Join us as the GoneCamper minivan explores southern Arizona.
With a GoneCamper, based on an economical minivan, you can take road trips and not worry about high gas prices OR motel expenses!
We recently traveled to Tucson to view the Sonoran Desert Museum. This museum is both a botanical garden and wildlife park. Native plants, trees and cactus are displayed in the huge garden setting.
Blooming agave
Blooming barrel cactus
Interspersed are natural habitats with insects, birds, reptiles, animals, and even fish that live in the "Living Desert". We saw javelina, rattle snakes, owls, hummingbirds, coyotes, and desert bighorn sheep - including a two-week old lamb.
Desert Bighorn sheep, including newborn lamb
The museum opens at 7:30 am and I encourage you to go early to beat the heat. It will take several hours to quickly see the park! We had camped just outside Saguaro National Park, and within a few miles of the museum so we could be there just after it opened. Here is a view of our campsite:
Following our visit to the museum, we drove south and east of Tucson to the grasslands of Sonoita and Patagonia. This area along the Mexico border has a unique grassland environment, not found elsewhere in Arizona. In fact, the grasslands are so impressive that the musical "Oklahoma" was filmed near Sonoita!
After a stop in the old mining town of Patagonia, we continued on to Lake Patagonia State Park. Because we were arriving on a Friday afternoon, we reserved a tent campsite along the lake shore in advance. (Because the GoneCamper only occupies a standard parking place, we can camp even in "tent" sites!) The day was warm and the evening was marked by thin clouds that provided a fantastic sunset:
Sunset over Lake Patagonia, just a few miles from Mexico
Why not experience the freedom of traveling when and were you want without worries about driving a gas guzzler RV? Why not forget about staying in shabby motels that charge an arm and a leg? Go GoneCamper! Join us on the road.
"Traveling Efficiently, Camping Comfortably, Living Frugally"
