Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.
DeAnza Springs Resort is in eastern San Diego county. At an elevation of 2,600 feet it’s considered high desert with warm days and cool nights. DeAnza is on 500 acres adjacent to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park offering endless miles of remote hiking trails. It was a perfect getaway from the COVID-19 madness.
Last Updated: May 2026 | Originally published June 2020
Ajo sits at the western edge of the Tohono O’odham Nation, about 40 miles north of the Mexican border and roughly 2.5 hours from Tucson. It’s one of the closest towns to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, and in late May 2020 it was one of the few places in southern Arizona with an available RV spot — most parks in the area were full, partly because of workers constructing the border wall nearby.
The name has two competing explanations. In Spanish, ajo means garlic — and some early Spanish explorers apparently found wild garlic growing in the area. But the Tohono O’odham people have a similar-sounding word, o’oho, meaning paint: they obtained red pigment from mineral deposits in this region for centuries before any Spanish explorer arrived. Take your pick.
Last Updated: May 2026 | Originally published May 2020
Tucson in late May 2020 was different. COVID-19 had shuttered the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, closed Western Way’s pool and clubhouse, and pushed most snowbirds north weeks earlier than usual. The campground was nearly empty. But the Sonoran Desert didn’t get the memo — it was putting on one of the most spectacular bloom seasons we’ve seen in years, and we had it almost entirely to ourselves.
The catch: it was running about 20 degrees hotter than normal. We’d timed the trip for the saguaro bloom, which typically peaks in late April to early May when highs hover in the low 80s. Instead, we got 100°F every afternoon. Early mornings cooled into the 60s, which made dawn walks and hikes genuinely pleasant — we just had to be done before 9 a.m.
Last Updated: May 2026
Willcox sits in the Sulphur Springs Valley at 4,167 feet — cooler and wetter than the desert floor at Tucson or Phoenix, and surrounded by some of the most historically significant and visually dramatic country in southeastern Arizona. We’ve stopped here twice, drawn first by the wine country and again in spring 2020 when we needed a low-key base after a long drive from Elephant Butte, New Mexico. The wineries were closed on that 2020 visit — COVID stay-at-home orders were in effect — but the backcountry around Willcox was very much open, and we spent a week exploring Chiricahua National Monument’s back roads, the Fort Bowie National Historic Site, and the remote Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge. The area more than earned its place on our return list.
Santa Fe is the capitol of New Mexico and its’ fourth largest city. In 1846 the United States declared war with Mexico. New Mexico officially became part of the United States in 1848 by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Some could hardly understand why because the land was barren and the people were poor. Later, artists and writers were attracted to the area because of its dry climate and beautiful landscapes. It’s now considered one of the great art cities in America. It would have been nice to explore all the galleries. We will have to return after the coronavirus pandemic is over.
Eagle Nest is at about 8,300 feet elevation and was a 5 hour drive from Amarillo, Texas. Along the way we had either diesel fuel contamination with water affecting our fuel filter verses changes in altitude causing the engine to run rough under a load. After purging the fuel filter of possible water it ran better, but will still require a trip to Freightliner in Albuquerque.
