Purposes of this trip:
One, visit my friends that I missed seeing in 2019 (thanks to the airline schedule mess-up) and in 2020 (thanks to pandemic) but have seen most every other year since 2005.
Two, to visit some national parks in the southeastern quadrant of the state including one missed in June 2021

ARIZONA FRIENDS: The day before our pre-arranged time to meet, the wife of my friends texted saying she was hoping her miserable head cold was better by now but needs to visit a doctor about it and would rather not "share" the cold with me. So, three years in a row of close-but-no-cigar visiting these friends.
ARIZONA PARKS: I originally planned to visit three national parks in Arizona during my two-night visit to Arizona. With the cancellation of visiting my friends, I added two more national parks that were in the southeast portion of the state.

MISSED VISITING:
--my Arizona friends -- for the third year in a row after having visited nearly every year since 2005

OBSERVATIONS: Some observations made while traveling in this area:

1. I suppose people either get used to, or just prefer, living in the desert with the mountains vs. an area with trees that change with the seasons
2. While driving along highways 188 and 70 I noticed how there were numerous homes "by themselves for miles" surrounded by desert with mountains nearby. And, most all of the houses and buildings were either white or light beige.
3. Teddy Roosevelt Lake was visible from highway 188 for many miles. It is a gorgeous setting. I would see an occasional boat with people fishing. The lake was also visible from Tonto National Park.
4. The few towns along highways 188 and 70 each were stretched out for (too) many miles along the highways. Thus, people just trying to pass through had to endure numerous stop lights and 35 MPH (vs. the 65 MPH or 55 MPH otherwise along the highways).
5. An interesting highway sign I kept seeing said "Refuse Transfer Station". They are, I later learned, a place where locals dump their waste/trash until it can be transferred to larger vehicles to transport elsewhere.
6. Drivers in Arizona pretty much drive either the speed limit or 5 to 10 MPH over it. But, in the towns along the highways, they tend to drive 10 MPH over the posted speed limits.

The Bests:

• Flying west from Kansas City to Phoenix starting before sunrise gave us passengers a colorful view of the clouds on the horizon.
• Always interesting to see a desert since none exist east of the Rockies. And, rarely a forest fire east of the Rockies either.
• Teddy Roosevelt Lake was beautiful, particularly with a fog (or smoke or smog) hovering just below the tops of the mountains that served as a backdrop to the lake plus the white clouds above the mountains.
• Sunrise at Chiricahua National Park
• Visiting four national parks in one day

The Worsts:

• Phoenix highways and traffic - around 2:00 pm on I-10 for about a 10 mile stretch leading up to the Phoenix 202 loop it was stop-and-go traffic which delayed me expected arrival by half an hour. Rush hour traffic going INTO the city in the early afternoon,,,???

The Totals:

• Miles Driven: 999
• Driving: 10 hours in 3 days
• States: 1 -- Arizona
• Pictures Taken: 99 (and deleted 99 of them)
• National Parks: 5 -- Tonto, Chiricahua, Coronado, Tumacacori and Casa Grande Ruins

Remaining to Visit by State
• AL - DONE but would be good to drive to Dothan from Albany, Georgia
• AK - DONE
• AZ - Some national park in the northeast part of the state to visit in 2022. Plus, will return on occasion as long as friends Diana and John lives in the state
• AR - DONE although friend Jan lives here
• CA - DONE but have yet to actually go into Lassen Volcanic National Park
• CO - DONE but need a photograph of the Smoky Mountain National Park sign, also would like to drive between Pueblo and Montrose to complete a section of the state yet to drive through
• CT - DONE
• DE - DONE but may retire to Newark in 2022 or 2023
• FL - Likely visit Orlando where a high school classmate and a cousin both live, still want to take the ferry to Fort Matanzas and revisit a couple of places on the Gulf Coast: Sarasota (downtown), Pine Island and the Naples Botanical Gardens
• GA - DONE but would like to drive from Macon to Albany then on to Dothan, Alabama to cover those parts of the state to yet drive through
• HI - DONE
• ID - DONE but would like to drive from Boise to Moscow to cover that part of the state to yet drive through
• IL - Chicago has some places yet to visit, also, maybe family history research in Danville and Pecatonica
• IN - Evansville Museum, maybe visit a friend in Plainville, and, maybe family history research in Ft.Wayne and find ancestral cemeteries in Brown county
• IA - DONE unless family history research in various parts of the state
• KS - I currently live here, may want to try Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park someday
• KY - DONE
• LA - DONE unless visit cousins in New Orleans
• ME - Revisit Acadia National Park to photograph the park sign and just see the park again, also visit the area around Eastport
• MD - DONE unless to visit some national battlefields
• MA - Visit the islands Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, also, family history research plus I know many fellow Toastmasters in Boston
• MI - DONE but would like to visit the "thumb" part of the state at Port Austin
• MN - DONE unless decide to visit Isle Royale National Park from Grand Portage (also a national park there)
• MS - DONE
• MO - DONE, but I live too close to KCMO to avoid it
• MT - DONE unless I try a fourth attempt someday to Glacier National Park to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road
• NE - DONE
• NV - DONE
• NH - DONE
• NJ - DONE
• NM - DONE but would like to drive from Deming to Alpine, Arizona to cover parts of those states I have yet to drive through
• NY - Many many places yet to revisit in this state
• NC - DONE
• ND - DONE but would like to drive from Bowman to Rapid City, South Dakota to cover a part of those states I have yet to drive through
• OH - Family research in several towns, one cousin in Columbus <>
• OK - DONE
• OR - DONE
• PA - Family history research in the southeastern quadrant of the state and north central part too
• RI - DONE
• SC - DONE
• SD - DONE but would like to drive from Rapid City to Bowman North Dakota to cover a part of those states I have yet to drive through
• TN - DONE but would like to drive through the mountains along the border of TN and NC
• TX - Brother lives in this state as does a friend, also, would like to drive from Amarillo through Lubbock and on to
• UT - Need to photograph the Zion park sign (despite two previous attempts to visit there) and actually go into the park
• VT - Want to drive entirely around Lake Champlaign, also, maybe some family history research
• VA - DONE but cousins live here
• WA - DONE but a friend lives in Seattle
• WV - Want to see Blackwater Falls State Park near Davis WV, couple of national park signs to photograph in New River National Park
• WI - DONE but maybe re-attempt (it was pouring rain years ago when there) to visit House of the Rocks and Taliesman near Spring Green
• WY - DONE but would like to drive through the central part of the state e.g. Casper through Dubois then south through Afton to Rock Springs
• AB - REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to see Banff National Park and Lake Louise someday near Calgary in Alberta
• BC - Love Vancouver and Butchart Gardens plus much more north along the coast to see on Vancouver Island all the way to Port Hardy
• LB - Newfoundland/Labrador is worth one visit someday but it is a big undertaking since it takes a day each way just to ferry from Nova Scotia
• MB - Winnepeg, Manitoba is worth one visit someday
• NB - New Brunswick was gorgeous with the fall colors and I liked the three highways I drove going across the province but I never really stopped to see anything. Want to see Saint Johns and along the coast northeast of it, also the Kouchibouguac national park
• NS - Missed much here and would like to return someday, two national parks to visit: Cape Breton and Kejimkujik (dark skies)
• ON - DONE since visited Toronto and Ottawa
• PE - DONE since Prince Edward Island was unimpressive, so likely done here although I did entirely miss the western half of the province
• QC - DONE since visited Montreal and Quebec city and some towns south of them, plus, drove the entire coastline so unknown if will return here -- do not like feeling ostricized with the French everywhere
• SK - Regina and Saskatoon in Saskatchwean are worth one visit someday
• YK - Yukon is iffy if it is worth a visit someday since it is a long way to there and really nothing in particular to see or do except the scenery. Ditton Nanuvut and the Northwest Territories.