Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Arizona

Posted in Arizona, National Parks, RVing, Tourist Attractions, Wandering around AmericaTagged , , , , , , , , ,

State 3:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride! I will be featuring the states alphabetically and next up is

Arizona

Arizona, nicknamed “The Grand Canyon State”, became the 48th state on February 14, 1912. Phoenix is the capital and the state’s largest city.

I first saw the Grand Canyon back in the 1960’s when I was in the third grade. I sat in the back seat of our Ford station wagon with my two brothers as our family went on a cross country trip seeing some of our National Parks and of course the Grand Canyon was one of the highlights of our trip.

Henry and I made our first trip together to the Grand Canyon in 1985 when we loaded up our mini van with our kids and tent camping gear and made the trek from Georgia to the Grand Canyon South Rim. Henry returned  the next year and backpacked into the canyon with three friends. Having done the South Rim, we decided to make the North Rim of the Grand Canyon our first major destination in our inaugural cross country RV trip in 2006.

Before we got to the North Rim we traveled across Arizona and took in the Meteor Crator, Petrified Forest National Park, Painted Desert and the Vermilion Cliffs .

Meteor Crater in Arizona
Petrified Forest National Park
Painted Desert
Painted Desert
Vermillian Cliffs on way to Jacob Lake

Our home base for exploring the North Rim was in the Kaibab National Forest. We saw evidence of recent wildfires and beautiful meadows each day as we drove to and from the canyon.

Grand Canyon North Rim Point Imperial
Grand Canyon North Rim Cape Royal Overlook
Grand Canyon North Rim Point Imperial
Grand Canyon North Rim Cape Royal Overlook
Grand Canyon North Rim Point Imperial
Grand Canyon North Rim Point Imperial
Burned section of Kaibab National Forest on the way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
Meadow on the way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Later travels through Arizona found us at Monument Valley, Lake Havasu , and the Four Corners.

The Mittens at Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Lake Havasu in Cattail Cove State Park, Arizona
Cactus in Cattail Cove State Park, Arizona
London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Four Corners – the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada meet here. It is the only place in the U.S. shared by four states

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama      Alaska

18 thoughts on “Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Arizona”

  1. Nice shots. I’ve been to Arizona twice and have a good friend who lives there. I know the Grand Canyon is a beautiful force of nature, but the state just doesn’t call to me. But, I’m guessing the Arizona Tourism Bureau will do just fine without me revisiting. 🙂 I love this series. 🙂

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    1. Thank you Judy! I’m so glad you are enjoying the series. I really enjoyed spending time in Arizona exploring the Grand Canyon and the other wonders but after a while in the desert I’m ready to head back east.

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    2. We lived in Tucson for eight years, 1986-1994. It took nearly two years for me to adjust to the seeming barrenness, but I left loving it. The exotic landscape, the flora, the critters. It was paradise for my boys who spent hours exploring the desert around our neighborhood. If I didn’t have such strong family ties where we live in the Midwest, I’d move back in a heartbeat. Haha! Maybe it’s time for us to become snowbirds! Oh, and our first Christmas there, it snowed!

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  2. Ah, some familiar places! I was just reviewing my photos on the Petrified Forest last night. I’m soooo behind in my posts. The more time I spend around AZ the more I’m settling in and it’s feeling more like home… kind of crept up on me and has surprised me.

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    1. You have spent a lot more time in Arizona than we have and I’m sure there are many spectacular places we missed. My Petrified Forest pictures are from ten years ago! So, could moving to Arizona one of these days be in your future?

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  5. Finally a state I’ve actually been in! The Painted Desert was my favorite place. Liked it even more than the Grand Canyon but I do want to go back to the north rim. Thanks for all the amazing photos.

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      1. Thank you for the feedback on our site. We are learning through others about this thing called blogging. We have made the correction. Now when you scroll all the way to the bottom of the post and into the grey area you’ll see a spot to make a comment.

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  7. Beautiful captures of a beautiful state. This is NOW home for me. I love the adventure Arizona brings us and you did a great job at tempting people to come here. And all my family members from NH, join us for the snowy winters. Life is good. You two are certainly enjoying it.

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