sonora desert

Heading To Arizona, And A Drive Through The Sonora Desert – Day 99!

Day 99 had us heading out of Nevada and into Arizona, right through the arid landscape of the Sonora Desert.

We have been fortunate enough to see nearly every type of landscape in our first 99 days on the road. Mountains, badlands, oceans, farmlands, forests, lakes, rivers, prairies – and even a rain forest in northern Oregon.

And no matter where we go, there is always something magnificent to see. And that certainly includes the desert of Sonora!

As we left Nevada, we had to cross over the Memorial Bridge at Hoover Dam. It made for a great stop to get a picture with the camper.

The Sonora covers a huge swath of land in the southwest. It reaches from the southeast edge of California, all the way through Arizona and deep into Mexico.

And with over 100,000 square miles and 2000+ types of plants, it is filled with life.

As we rolled through, we were amazed at how much there really is to see. The wide open skies serve as an incredible backdrop to the rich and surprisingly stunning landscape.

The beauty of the Sonora Desert.

Rock cropping appear out of nowhere. And of course, there are those beautiful Saguaro Cacti.

The Sonora Desert’s Saguaro Cactus

The Sonora Desert is probably most known for it’s famous cactus, the Saguaro. They are actually exclusive to the Sonora.

Probably most well known as the cactus on the Tombstone Pizza package, the Saguaro is simply majestic. This species of cacti can live to be 200 years old, and can grow as many as 20 “arms” or more from their main column. And do they ever grow slow!

saguaro cactus in the Sonora Desert
The Saguaro has a beauty all to it’s own.

Although they can grow to 40 feet or more, it can take a Saguaro seven to ten years to grow to just 2″ tall. We were both surprised at just how numerous they are throughout the desert.

The cacti made for some pretty stunning pictures as the sun set off to the west. Just one more beautiful landscape to log into our mental memory books.

Saguaro cacti
One of my favorite photos of the day, this was taken ri

As for the next few days, there will be plenty of hiking, biking and sightseeing in the sunny skies of Arizona.

But with reports back home of a few inches of snow on the ground, I would say we are more than okay with that! 🙂

Happy Traveling – Jim and Mary.

  • Day 99 of 365
  • States : 13 / 50
  • National Parks / Monuments : 14
  • Stayed In : Phoenix, Arizona
  • Miles Driven : 309.6
  • Total Trip Miles To Date : 10361.4
  • Total Gallons Used : 767.51
  • Biking Miles : 0.0
  • Biking Miles To Date : 142.5
  • Hiking Miles : 2.5
  • Hiking Miles To Date : 231.5

About Our Living Simple Tour

On September 9th, 2019, we set out in our NuCamp T@B 400 Teardrop Camper to travel to every state. You can check out all of our dates here : Dates for the States

You can follow along by signing up for our twice weekly email updates at the bottom of the page. You can also follow us on Facebook : Live Simple Tour Facebook and Instagram : Live Simple Now Instagram Page.

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