We took off for the desert last week, in an attempt to avoid people and wait for us to move slightly farther up the COVID vaccination list (our county is well behind the curve on this). Plus, there were some places we wanted to see.

And it was pretty darn spectacular.

>> Two nights at the far end of Joshua Tree National Park, in the Cottonwood Campground, hiking the nature trail and the Lost Horse Mine Loop.

>> Visited the amazing Intaglios outside of Blythe

>> Two nights at Picacho Peak in Arizona...where the campgrounds provide hot showers and ban both drones and generators. And took a couple of hikes there, plus a day hiking in Saguaro NP West.

>> A night at Chiricahua National Monument--which had stunning hoodoos, a lovely little campground, and snow.

>> Two days visiting Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, driving both major scenic drives, going on a couple of hikes, and seeing the dreaded border wall.

>> Managed to see two wonderful petroglyph sites, one in Saguaro NP West, and the other near Gila Bend.

We drove over 2,000 miles, hiked about thirty, and generally had a grand time.

And since we spent most of our time in the van or on the trail, we didn't see many people, either. Which was good.

And this morning we managed to get listed for our first vaccine tomorrow!

Here's a link to the photos.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/iDXq4M2HqgwDX2dK7

For us Civil War buffs, Picacho Peak was the site of the westernmost battle of the Civil War, and also one of the smallest, in April 1862. Gettysburg it was not--this "battle" was between a 10-man Confederate patrol and a 13-man Union (mostly California militia) patrol. The fighting lasted abut 90 minutes, resulted in three Union deaths, and ended with both sides retreating. It did have an important result in that the Confederates left Arizona and gave up trying to gain a foothold in southern California.

Congratulations on getting your vaccine appointment! I managed to get one by sheer luck and am due for shot #2 later this month.