A Full-Circle Journey to Arizona

Despite our family roots – half Canadian and half French – we have quite a history with the American state of Arizona. It’s where we purchased our Big Blue Bus, where we did most of its conversion from an ordinary shuttle bus into our home-on-wheels; and most importantly, it’s where we conceived our baby boy, Phoenix. (All this is why we named our baby Phoenix, after all – in case you were wondering!)

After spending over a year in Mexico, we knew, then, that Arizona would be our first American stop. And, even though we hadn’t been in almost three years, being in Arizona has felt like a homecoming of sorts.

I remember the saguaro cacti; the dry desert air.; and the smell and sight of early spring in the colorful buds bursting from drab foliage. I recognize Tucson landmarks I had driven – or biked – past as I shopped for bus parts and hardware for our bus conversion. I remember the Tucson Mountain Park, where Bruno and I had sought refuge when we’d needed a few days respite from the endless search for our new home-on-wheels.

Our trip this time has, mercifully, involved more pleasure than work. We arrived to Tucson from Nogales, Mexico to the arrival of my best travel buddy, Sahnah. It was unseasonably cold (read: below freezing at night), but Sahnah happily camped in the tent we set up beside our bus (and just as happily drank morning tea and evening wine inside our bus at our kitchen table!). It was her first time in the Sonoran Desert, so we took her on a stroll around the Gilbert Ray Campground to acquaint her with the saguaro, ocotillo, and cholla cacti surrounding us. The next afternoon, we hiked up into the mountains for yet another close encounter with the unique desert foliage.

It was great to have some girls’ time too. Sahnah had rented a car so the two of us drove into downtown Tucson and I showed her around (because, yes, I know Tucson surprisingly well!) We went to a yoga class, had a delicious vegan Mexican meal (Tucson is renowned for excellent Mexican fare), and wandered down the thrift shops, funky boutiques and cafes in the student area of town. We stumbled upon an open-air African market, a little farmer’s market, and visited the infamous Congress Hotel, where I had danced to Latin music into the wee hours of the night with my Air BnB host a few years earlier.

Another day, all four of us returned to Tucson for Ethiopian food and a wander through the historic Pueblo Viejo (“old village”) where artfully restored adobe homes brighten up the desert landscape with splashes of color. We all agreed that Tucson is a charming and very livable town, at least in winter, and I was really happy to share a city I genuinely love with an old friend – and to reminisce in the season of life Bruno and I were in the last time we were here.

Another day, all four of us returned to Tucson for Ethiopian food and a wander through the historic Pueblo Viejo (“old village”) where artfully restored adobe homes brighten up the desert landscape with splashes of color. We all agreed that Tucson is a charming and very livable town, at least in winter, and I was really happy to share a city I genuinely love with an old friend – and to reminisce in the season of life Bruno and I were in the last time we were here.

With Sahnah’s departure, we had one more round of guests – the parents of my friend, Erin, who live in northern Arizona, and who had been such gracious hosts to us three years earlier. They’d taken us on a day trip to Sedona and the surrounding area, as well as being our personal postal service for many bus-conversion items we had needed. Our Big Blue Bus is actually registered to Sharon and Glenn’s Arizona address, and they were the first people we spent time with just after Phoenix’s conception (though we didn’t know it yet!) This time, too, Sharon and Glenn came bearing many parcels I had ordered to their home (thank you, Sharon!) – including Phoenix’s first balance bicycle, which he tested out that afternoon in the campground. What a proud moment – and another big milestone that happened in Arizona!

After guests and a few days of errands in town, our little family of three headed to Organ Pipe Cactus Monument for another close-up with the Sonoran Desert. This park has the largest concentration of organ pipe cacti (the name is self-explanatory). We did several hikes – including a glorious solo hike for myself and Bruno, respectively – and Phoenix learned the names for many of the desert plants. We caught the flowering of the ocotillo, which gave a little red pop to the dull browns and greens of the landscape. Though our search for coyotes was in vain, Phoenix had a lot of fun howling to the moon. This was a special week for me, because, after a stressful road trip from Mexico, hosting a pile of guests and doing a week of errands in Tucson, I desperately needed to re-calibrate my nervous system – and there is almost no better place to do that than in the Sonoran Desert, where silence and austerity are matched only by endless skies and sweeping sunsets.

Our last Arizona stop was Yuma, where we met up with my parents again! After having spent five weeks RVing along the coast of Mexico with them, we had parted ways for about a month, so they could remain in Mexico for a bit more sight-seeing (and a bit more warmth). Our reunion has been a happy one, and we have spent the last week enjoying each other’s company in a little RV park with a heated pool and multiple trains and airplanes a day – essentially Phoenix’s dream place.

Our return to Arizona has brought one journey full-circle – one that began with a brand new bus, a seed of a baby, and so many hopes and dreams stirring within our hearts. Today, as we head into southern California for new adventures, I willingly send the threads of our family’s story out so that our hopes and dreams and wonders may be picked up and carried onward by the desert wind.

To read more about our previous Arizona-related travel tales:

A Shuttle Bus’ New Life – the Story of our Big Blue Bus

Starting our Bus Conversion in Arizona

At Home in Tucson – 7 weeks living in Tucson

The Search for our Next Home-on-Wheels

Our Visits to Arizona’s National Parks