Saturday Summary - Week 19 - Petrified Wood, Saguaros, and a Road That Made Me Close My Eyes

Week 19 - Mar 7th - Mar 12th Show Low, AR (50’s)  → Tucson, AR (60’s)  → Saguaro National Park, AR (60’s) → Phoenix, NM (90’s) 

Gallup, NM

We visited Gallup, New Mexico, which feels like one of those classic Route 66 towns that still carries the spirit of the road. We spent the morning wandering around, doing our own little photo tour, after getting coffee and breakfast at Gallup Coffee Company. I even took a picture with all my sloths in front of a Route 66 mural (MOS, Bumble, and Don, of course). It was ridiculous and perfect at the same time.

We stopped at Richardson Trading Post, which has been family-owned since 1913 and is known for authentic Native American jewelry and art. I bought the tiniest Hopi stud earrings, small enough to wear every day but meaningful enough to remember where they came from.

Petrified National Forest, AR

From there, we drove into Petrified Forest National Park, which wasn’t even on my radar when I first started planning this trip. And wow. This place completely surprised us. The first overlook of the Painted Desert stopped us in our tracks. The colors stretched out forever: soft pinks, purples, rust reds, and grays layered across the landscape.

We hiked Blue Mesa, which was probably my favorite. The trail winds down through these surreal purple-gray clay hills with giant petrified logs scattered everywhere. Don and I kept saying “wow” every few minutes because every turn revealed another incredible view. As an added bonus, Lucky was allowed to hike with us, something that almost never happens in National Parks. She looked so tiny and cute wandering around among these ancient logs that were once giant trees over 200 million years ago.

At Crystal Forest, we saw the petrified wood up close. The logs are divided into perfectly straight sections that look as if they were cut with a chainsaw. It turns out that the crystal structure of the fossilized wood fractures under stress like chalk, creating those clean breaks.

The park even preserves a section of old Route 66, complete with historic telephone poles and a vintage car, marking where the “Mother Road” once passed through. A family from Texas helped take our photo there, one of my favorite photo of the three of us from the trip.

That night, we pivoted from our original plan to stay in Sedona because the temperature was dropping to 19°F. Instead, we stayed in Show Low, Arizona, in a small RV park surrounded by pine trees. After weeks of desert landscapes, being back among trees felt strangely comforting. We sat at the picnic table and just talked about how amazing the day was.

Salt River Canyon, AR

The next morning brought one of the most intense drives of the trip. We took Route 60 through Salt River Canyon, which I had absolutely no idea was coming. Imagine hairpin turns, steep drop-offs, and massive canyon walls. I’ll be honest, I had my eyes closed for parts of it. Don did an amazing job driving, but my nerves were definitely tested.

As we approached Globe, Arizona, I saw my first Saguaro cactus. They don’t look real at first. They’re enormous, I mean, they are trees made of cactus. Some of them are over 45 feet tall (the tallest recorded was 78') and can live for more than 150 years. I was completely mesmerized. As we continued towards Tucson, we saw more and more saguaro cacti. It was an incredible drive.

Tucson, AR & Saguaro National Park

We ended up changing plans again and heading toward Tucson, staying at Catalina Brewing Company, a Harvest Host stop. Their motto is “We bike, we brew,” so of course, they told me about The Loop, a 130-mile trail system around Tucson. I was excited to bike part of it, but it didn’t quite match the picture in my mind. I had imagined something like the Erie Canal Trail back home, but instead it ran beside a dry desert riverbed. It felt a little lonely. So I did what I’ve learned to do on this trip, I looked for a better memory. I found a beautiful Tucson mural nearby and rode over to it instead. Two locals were walking by and happily explained all the different Tucson symbols painted in the artwork. Suddenly, the moment shifted from disappointing to meaningful.

Our next stop was Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park, and I think this might be my favorite campground of the whole trip. It felt like camping inside a desert botanical garden. Saguaros surrounded our site. Wildflowers were blooming. Honeybees buzzed around a flowering bush next to our picnic table. The temperatures were perfect, and the desert felt incredible after a light rain.

The next morning, I walked toward the restroom and noticed the Brown Mountain trailhead nearby. I told myself I’d just take a quick look. But the mountain, and the Saguaros, were calling me. I kept walking. That hike turned into something much deeper than I expected. I was completely alone in the desert. Hawks circled above, lizards darted across the trail, and at one point a deer leapt across the path in front of me. Standing next to those giant Saguaros felt almost spiritual. These cactus trees grow incredibly slowly (sometimes only an inch a year) and many of them standing there had already been alive longer than any of us. I didn’t come down from the mountain with answers about life, but I definitely came down with bigger excitement and enthusiasm for our trip.

Later we explored Saguaro National Park, but honestly, our campground had already spoiled us. The concentration of Saguaros at the Park was incredible, but it didn’t quite match waking up to one towering over our campsite.

Gilbert, AR

From Tucson, we continued to Gilbert, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, where we stayed at Home Sweet Home Animal Sanctuary and visited Jennifer, the CEO of Don’s company. It felt funny being back in suburbia for a couple days, think chain stores, parking lots, and neighborhoods. I even walked to PetSmart and bought a backpack carrier for Lucky so we can take her on longer hikes.

And yes… I finally got a haircut.

We had dinner with Jennifer and her family at Rustler’s Rooste, a huge western-style restaurant overlooking Phoenix. She ordered rattlesnake for us to try,  which honestly tasted kinda like calamari. I mean, anything fried is fried food, right?

The next morning, we continued west toward Yuma, our final stop in Arizona, where we're headed to visit Don's cousins. Another week on the road, and more friends and family to visit, we're very fortunate.

 More places we didn’t originally plan to visit, which served as a reminder that sometimes the best parts of this trip are the moments we didn’t plan.