-Tucson-

Days 39 through 40- Tucson, AZ

Last stop on the road trip! Visited some old and new spots while in town. Tap & Bottle was fantastic, Dave.

Sadie made some dog friends.

Walked with the husky pups again (hey Susie!)

Stopped at the dunes outside of Yuma on the drive back to San Diego.

-Beaver Creek Campground-

Day 38- Coconino National Forest, AZ

Camped at Beaver Creek campground tonight. I've camped here three years running, and it'll be closing for good in December.

Skunks invaded the campsite. I'm not kidding. At least three, and they wouldn't stop coming back, despite pretty constant shooing. Sadie was thrilled. She didn't chase any of them though; she has an iron will.

It's nice to be back in the desert.

These skunks were my bigfoot. The two pictures below are actually the best out of a dozen.

Sadie, staying on her bed. Mostly.

-Sedona-

Days 36 through 37- Sedona, AZ

Met my family at Sedona today. Thank you Sherrian and Bruce, for letting us stay in your beautiful home!

Chapel of the Holy Cross (Frank Lloyd Wright)

-Coral Pink Sand Dunes and Lake Powell-

Day 35- Coconino National Forest, UT and AZ

Made a couple of stops along the drive; Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and Lake Powell. The dunes were a blast.

Lake Powell:

Camped in Coconino NF, south of Flagstaff. We were visited by coyotes in the night. They came up to the truck and huffed a bit, then started howling. It was awesome.

Enjoying the sun.

-Zion-

Day 34- Dixie National Forest, UT

While driving south, took a short detour to drive through Zion. Didn't linger long, but the scenery was stunning.

Camped in Dixie NF. Sadie saw a doe with two fawns while we were out walking, and chased all three for about half a minute.

It really did freeze tonight.

-Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest-

Day 33- Salt Lake City, UT

Upon entering the NF, the light rain turned to snow. I kept driving (for about 2 seconds), then decided I'd be better off finding somewhere non-snowy to camp. Ended up finding a trailhead literally 50m downhill of the snowline. The next morning I drove up to play in the snow.

-Boise National Forest-

Day 32- Boise, ID

Drove through ferocious thunder storms today. It was dumping buckets. Finally made it to Boise, then up into the mountains. I blew it by not taking pictures that evening, because the clouds rolled in the next morning and whited everything out. Met some poachers while Sadie and I walked in the morning.

Hunting squirrels (not poaching).

-Gifford Pinchot National Forest-

Day 31- near Yakima, WA

Started the long drive to Sedona, to meet up with my family. Stopped for the night in Pinchot NF, at a legitimate campground.

Hiking the next morning.

-Olympic Peninsula (again)-

Day 30- Olympic National Park, WA

Day two in the rainforest.

Lake Crescent

Beach near Neah Bay

 

Cape Flattery was worth the detour. The rain cleared just long enough to run down the trail and back.

Cape Flattery! The northwesternmost point of the contiguous US.

(No Russian subs, dad)

Rain in the rainforest

Staying dry.