Back on the weekend of January 7th Caroline and I drove from Phoenix, Arizona to Los Angeles, California as we embarked on the monumental personal challenge of attempting to travel somewhere away from home no less than 25 times this year. This was our first trip that included museums, a botanical garden, the ocean, and dinner on the ocean in San Pedro among other things.
On January 21st we returned to California, except this time we were aiming for Death Valley well north of Los Angeles. Caroline is seen here posing at Tea Kettle Junction on our way to Racetrack Playa to see with our own eyes the rocks that sail across a dry lakebed. Now, while this second trip of the year qualified as just that, I’d like to point out that was actually our third consecutive trip following the idea of going somewhere every other week. Over Christmas, we were over in New Mexico at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for some birdwatching, 10’s of thousands of birds.
February 4th seemed to come on fast but this time we were staying right here in our own state of Arizona. I’d booked us a couple of nights at Bright Angel Lodge and hoped that we wouldn’t encounter snowy roads on the way up. As you can see, we had great weather, great views, and consequently a great time here at the Grand Canyon.
Maintaining the theme of trying to avoid snow in the wintertime, our travel plans had us going south on the weekend of February 18. We came down this way to revisit a hiking trail we’d visited nearly 17 years prior. Well, we didn’t make it there because we were distracted by news of a mass of sandhill cranes nearby, and even on the way there we got sidetracked by a quick visit and hike to the Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge. So you can better understand just where we were on the map, Douglas, Arizona, is about 250 miles southeast of us right on the border of Mexico and about 20 miles west of New Mexico.
For the 5th trip away from home this year, which is coming up very soon, I’m now scrambling to finish a ton of details that I put off until the last minute. Because we are so familiar with traveling I need not worry too much about getting things perfect too far in advance. I believe Caroline and I have confidence that the flow of our travels, no matter how they unfold, always seem to have been well-planned and fortunate regardless of the situation once we’re there.
So maybe this shouldn’t be considered a race at all but more a marathon because with 21 trips still ahead of us we need to pace nearly everything we do so we don’t burn out by feeling like we’re always on the run. This is where my preparations which occur in the background while Caroline is at the office should allow her a seamless move from working to being transported someplace where a real adventure in exploration, beauty, and fun can be woven together, allowing the high frequency of so many trips to remain exciting and not slip into feeling like chores. Oh yeah, the last thing, where are we going next? Ha, check back soon.