Our rules of the road plus stops in Prescott NF & Oatman, AZ

From Cottonwood the plan was to make our way back to Havasu where our new lift kit and shock kit were waiting installation.  It’s a simple 240 mile drive primarily via Interstate 40.  If Google showed you the way, it would only take you 4 hours to make the trip.  But we have a few rules and they don’t in any way correspond with Google’s calculations.  Our rules of the road are this:

  1. Avoid the interstate as much as possible.
  2. Don’t drive more than we feel like it (which is usually 3-4 hours)
  3. If we see something cool, stop and check it out.
  4. Never turn down a good detour.

These aren’t rules we made up one day, they just naturally happened and over time, proved to be the elements that made for a good trip.  With that, our trip from Cottonwood to Havasu turned in to a three day mozy across the state with only five miles of interstate travel.  A perfect trip in our book.

The first day we chose a dirt forest service road to get us from Prescott to Seligman.  The juniper-covered rolling hills and crisp blue skies made for a lazy, carefree drive.  Along the way we found a perfectly secluded spot in Prescott National Forest to call home for the night.  We never heard or saw another soul and spent the night simply relishing the fact that we were no longer at a campground.

The next morning we headed in to Seligman where we picked up Route 66.  The 55 mph drive down Route 66 was far more enjoyable than it’s bigger, faster interstate counterpart just to the South.  If there is a way to stay off the interstate, even if just a simple frontage road, you better believe we’re going to be on it.  We stopped in Kingman at one of our favorite lunch spots, Siren’s Cafe, then proceeded to check out a spot I’d found on the map outside of Oatman.  Earlier I’d been perusing Google Earth for options around Oatman knowing that the area is mountainous and you know how much we love our mountains.  The spot I’d found was not only available but spacious and scenic.  What we thought would be another quick over-nighter turned in to two because why be in a hurry to move on if you don’t have to?

We’d left Cottonwood on Tuesday and on Friday rolled in to Havasu.  Years ago we traveled fast.  Trying to see everywhere and everything.  Now, having learned a few things, we’re happy to finally be perfecting the art of slow travel and are getting so much more enjoyment out of our time on the road because of it.

10 Comments

Leave a Reply to LaurenCancel reply

  • I like your rules for travel. How do you find those off highway roads? Do you have maps that actually show those forest type roads and is any information provided for such roads? I can sometimes see such roads by zooming in on a google map or other such digital map; but it is difficult to navigate via such systems, since one can not see the big picture of how those roads interconnect and where one might end up, nor is information on the road conditions available.

    • We use a combination of these Delorme Atlas’ and Google satellite imagery. I should add that patience and a sense of humor are also important as road conditions are always hit or miss. We’ve had to turn around on plenty of occasions but we’re always open-minded knowing that backtracking or rerouting is a possibility.

  • Amazing guide. Love the photos too.
    Like you, I have found that ‘slow’ travel is much more enjoyable sine you’re able to savor more moments.
    Nice post. Thank you 🙂

    • I wish we knew more about this. We found these crosses just down the road from our campsite and there was no information to be found.

    • I wish we knew more about this. We found these crosses just down the road from our campsite and there was no information to be found.

  • Same question as Mike…was wondering about the crosses on the rock/arch formation. Love your rules of the road. I might adopt those myself. And in your wanderings around Nevada / Arizona have you found any towns you like better than others? Just curious as I would like to explore this area more this coming fall/winter. Safe travels!

    • Unfortunately we don’t know anything about the crosses. I’m quite curious myself. Maybe someone will come across this photo and have more info for us. Generally speaking, we enjoy towns with populations of 10k and smaller. Those tend to be the quirkiest and are easiest to navigate. Also, we like off the beaten path towns better than interstate towns. We really don’t know too much about Nevada but are hoping to change that soon!

  • I was wondering with all your off road traveling do you have many flats? Have you up graded tires on camper to higher ply?
    Love your posts and pictures, we’re up here waiting for the roads to clear here in Idaho. Happy travels. Chops ????

    • We’ve surprisingly never had a flat. I’m not sure how we’ve gotten so lucky! We’ve repaired plenty of flats for others on our travels and always seem to get a flat when we rent cars but never a flat on our truck. We have yet to upgrade the trailer tires but I know that’s something Mark would like to do.

By michele

About

Hi!  We’re Mark & Michele, a couple of modern-day nomads perfecting the art of slow, perpetual travel.  Our tiny home on wheels and slow-paced travel style allows us maximum freedom at minimal expense.  This blog is where we share our travels as well as our insights in to this lifestyle that we absolutely love.  Thanks so much for being here.

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