We thought about it, planned our trip for a long time, then finally left home on October 1, 2022. Drove to Abilene State Park for a night, then continued to Las Cruces, where we stopped for another night. The next day we drove to Saguaro West National Park and photographed the giant Saguaros, then continued to Organ Pipe National Monument, close to the US-Mexican border. We hiked a lot there and focused on the magic sunrises, sunsets, and desert views with the unique Organ Pipe Cacti. Driving north, we stopped at the small copper mine town of Ajo, then turned west to our next stopping point in Yuma Cactus Garden. The next day we arrived safely in San Diego, where we camped in Mission Bay and spent a few memorable days with our older son Daniel and his kind girlfriend Janine. We were happy to see their life and love for the Ocean waves. Our journey continued to Joshua Tree National Park, where we stayed at the Black Canyon camp. Hiked and photographed the desert, with interesting rock formations, and diverse and unique flora. We survived the cholla cactus forest and drove on dirt roads. A few days after, we went through the Mojave Desert to visit Death Valley, National Park. We camped at Furnace Creek then we drove around on paved and on dirt roads, hiked, and photographed this unique place extensively using my large format film camera. We plan to come back to this interesting desert, filled with salt flats, mountains, deep below-sea-level areas, and sand dunes. Coming home slowly, we drove to Buckskin Mountains State Park and then spent a few good hiking days in Catalina State Park, AZ. After stopping at Las Cruces KOA camp, drove to Davis Mountains State Park, TX, where we hiked a lot and enjoyed the starry dark sky. On the last few days, we spent a good time in Llano River State Park, then after 4,200 miles of exploration, finally we arrived home safely on day 25.
