinking about all the time I had spent out here as a kid.  I planned to hike a trail on Superstition the next day, in honor of my grandma.

After work the next morning, I made coffee and relaxed in the sunshine, watching Superstition change colors as the sun rose.  The sounds of the birds took me right back to spending time with my grandma at her house.  It’s incredible how sounds and smells can transport you to another time.

The hike at Superstition was perfect.  Dakota enjoyed the trail and we had ideal weather.  I chatted with hikers along the way, as I typically do, and I took way too many pictures of the mountain views and the wildflowers.  The flowers were all in bloom and every so often the smell of the fresh blooms would be overpowering.  I couldn’t figure out which flowers they were, but I stopped at nearly every one to test it out. 

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Dakota had a scary encounter with a snake on the trail, which was bound to happen sooner or later.  She did most of the trail off-leash because it was so rocky and when we hit trails like that, it’s safer for both of us if we aren’t attached.  She was just ahead of me when I saw her jump and I noticed the snake down by her feet.  I called her and she immediately ran to me and sat down, obviously startled but otherwise unharmed.  We slowly moved around the path of the snake and continued the rest of the day without any more wildlife encounters.

That evening I stopped by the church where my grandma’s ashes are kept.  I struggled to find it and was sort of disappointed to see it kept behind a big, metal gate, so I couldn’t get very close.  I was thankful I had the time at Superstition, where I felt like I had spent the day with her.

From Mesa I had to get to Flagstaff because I would be catching a flight back to Michigan for my sister’s baby shower.  I’m thankful I could fly back instead of drive, but it’s hard to plan for a flight when you live on the road and never really know where you’ll be.  I figured I’d be in Flagstaff and on my way to the Grand Canyon… and then I met a guy 13 hours from Flagstaff.  It was too late to change the flight, so I planned to head back down to Texas to be with him after my trip to Michigan.

My time in Michigan was quick and filled with lots of exciting celebrations.  I got to tag along as my stepsister picked out a wedding dress and I got to see my sister’s growing bump as she heads into her last month of pregnancy.  I got a quick visit with my best friend and lots of time with family.  Then it was back to Arizona.

I had been chatting with another solo female vanlifer (who also travels with her dog) since I was in Florida.  We were both in Jacksonville at the same time, but Dakota had just gotten fleas and that prevented us from being able to meet up.  Since then, she has been just a couple weeks behind me on the route from Florida to Arizona and we’ve just barely missed each other on too many occasions. 

When the plane landed, I had a message from her saying she was in Flagstaff and had a great campsite for both of us.  She also had just opened a bottle of wine.  Needless to say, I stayed up way past my 7pm bedtime and we spent the evening bonding over vanlife stories and becoming fast friends.

Work in the morning was rough due to the lack of sleep, the cold temperatures, and a slight hangover. The best fix for a rough morning was going to be brunch. She works in the mornings too, so while I waited for her to finish up, I ran off to the grocery store to get supplies for pancakes and beermosas.  Once again, I had intentions of leaving before noon and ended up spending a good amount of the day chatting and enjoying the warm sun.  As much as I wanted to spend more time with my new friend Laurén, who can be found on Instagram at @flitfloatflyaway or on her blog www.flitfloatflyaway.com, I also wanted to get to Terlingua. 

My first stop was Petrified Forest National Park.  This is a fairly dog-friendly park, so Dakota enjoyed adventuring on the trails with me.  I’ve seen a lot of desert landscapes, but this was unlike any I had seen before. 

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This is also where I was when I first got paid for my writing.  Over the past week I had applied to be a writer for a vanlife blog, submitted my first piece, and got paid for it.  It’s a crazy feeling to get paid for words, especially when it’s something I do just because I enjoy it.  I’ll be sure to pass along information about where it gets published as soon as it’s live.

From Petrified Forest, I did all I could to make it to Terlingua in the least amount of time possible.  Two days later, I was there.

“Maybe it won’t work out. But maybe seeing if it does will be the best adventure ever.”

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