Arizona Any Day!
#vanlife #landscapephotography #robertanthonyphotography #flagstaff
Parked for Lunch at Ship Rock
I finished up my drive through New Mexico by visiting Ship Rock. I thought it would be cool to fly the drone around the rock. It’s pretty large. I drove about an hour down a 2 track road to get to the rock. It was a miserably slow drive . About 5 mph the entire way as it was very, very rough and clearly travelled very little. FYI, the drive to the rock isn’t worth it in my opinion. There are 3 other formations along the highway on the route to Ship Rock. They are every bit as lovely and daunting and are right off the highway. If you are traveling, I would counsel against driving that 2 track out to Ship Rock.
Happy to be leaving New Mexico with it’s Chinese Virus Lockdowns, fear, and dread, and masks, I embraced liberty and freedom again entering Arizona. It must be what it feels like to leave a communist country to arrive in a free land. I was able to make it all the way to Petrified Rocks National Park and only spent a brief few hours there in the afternoon.
The park is close before sunset and doesn’t open til after sunrise. No way to get decent photography inside it’s borders related to early morning or late day light. However, I did walk the Blue Mesa and found it to be quite photogenic.
It was good. The petrified trees that are actually turned to literal rocks fascinated me.
The surprise of the evening was my campsite inside the Arizona border. What a great place to set up camp for the night. The app I-Overlander is proving to be my best traveling friend for these awesome off the road campsites.
The sunset was amazing.
I woke up and spent the morning getting some breakfast after working out for about 90 minutes. Yes, I do work out regularly on the road. It’s all body weight stuff along with a serious set of bands…and a speed jump rope.
Enough to keep me in shape anyway.
Hey, you know, taking care of my body/machine can’t stop just cause I ain’t at home! To look this awesome takes work and discipline and commitment. :-)
I then headed to Flagstaff, the current location from where I write this blog. I am staying with my cousin Todd and his wife and daughter. He and I have spent a number of days hitting the mountain at 3:30 am hiking to have coffee overlooking the valley and enjoying the beautiful AZ sunrise.
Today, the 3rd day of such hikes, I decided it would be prime to do a video. I studied the weather last night and it called for part cloud part sun in the early AM. Prime sunrise photography material! So my cousin helped me get the “B” roll footage along with flying the drone around. B Roll is the footage that tells the story, or as Todd called it “TV Footage”.
After today’s longer hike, as Todd didn’t have to work, we did have to stop at the Safeway grocery store to get me some nose spray! Holy Dry Nose Batman! I am used to humidity. This dry desert is wreaking havoc on my nasal passages.
Time with him has been really special. Todd and I have enjoyed many adventures through life. Into my early adult years, we water skied often. Frequenting Gun Lake (the lake I reference in my blog about changing where you’re fishing).
Ultimately, we ended up skiing in water ski tournaments in Charlotte, MI. Michigan… Gretchen Whitmer’s Despotic Dystopia. You know, that place?
Good times. Crazy times in my early 20’s.
Nothing stupid. I never really let myself get into a lot of trouble. Just fun days.
Day’s long before I even understood Tyranny and how evil and awful some, like Mrs. Whitmer, are capable of being. More carefree times.
Distance has made it nearly impossible to maintain a normal relationship, but it will be my hope that this 4 days in Flagstaff with him will help re-invigorate the bond.
At any rate, I hope you enjoy these “phone” photographs from my jaunt through NM and AZ. Headed onward tomorrow most likely.
On the agenda, Marble Canyon Overlook from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, The Wave if I can get a Permit, Buckskin Gulch from the Wire Pass entrance and then… who knows. Sure to be a challenge for me. I hear I can back right up to the edge of the Grand Canyon at Marble Canyon Overlook. It’s technically National Forest. Guess what that means. Drone Footage…inside the Grand Canyon. Yeah Boi!
I appreciate you.
~rob out
