2023 Southwest US tour Archives - Our View From The Road

Recap and Statistics

By tony.barb.fisher May 2, 20232023 Southwest US tour

It’s been a week or so since we arrived home after our 47 day US Southwest tour and I thought I’d share some specifics about the trip. The first question tends to be about where we stayed each night. Did we find suitable camping locations? So, here are the stats…

Day 47: The road home

By tony.barb.fisher April 23, 20232023 Southwest US tour

Days 45 & 46 were spent visiting family & there was no specific post for those days. This is it, the last day of this trip. We are up early and it’s cool. We enjoy breakfast and say our goodbyes (for now) and hit the road. Our first stop is…

Day 44: It’s nice to be back, Eh!

By tony.barb.fisher April 20, 20232023 Southwest US tour

So this is it, our last day of this trip in the USA and it starts with another beautiful morning. We enjoy a quick breakfast and pack up the van for the drive. We head out and immediately have a small issue, our phones (used for GPS mapping functions while…

Day 43: Northward bound

By tony.barb.fisher April 19, 20232023 Southwest US tour

A nice quiet night at the Walmart parking lot in Russellville, KY. We’re up early with the sun again and soon all set to get back on the road. A short drive to Bowling Green, KY where we stop at the Crumbl cookie store. We’ve been hearing good things about…

Day 42: Russellville

By tony.barb.fisher April 18, 20232023 Southwest US tour

We awake in Russellville. Tonight we sleep in Russellville. Huh? What gives? This morning we started in Russellville, AR. Tonight we are about 450miles further towards home and are staying in Russellville, KY. It wasn’t planned this way however. The day started fairly normally and after breakfast we rejoined I-40E…

Day 41: The start of our drive home

By tony.barb.fisher April 17, 20232023 Southwest US tour

So here we are, the beginning of the end. Today we begin our drive towards Ontario & home. It will take a few days, but compared to the past few weeks our pace will seem meteoric as our goal is to cover distance and not dawdle about. The sunrise was…

Day 40: Caprock Canyon State Park 2

By tony.barb.fisher April 16, 20232023 Southwest US tour

I’m up at 6:45am to turn on the propane and then the furnace. This means going outside at 6C in my shorts. Brrr. However, the warmth from the furnace feels nice and by 7:30am the inside of the van is a toasty 18C. Time to make some coffee. We move…

Day 39: Caprock Canyon State Park 1

By tony.barb.fisher April 15, 20232023 Southwest US tour

A warm night last night and neither of us had a good sleep initially. Then the temperature dropped and we both slept really well into the early morning. Uncharacteristically we didn’t wake until around 7:30am. I decided to go for a walk along the Wild Horse trail and explore the…

Day 38: Palo Duro Canyon State Park

By tony.barb.fisher April 14, 20232023 Southwest US tour

The winds died down overnight and it was calm by the time we woke. Today we will stop at the Palo Duro Canyon State Park. We had originally wanted to camp there but they had no sites and thus we will become day visitors instead. We’re leaving the winery at…

Day 37: We get our kicks on Route 66

By tony.barb.fisher April 13, 20232023 Southwest US tour

Up and at ‘em. The sun’s up and so are we, ready for a day of driving eastward out of New Mexico and into Texas. Today Barb has decided to drive our campervan leaving me to be passenger and photographer. The other rigs that stayed at the brewery we us…

Day 36: Onward to Moriarty, NM

By tony.barb.fisher April 12, 20232023 Southwest US tour

So, no wind at bedtime (or in the forecast). Strong winds overnight, van shaking winds. No wind at daybreak. The winds were so strong that our tenting neighbors bailed in the middle of the night as they were gone before 6:00am when I awoke. The view is still as stunning…

Day 35: Angels Peak

By tony.barb.fisher April 11, 20232023 Southwest US tour

Driving day today as we awake from another quiet night of slumber. The wind has picked up a bit and is from the West so that should help with our travels today. A normal pre-travel morning routine sees us enjoy a small breakfast and then it’s time to disconnect from…

Day 34: Monument Valley

By tony.barb.fisher April 10, 20232023 Southwest US tour

7:00am and an alarm wakes us. The time has gone ahead an hour now that we’re (just) in Utah and we are being picked up at 9:00am for our guided tour of the Monument Valley and backcountry. We enjoy a light breakfast and get ready to be out and about…

Day 33: Onto Monument Valley

By tony.barb.fisher April 9, 20232023 Southwest US tour

Another chilly night, I thought we came South to get some warmth? Had issues starting furnace during the night so used electric cube heater as we were plugged in at the site. Turns out that the propane was NOT turned on thus no furnace, Doh! Although I suppose it’s nice…

Day 32: The Grand Canyon

By tony.barb.fisher April 8, 20232023 Southwest US tour

Another chilly night in the high desert. This one required running the furnace for a few hours in the early morning hours. Brrr. We managed to get ready for the day and on the road before 9:00am. The drive to Grand Canyon National Park was only about 20min and we…

Day 31: Flagstaff and beyond

By tony.barb.fisher April 7, 20232023 Southwest US tour

Today = Driving. We leave Lost Dutchman State Park headed toward the Grand Canyon and the drive looks to be about 4 hrs but we have to stop for groceries and gas. It will take longer than 4 hours (foreshadowing). We start off well at about 9:00am and the traffic…

Day 30: Lost Dutchman State Park

By tony.barb.fisher April 6, 20232023 Southwest US tour

Whoa, chilly start to the day but supposed to heat up to 26C this afternoon. A light breakfast and then both ready ourselves for our morning walks. We were visited by Quail while eating our breakfast Barb will walk about the campground exploring some of the nature trails while I…

Day 29: “Nature is the inspiration for all ornamentation” – FLW

By tony.barb.fisher April 5, 20232023 Southwest US tour

Today we head towards Phoenix, AZ. The sun is up early and we go about our morning rituals to get ourselves and the van ready for a drive. We will miss Picacho Peak State Park, it is beautiful and serine. Our drive along I-10W is uneventful, yep back to our…

Day 28: Picacho Peak State Park 3

By tony.barb.fisher April 4, 20232023 Southwest US tour

Another short post today, the wind continues but it’s only going to get to 17C so it will feel cooler than that. The days starts with my walking around the park again, I take the following selfie. Once back to the campsite Barb catches me relaxing. We have breakfast and…

Day 27: Picacho Peak State Park 2

By tony.barb.fisher April 3, 20232023 Southwest US tour

A quick post today. We’re relaxing and doing some reading while the warm winds whip around our site knocking over chairs and footstools. We both finish the books we are reading by the end of the day. Sometimes staying still is very therapeutic. Enjoy a few pictures taken while walking…