Remembering Betty White πŸ’•

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I’ve never been someone who follows the lives of celebrities. I honestly don’t care what they do in their private lives. It doesn’t affect me.

Betty White was different. I love(d) her comedy. I love(d) the way she talked about her beloved Allen. I especially love(d) her kindness, compassion & dedication to animals. Her death has affected me & I think it’s probably even more pronounced because I was looking forward to her 100th birthday celebration today.

πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ
❀🐾🐾❀🐾🐾❀🐾🐾❀🐾🐾❀
😍
πŸ’πŸ¦§πŸΊπŸ¦ŠπŸ¦πŸ…πŸ¦πŸ†πŸ¦“πŸ¦ŒπŸ¦¬πŸ‚πŸ–πŸ‘πŸπŸ«πŸ¦™πŸ¦’πŸ˜πŸ¦πŸ¦›πŸ€πŸ‡πŸΏπŸ¦«πŸ¦”πŸ¦‡πŸ»πŸ¨πŸ»β€β„οΈπŸΌπŸ¦₯πŸ¦¦πŸ¦¨πŸ¦˜πŸ¦‘πŸ¦ƒπŸ“πŸ§πŸ¦…πŸ¦†πŸ¦’πŸ¦‰πŸ¦€πŸ¦©πŸ¦œπŸΈπŸŠπŸ’πŸ¦ŽπŸπŸ³πŸ‹πŸ¬πŸ¦­πŸŸπŸ™πŸŒπŸ¦‹πŸ›πŸœπŸπŸžπŸ•·πŸ¦—πŸ¦‚
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Betty White left us with an even sadder ending to 2021 than anyone who loved her expected. πŸ’”

I’m guessing that the receiving line at Rainbow 🌈 Bridge is still a long one! Between the animals & human lives she touched so lovingly, that line will probably be neverending…

Thanks for the memories ❣

I’ll be donating $5 to each of my 10 favorite animal welfare groups today for the Betty White Challenge. It’s not much, but I’m happy to do it to honor her. Please consider joining me…

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/betty-white-challenge-encourages-fans-to-donate-to-local-animal-shelters-01642188231

Friends, co-stars & fans honor Betty White on her 100th birthday: https://www.today.com/today/amp-video/mmvo131029061807

Betty White Shares How She’d Like to Be Remembered: https://youtu.be/XQG-rFta4k4

πŸ’Ÿ

Final tally: I actually went a little overboard & ended up sending $5 to 11 organizations. πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ The Fraud Prevention division of my bank contacted me last night re: multiple $5 charges! I’m glad they were on top of it, but it’s still funny. 😁

I wasn’t able to get a donation to “my” zoos because my $5 donation was under their minimum. πŸ₯Ί


PEI Humane Society – Maddie❣
Newhouse Wildlife Rescue – MA
Cape Ann Wildlife Sanctuary – MA (Jodi rehabbed my baby crows πŸ’•)
Don’t Forget Us Farm Sanctuary – MA (FB favorite)
Wright Ranch Rescue – FL (FB favorite)
Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue – ND (FB favorite)
The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary – CT (FB favorite – This sanctuary was the dream of the little girl that was killed in the Newtown, CT school shooting πŸ’”)
Best Friends Animal Society – Utah
Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary – TN
Wolf Hollow – MA
Missing Dogs Massachusetts – MA

I had several additional, worthy organizations on my list, but I had to draw the line. 😁 Either they got food or Maddie & I get food… πŸ₯΄


I really hope this becomes an annual event. A $5 donation doesn’t feel like much, but when thousands of people donate $5… ❣

I Found Camelot in Quartzsite… πŸ˜‰

Actually, I’ve found A LOT of camels in Quartzsite! πŸͺ🐫πŸͺ🐫πŸͺ🐫

Photo (edited) from the Desert Messenger on Facebook

Even before we arrived in Quartzsite, I knew there was a long, interesting history of camels here. I’ve now learned some of the local history & folklore, dating back to the mid-1850’s!

Read about Hi Jolly’s fascinating background & folklore here:

https://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/index.php/2013-01-08-06-33-10/hi-jolly-cemetary-2
https://www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/February-2021/Hi-Jolly-Uncle-Sam-s-Camel-Captain
https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2011/01/04/hi-jolly-the-camel-man
The Hi Jolly Cemetery is one of the most unique ones I’ve ever visited. The majority of the graves appear to be above ground. My guess is that because the ground is extremely rocky & solid here in Quartzsite, digging down 6 feet is probably nearly impossible, especially before modern equipment was available. Many of the graves are unmarked, but there’s a map of the gravesites on a signboard.

Celebrating Camels in Quartzsite

Maddie & I attended the Hi Jolly Daze Parade on 1/8/22, where the unofficial/official theme was pride in America πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡², Quartzsite & CAMELS❣ 🐫πŸͺ🐫

The top camel was constructed from natural desert materials❣ The bottom float was “unusual” & after the parade, I saw it speeding down the street!
A Sheriff’s truck led the parade & a fire truck & other emergency vehicles closed it out. Quartzsite has an older population, both as residents & visitors, so there were very few children in attendance at the parade.
πŸͺ❀🐫❀πŸͺ❀🐫❀πŸͺ❀🐫❀πŸͺ❀🐫❀

2021 in Review❣

My photo review will happen as soon as I have decent reception.🀞🏼

The first few months of 2021 were tough for me, just like everyone else. I was struggling at work & it made me really unhappy. As most of you know, I was the Activity Director for a small rest home & I loved my job, pre-Covid. When Covid blasted it’s way into our world, I went from being someone who always tried my best to brighten everyone’s day to The Grinch That Stole Christmas, every day. Instead of doing activities to enrich the lives of my residents, I helped enforce our quarantine regulations. It was heartbreaking & it definitely crushed my spirit. I made the bittersweet decision to walk away. πŸ₯Ί

Green is definitely NOT my best color. πŸ₯΄
This was always my motto at work.
I tried………..πŸ’”
I love this quote by Zig Ziglar! πŸ’
I kinda made both choices!😁
I’ve been hoping my FEAR of heights would have subsided by now, but after 8+ months on the road, I’m still terrified. πŸ₯Ί In most cases, I’ve been able to fight through it & move forward. I didn’t drive on the road above, but some were eerily similar. The difference has been that a majority of the SCARY roads don’t have breakdown lanes or “curbs” & they drop off hundreds of feet into the abyss below. 😳
This is absolutely true! 🌞
I’ve rarely had any thoughts of giving up on this journey… πŸ’•
❀
πŸ’
It’s still been a little bit CHILLY here in the desert! πŸ₯Ά Even local residents & annual visitors have been complaining. The WIND has made it far worse. πŸ˜’ The past 2 weeks have occasionally made me question my decision to stay here, but everyone’s been telling me it will improve soon. I’ve managed to keep us safe & warm (enough) by staying in the car, as needed.
The WIND was brutal, especially in a tent! 😳
THIS is what I’ve been expecting❣ It started out this way when we arrived here in early December, but since then, it’s been COLD. Now I’m glad I chose to wait it out! 😎
My plans for 2022. 😍

Happy New Year!

Greetings from Quartzsite, Arizona!

Maddie & I are still loving our adventure, despite the COLD nights. The weather report looks more promising for this week.🀞🏼

It’s been a little bit CHILLY here…in a tent… 😳
(We’ve been sleeping/warming up in the car, πŸš™)
A friend in Massachusetts saw a weather report re: the cold temperatures in Quartzsite! πŸ₯Ά Along with the below normal temperatures, we’ve experienced a lot of strong wind lately, making it feel even colder.
2021 went out in a blaze of dubious “glory”……. πŸ₯΄
Last sunset of 2021. 😎
Gremlins πŸ˜‰
See ya! 😁
2022 is already showing off! First sunset of 2022! πŸ’•

The reception hasn’t been great here lately, so this will be a shorter than normal update. I’ve been trying to get enough reception to send this out for several days! πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

I want to thank everyone again for following along on our journey & supporting my crazy dream. I think we’ve all been saying that we can’t wait for 2021 to be in our rearview mirrors. In reality, my love affair with America has made these past few months of 2021 the best time of my life. πŸ’ I truly wish everyone could experience something this meaningful & magical in their lives, at least once. 😍

This is a repeat image, but it’s definitely worth repeating❣
Deciding to make this journey has been one of the most AMAZING & powerful decisions I’ve ever made in my life❣

I was planning to do a review of some of my favorite photos here, but it will have to wait until I have better reception. πŸ₯΄

I hope everyone has a HAPPY, HEALTHY, SAFE & WONDERFUL New Year! πŸ₯³

I adored Betty White & I’m heartbroken that she’s going to miss her 100th birthday party.
Please consider doing this to honor her memory. πŸΎπŸ’”πŸΎ

πŸ•πŸ•πŸ•πŸ•πŸ•

Some women have a fancy shoe collection…

I’m collecting tents! πŸ•πŸ• πŸ™…β€β™€οΈπŸ•πŸ•

I’ve developed an addiction. It’s intense…….. πŸ˜‰πŸ™„πŸ˜

Tent #1 was the original one we started out with in May.
It met it’s demise early on in our journey in Virginia. πŸ™„
Tent #2 is the one gifted to me by Lowell, way back on June 1st in Virginia. It’s been a great tent, but sadly, it’s not going to complete the journey with us. πŸ₯Ί These tents are not intended to be used for extended periods of time in the hot sun, strong winds & heavy rain, etc. The zipper pull started to fail several weeks ago, so I bought a zipper repair kit. It worked for awhile, but then failed again. By the time we arrived in Arizona, the zipper became 100% unusable. I had to sew it 3/4 closed & crawl in & out of the tent. The fabric is also starting to deteriorate. πŸ₯΄

As Lowell’s tent continued to show signs of wear & tear, I ordered a replacement on Amazon. I decided to get the next size up of the same tent because I want to be able to stand up straight in it. The 6 person tent isn’t much more expensive than the 4 person size, so it was an easy decision for me. By the way, I don’t know how 6 people are supposed to camp in this tent. πŸ€”

I ordered the tent to be delivered to what I thought was the closest location available, an Amazon locker in Lake Havasu City, AZ, 80 miles away. It was scheduled to arrive in 4-5 days.

I also ordered 3 or 4 additional things from Amazon. A few days later, I received an email that the order had been divided & the tent would be arriving early!

Unfortunately, things went downhill fast & not in a good way. The rest of my order arrived on 12/10. Customers have 3 days to retrieve their orders from a locker, so I had to get to there by Monday, 12/13.

Then I received a second email from Amazon. The tent couldn’t be delivered to the locker. 😳 After 2 days & multiple, extremely frustrating calls to Amazon, I finally learned that the tent wouldn’t fit in the locker, so it was in storage at the UPS Customer Service Center in Lake Havasu City, AZ. The UPS facility closes at 1pm on Fridays & is not open on weekends. By that point, I didn’t have time to drive there by 1pm, so I’d have to wait until Monday. 😫

Amazon should have never accepted my order for the tent to be delivered here. The lockers are outside at a gas station, so all packages absolutely have to fit inside.
Obviously, the tent wouldn’t fit. 😠

With heavy rain & high wind in the forecast, I needed a secure tent! We could sleep in the car, but I’d have to move everything from the tent back into the car to keep dry.

On that Saturday, I drove an hour to Parker, AZ to the closest Walmart, to buy a tent. If I could get one there, my plan was to cancel the Amazon tent, for a full refund. I called Walmart to confirm a tent was in stock, but nobody was available to check for me. 😟

This is Tent #3. Don’t get too excited about it. It lasted 3 days. 😬 It was horrible to set up, even with Maddie’s expert help.

Tent #3 was the only possible choice at Walmart. The others were all too small. I bought the tent & returned to the campground.

The next day, it took me 2+ hours to set up. πŸ˜₯ The directions were poor & I couldn’t find any videos on YouTube to help. I quickly discovered several flaws in the tent design. I was very cold that night because this tent doesn’t have a solid back wall! It’s just netting, very loosely covered by the rainfly. With the strong wind we’ve been experiencing, this tent offers very little protection or warmth. It’s got a lot of serious design flaws. 😠

The storm arrived on Tuesday with heavy, sustained wind, strong gusts & blowing rain. I didn’t feel safe sleeping in the tent, so Maddie & I spent about 24 hours in the car. 😳

When the storm finally subsided, I discovered that I’d been right to be concerned. The rainfly pole had shifted & torn a hole in the top of the rainfly. I was actually “happy” about the damage because now I could return it.

πŸ₯΄

It’s a Coleman tent & I have to offer kudos to the Coleman company customer service staff. πŸ€— When I emailed them, their response was immediate. I had to submit a claim with proof of purchase & photographic evidence of the damage. After a series of emails, they promptly honored their warranty & offered a replacement tent. When I politely declined getting the same poorly designed model again, I requested my original choice. That was an acceptable solution for them. 😊

The next issue was the timing. I was originally told the replacement would take a minimum of 10-15 days to ship, plus delivery time. The holidays were also going to affect the delivery schedule. πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

I’m pleased to say that they apparently pushed my order through because it arrived here last Friday at a local delivery location 5 miles away! Thank you, Coleman!

πŸ‘πŸΌπŸ˜ŠπŸ‘πŸΌ

In the meantime, I was still required to retrieve the rest of my original order from the Amazon locker in Lake Havasu City, 80 miles away. I considered rejecting the order for a full refund, but then I received an email from Amazon. 😁 To close out my complaint ticket, they told me in the email that I could keep, donate or dispose of my purchase! It was a form letter, so I hoped the tent was still sitting at the UPS Customer Service Center in Lake Havasu City. πŸ€” I couldn’t contact anyone at UPS, so I gambled & decided to pick it up, hopefully, along with the rest of my order.

With the clock ⏰ ticking, I drove through the mountains 😳 on that Monday, 12/13. I retrieved my package from the locker & then proceeded to the UPS facility. The tent was still there! The UPS clerk sincerely apologized for the delivery problem, but they had no way to contact me directly. In a few days, it would have automatically been returned to Amazon.

If you’re keeping score, but understandably confused, let me recap it for you. 😁

Tent #1: Back in May, I returned it to Walmart for a refund.

Tent #2: Lowell’s tent. πŸ’• I’ll be taking it down this weekend. πŸ₯Ί I might try to donate it to the Salvation Army thrift store in town or give it directly to someone in need. Sadly, there appears to be a growing homeless population here & I’m sure someone could use it for awhile. I believe in Paying It Forward, so I hope that works out. 🀞🏼

Tent #3: Janet & I have been using it for storage. The screened area has been a nice shelter for us to sit in & visit, while being protected from the almost constant wind. Coleman never mentioned returning it.

Tent #4: Maddie & I are FINALLY in the tent I wanted all along! 😁

Tent #5: This new tent will live in it’s box, until I need it, hopefully long after the conclusion of this roadtrip!

Tents #2-4 are still set up for now. Along with Janet’s tent, we have an encampment of 4 tents. It looks like we have a large group camping here. No, we’re just 2 women & 1 dog! 😁

To summarize, I believe that I have legitimate reasons for having all of these tents, but I readily acknowledge that it’s absurd! πŸ™†β€β™€οΈ

Awhile after Janet threw some trash in the dumpster last weekend, she told me that she’d seen a tent in it. She didn’t mention it until much later. I think she was afraid I’d go dumpster diving for it. 🀨

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I’m thrilled to share with you that I was finally able to get my COVID-19 booster shot today!
After the first vaccination, my arm was a little bit sore for a few hours. Following the second one, I was an EXHAUSTED ZOMBIE for 24+ hours. I simply couldn’t function. I didn’t feel sick. I just couldn’t move. 😳
I’ve been wanting to get the booster, but I’ve been afraid of being ALONE & having another Zombie episode. πŸ₯Ί
When I found out that Janet was coming to spend two weeks with me, I decided that it would be the perfect time to get it. I was able to get an appointment for today at a Walmart about 40 miles away. Janet drove me & I truly appreciate her help. I think I’ll be fine, but it’s reassuring to have a friend close by tonight. πŸ€—

I know this is a controversial topic for some people, but please remember Thumper’s wise advice…

Please stay safe & I hope we all have a happy & healthy new year!

πŸ’•

Merry Christmas! πŸŽ„πŸŒ΅β£πŸŽ„β£πŸŒ΅πŸŽ„

I photoshopped the Santa hat on “my” Christmas cactus!
This is Christmas in the desert! πŸŽ„The photos aren’t great because it was getting dark, but this was just before we joined in the Christmas parade on 12/18! It was the 2nd year for this event & everyone here was encouraged to participate. There were about 20 vehicles & we drove through the entire campground, with a full moon glowing & no headlights on! Talk about BLIND faith! 😎 Other than the moonlight, it was DARK!!! Afterwards, there was a gathering at someone’s campsite, way out in the middle of nowhere. We had hot drinks, all kinds of food & snacks & a toasty warm campfire for S’mores! It was a lot of fun!
I’m the first car/SUV at the 30 second mark!
https://youtu.be/8uAOZXH_DGA

πŸ’
This is Janet’s very festive tent! πŸ• I met Janet at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota in early October & she drove here from Iowa to spend the holidays with us! We’ve been having fun sightseeing & getting to know each other. Now if the weather would just cooperate! The daytime temperatures have been nice, but it’s been unusually cold at night. πŸ₯Ά We’ve had several nights of near or below freezing temperatures! Even locals & regular visitors have been complaining about the cold. Yesterday (Christmas Eve), Janet & I spent the day hunkered down in our tents & occasionally in our cars because of the STRONG winds! I’m pretty sure I saw Dorothy & Toto fly by us! 😁
❄πŸ₯Άβ„β›„πŸŒ΅β›„β„πŸ₯Άβ„
I was saving these for Christmas, but after being “trapped” in my car by the rain & wind, this was my Christmas Eve breakfast! 😍 Dunkin Thin Mints coffee & knock-off matching cookies! πŸ’
Maddie – Christmas 2009, our first Christmas together. πŸ’
Christmas 2017 – Maddie, Alfie & me πŸ’•
Christmas 2017 – I left Alfie & Maddie in charge to guard Santa’s cookies & hot cocoa. I learned a valuable lesson…… 😁
Maddie & Alfie tried their best to make our Charlie Brown tree look better, but the WIND proved to be too much for them. πŸ’•
Maddie – White Christmas in Massachusetts – 2010
This is the first year since Mom died in September 1999 that I didn’t visit the cemetery for Christmas. She’s been “traveling” with us in her Guardian Angel πŸ˜‡ role, so I’m sure she’s ok with it.

Janet & I were invited to join a group of campground neighbors for a potluck supper on Christmas. I’d met two of the people recently, when Maddie broke loose & ran down to their area. 😳 I’m VERY GRATEFUL to Carol for catching her & calling me. Maddie’s name & my phone # are on her collar, so luckily we were reunited quickly. πŸ’

This is one of the things I contributed to the potluck. It was glazed donut holes & maraschino πŸ’ cherries, shaped into a Christmas tree! I used toothpicks to hold it together. The tricky part was transporting it on the bumpy, dirt road to the party, 1/2 mile away! It was sticky, sweet & yummy!
There were a lot of delicious options & I filled my plate! The tiny, panoramic photo here is from the end of the meal. There were about 12-14 of us & despite hearty appetites, there were LOTS of leftovers! We all made plates of food & desserts to enjoy tomorrow! I’ve always loved the taste of grilled food, but the turkey grilled in the desert was exceptionally good!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day. I wish you peace & love, today & always.

πŸ’

Sweet Home, Arizona❣

Greetings from Quartzsite, AZ❣

(Google photo) I’ve heard that there’s an interesting history of camels in Quartzsite. I’m going to research it soon & I’ll report back with my findings. What I know as of now is that there are camel 🐫 statues & lawn ornaments everywhere in Quartzsite! Camels in Quartzsite: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11284

Maddie & I left Massachusetts on May 2nd, so we’ve already been on this journey for more than 7 months. This has been the fastest moving, most exciting 7 months of my life! As of today, I’ve driven Breezy Blue 11,603 miles & we’re 2800 miles from home! We’re less than 25 miles from California!

We arrived in Quartzsite on Tuesday night, November 30th, after 2 more grueling days of SCARY driving. I’m beyond grateful to be on LEVEL ground now.

After leaving Utah behind, the drive from Flagstaff, AZ to Sedona, AZ involved getting stuck on a mountainside for a really long time. I think there was a serious accident further down the mountain because no cars were moving in either direction. I was stuck in an uneven spot, facing down the narrow road & I kept hoping my brakes held out. 😬

This view would have been nice, if we weren’t stuck in this one spot for so long. We were crawling along, a few inches at a time, so the cars were all running for the duration. This area dropped straight down several hundred feet to a stream far below. πŸ₯΄

I had no GPS signal, so I couldn’t tell where we were on the route. It felt like we sat there forever, but we eventually made it down. By that time, I was too tired & too stressed to drive much longer. I located the Cracker Barrel restaurant parking lot in Prescott, AZ to spend the night in the car. I also enjoyed some delicious, comfort food to soothe my nerves. Thank you again for the hospitality, Cracker Barrel! πŸ‘πŸΌ

On Wednesday morning, we set off for Quartzsite. It’s almost 150 miles & most of the first 41 miles is driving through a MOUNTAIN range, with almost continuous 15 mph hairpin turns. Luckily, there weren’t too many other vehicles on the road, so there were only a few, disgruntled motorists stuck crawling along behind me… πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ When the speed limit was 15 mph, for good reason, I was shocked at how fast other vehicles sped by me when I was able to pull over to let them pass. 😳

By the time we were approaching Quartzsite, the sun was beginning to set. The area where we’re staying requires a LTVA (Long-Term Visitor Area) pass & then you just find a spot you like & claim it! I wanted to settle in before dark, so I chose a spot hastily, knowing that I could move again in the morning, if necessary. Luckily, I’m happy with my choice, so we’re “home”.

Our first sunset in Quartzsite❣
I chose this spot because I’m hopeful that it’s a space that nobody else can crowd into us. We’re situated between a large cactus & an arroyo. An arroyo is a dry creek, stream bed or gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Flash floods are common in arroyos following thunderstorms. I doubt it’s of any concern for us, but as always, I’m following the weather reports for our area.
I’m sorry to rub this beautiful weather into my cold climate family & friends, but I’ve HATED winter since I was a little girl. A few people have asked me if I’m going to miss the chance for a White Christmas this year.
Nope! Not even a smigeon! 😁
When I think of the desert, I think of sand. This area of Quartzsite isn’t sandy. It’s DUSTY. Extremely dusty. I even had a great deal of difficulty pounding the tent stakes into the ground because it’s packed down so solidly. I’d anticipated a sandy environment, so the amount of dust here instead is shocking!
I’m pretty sure we don’t need the Dusty Road signs… πŸ™„
My phone camera slightly exaggerated the colors & intensity of this sunrise, but not by much! It was magnificent!!! ❀
According to Google, “It is often written that natural and manmade dust and pollution cause colorful sunrises and sunsets.” Mother Nature certainly creates spectacular colors with the dust here❣ Sunsets haven’t been as dramatic because some clouds are generally required & we rarely have anything but bright, blue skies & sunshine!
Before I submit this post, I want to thank everyone for continuing to follow us on this journey! As of yesterday, December 7, 2021, Day #219, apparently this blog has been viewed over 1000 times!

Navajo Code Talkers Museum

😳 Tuba City, AZ 😳

While planning our route from Utah to Arizona, I discovered this museum on the map! I know the Navajo Code Talkers helped win World War II & I wanted to learn more about their heroic efforts. As of May 2021, there are only 4 Code Talkers alive & I hoped to pay my respects, by visiting the museum.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2018/07/11/navajo-code-talker-facts-unbreakable-code/460262002

Museum: https://g.co/kgs/m3ZP5t

To my great disappointment, I wasn’t able to visit inside the museum because it’s now closed on the weekends. πŸ₯Ί Everything I read said it was closed on Sundays, but open on Saturdays. It was directly on our route, so I took a chance, despite not reaching anyone by phone. There’s some interesting signage outside, so it wasn’t an entirely wasted trip.

Unfortunately, this became the scariest 18 hours of our trip, including being lost in the desert!

I decided it was too far & too late by then to continue driving to our next destination, so I tried to find somewhere to settle in for the night. When I say this city is scary, it’s scary! 😬 I think it might be a COVID disaster area at the moment because EVERONE/EVERYWHERE was wearing a mask! A majority of businesses were closed early or permanently. Many homes are boarded up, too.

The obvious poverty & devastation is even more sad, considering Tuba City is the Navajo Indian Reservation’s largest community, located in Northeastern Arizona. It’s about 50 miles from the eastern entrance to Grand Canyon National Park. Most of Tuba City’s residents are Navajo, with a small Hopi minority.

I found the 24 hour McDonald’s, with the hope it would be a safe, well-lit spot to nap in the car for a few hours. Wrong! It closed early & didn’t reopen until 6am. It was well lit, but deserted, except for the patrol car that constantly drove through all night, with it’s spotlight on. I’m grateful it didn’t stop to question me, but it still felt very unnerving.

Neither Maddie nor I slept more than a few minutes at a time, all night. Between the howling coyotes & multiple barking dogs all around us, we were basically hiding out in the car. πŸ₯΄

As soon as McDonald’s opened, I got some breakfast at the drive-thru & ate it in the car. While sitting there, I quickly discovered the source of the barking dogs! This was just a few of the stray dogs that ran by us! There were easily a dozen dogs in this pack, but there were several groups of them, of all different shapes & sizes. It broke my heart… πŸ’”

Moving on…………

Leaving Utah Behind…

Arches National Park in my rear view

After some serious consideration, I made the decision to leave Utah’s incredible beauty behind & move on to Arizona. As much as I really really wanted to visit the Zion, Bryce & Capitol Reef national parks, my fear of heights was definitely outweighing my joy of the experience. πŸ₯Ί I’m ecstatic that we made it to Utah & camped overnight in Arches & Canyonlands National Parks, but my overwhelming fear of driving off the cliffs became too much to handle. πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ With our earlier, “little” misadventure in the desert, we spent 20 days in Utah, which was much more than I’d originally anticipated! I’m 10% sad that I skipped out on visiting these wonderful national treasures & 90% forever thrilled that we made it to Utah & survived!!! I paid $15 for a DVD of the Utah National Parks, so now I’ll be able to view them & enjoy them at my leisure, from the comfort of level ground! πŸ€“

The colors of Utah are extremely rich & vivid. The following photos of Arches National Park are all edited to soften them, but they’re still extraordinarily bright! I believe I’ve identified a few photos correctly, but I’m not positive. If I don’t know what it’s named, I’m leaving it blank. Not everything is named in the park because of the vast number of them.

You might notice that I don’t have any photos of the famous arches. πŸ€” Almost all of them require a hike to be viewed. Between my fear of heights & dogs being prohibited from walking the trails, I’ll be glad to see them on my new DVD! πŸ˜‰

This is a stock photo of Broken Arch. It was very close to our campsite in Canyonlands & I considered walking out to see it…until I saw the warning about the mountain lion! πŸ₯Ί

According to UtahGeology.com, “Colorado Plateau is home to the densest concentrations of natural arches found anywhere in the world. Arches National Park alone claims to be home to over 2,000 documented natural sandstone arches with diameters of at least 3 feet. At least 800 significant arches have been photographed and identified elsewhere in the state and thousands of others are estimated to exist. Six of the world’s fifteen largest known natural arches are found in Utah.”

https://utahgeology.com/why-are-there-so-many-arches-in-utah

Bighorn Ewe & Lamb

Info re: these life-size & lifelike statues at the Visitor Center. https://www.nps.gov/articles/arches-sculptures.htm
Bighorn Ram, Collared Lizard & Ravens
The black arrow is one of the lower 😳 roads I drove on to start my ascent skyward. I bought a $10 CD for the self-guided tour. It contains incredibly interesting information & both the male & female narrators soothing voices helped calm me during the drive! 😍 It was nice to have them along for the ride!
The Three Penguins
Park Avenue
Balancing Rock is balancing naturally. It is not fastened in place.
TheΒ Three GossipsΒ is a statuesque formation named for its striking resemblance of three people chatting (er, gossiping.) This mid-size formation that stands at 350 feet is located near the Courthouse Towers in the Windows section of the park.”

This isn’t a great photo, but as someone from Massachusetts, this appears to me to be 3 revolutionary war soldiers in colonial Tricorn hats!
Ancient Sand Dunes
Although I definitely haven’t conquered my fear of heights, I’m proud of myself for battling through it to visit Arches & Canyonlands National Parks. I’d have regretted missing out, so I’m thankful that I didn’t give up! πŸ’•
Arches & Canyonlands National Parks provided me with 2 days of exquisite moments❣