Now, let’s see.. where were we in our journey? Oh, that’s right, Ghost Ranch. (check out this post if you need to catch up). As I mentioned, we greatly enjoyed our time at Ghost Ranch. It was such a beautiful, peaceful environment– I could totally see why O’Keeffe loved it there so much.
just one of a million stunning views at ghost ranch
If you plan on camping, like we did, be aware that the campground at GR is a bit more primitive than, say, a KOA. It reminded me so much of the church camp I went to every summer as a kid– concrete floors in the communal bathhouse, screen doors with that pleasant, familiar “slam”. But there is wifi (though the farther you get from the main buildings, the weaker the signal), coin operated laundry facilities, and indoor dishwashing stations. A few of the best perks we found were that some of the tent sites included an awning– which kept our tent & chairs nice and dry during the few rainstorms that came through– and the free ice in the bathhouse, which made keeping our perishables cold in the desert heat so much easier.
Within an easy drive of Ghost Ranch is one of the most stunning places I’ve ever been– Plaza Blanca, O’Keeffe’s “White Place”. On private property owned by Dar al Islam, a nonprofit Islamic Education Center, promoting the understanding of Islamic religion and culture in America, but is graciously open to the public for hiking and exploration.
my photograph of plaza blanca and O’Keeffe’s the white place in sun
Our dear friend, traveler, and fellow Floridian, Erik joined us unexpectedly for our last few days at Ghost Ranch, making him a welcome third on our Plaza Blanca outing. Best of all, he kept the Mr. occupied while I photographed to my heart’s content!
top: the curly haired boys, hubby and erik; bottom: me doing my thing, photo by erik
More images and thoughts on Plaza Blanca to come in another post all about the inspiration found on this trip. During our time at Ghost Ranch, we also ventured into Taos and Santa Fe. We didn’t do much exploring in Taos (honestly, there wasn’t much time for prep/research before this trip, so we didn’t really know where to go), but felt like we saw a good deal of the city of Santa Fe. The highlight for me of course, being the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. A wonderful little museum, that, if anything, I wished was bigger. But then, I can never get enough.
some of o’keeffe’s tools on display at the museum
At the last minute, we decided to go a bit out of the way and spend a few days in Zion National Park before heading home. I’d never been, so couldn’t wait to finally see it and check another national park off my list. We came into the park in the afternoon from the East, and learned that the road going in from the East would be closed part of the time we were there, which meant our lodging options would be limited to the other end of the park. All the “in park” campgrounds were full, but we ended up at a campground in Springdale, which was within walking distance to the Zion shuttle and everything we needed right in town.
on the zion shuttle
Unfortunately for us, several of the limited number of Zion hiking trails were closed during our stay, but we still managed to see a good bit of the park in the few days we were there.
top: early afternoon on the rim hike; bottom: about an hour later!
Besides just seeing Zion, I had also always wanted to do The Narrows hike, an in-water hike through the narrowest gorge in Zion. Hubby did the entire overnighter about 10 years ago, but we only had the time/gear on this trip for the day trip. I’m always nervous doing river crossings, so actually hiking IN the river for miles definitely had me tensed up almost the entire time. But what an amazing experience! A must do, if simply for the experience of it.
slightly blurry photos due to rented waterproof phone case
The Narrows was a wonderful way to wrap up our Southwest adventure, so we awoke the next morning to pack up and head back to the Pacific Northwest. Strong winds during the night snapped one of our tent poles (!), thankfully not enough to pull the tent down, but that definitely meant no camping on the return trip. We set off, happily chatting our way through the small towns just south of Zion when our car lost power. Womp, womp. We were just outside the small town of LaVerkin, Utah and we thanked our lucky stars that we hadn’t gotten further into the Utah desert. The folks at the local garage were absolutely fantastic, coming in on a Saturday to get us back on the road and keep us from having to spend two days waiting for them to reopen on Monday. If you ever need to break down, LaVerkin is a super friendly place to do it! 🙂
Two very long days in the car later, and we were crossing back over the Cascades into Western Washington. Once the trees began growing taller, the fog and mist settled among them, the air cooled, and we could see beginnings of Fall color, our hearts once again swelled with joy and anticipation.
We were home.
All images by me, unless noted otherwise.
