13th day - 23.02.2022

The view from the window of my hotel is unusual. It's pouring rain. So I take it slow this morning. There's a small breakfast here. A bagel with peanut butter and jelly is typical American. The coffee is especially good here. Often you only get colored water. Funny enough, there are only two small tables here. That's why many people decide to take their breakfast to their room. I'm lucky, when I arrive one of the two tables is just becoming available.

I leave relatively late and head towards Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on Highway 85. After a few minutes, you can see the plant symbol of this region - organ pipe cacti. At first, they are sparse. But then more and more. The sight of this genus, which is limited to this region, is naturally incredibly unique. In Europe, cacti are rare and if so, very small. Everything here is so overwhelming.

The rain sometimes stops and sometimes picks up again. It's bizarre when heavy rain showers set in in such a desert landscape. Numerous signs warn of flash floods and certain roads that should not be driven on.

When I arrive at the monument, I'm lucky. I catch 10 minutes without a downpour. As soon as the first drops fall, I make my way back to the car and reach it pretty soaked. I drive back a short distance on Highway 85 and then turn right onto Highway 86. From here, it's another 200 km to Saguaro National Park near Tucson.

The appearance of the cacti is constantly changing. Sometimes only a few grow in the vast landscape, sometimes hundreds of them stand close together on hilly terrain. At one stop, I see that someone has decorated a cactus as a reminder of God. And that in the middle of nowhere. Why this one, I have no idea.

After about 2 hours, I arrive at the national park. And here, my impression is supposed to increase even more. Where previously only a large number of plants grew sporadically, the ground here is covered with cacti. Unbelievable. I take a short walk and go up a hill where I see a mountain range on the horizon and in front of it, as far as the eye can see, prickly green columns. Beforehand, there is a warning about rattlesnakes. So it's better to stay on the trail even though they should still be in hibernation.

After 90 minutes, I head towards Tucson. From there, I take interstate 10 towards Willcox where my next accommodation is. Often highways are not so interesting, but this one leads through incredible panoramas of the Arizona landscape. Sometimes you drive through a small mountain range and then the landscape opens up from left to right to an extent that you would never see in our country.

My road trip book recommends a visit to a completely weird highway rest stop. The Thing! And already kilometers before, numerous billboards point to this place. On a huge area where the gas station appears very small, there is a sales house with an oversized sign. Besides a fast food restaurant and a huge sales room, there is an exhibition. The theme is that there are extraterrestrials and they have been around for a very long time. So long that they rode on the dinosaurs. The exhibition costs five dollars and is lovingly designed. At the end of it, you can see The Thing - a mummy that no one knows where it came from. Who comes up with such a bizarre thing? I buy a T-shirt and then drive the last 30 minutes to Willcox.

My motel is in very good condition, as is the room, and there is a Popeyes in town, a Southern fast food restaurant. Since I've never been there, I take the opportunity and find out that they probably run a methadone program. In any case, I have never seen so many obscure and crazy characters in one place ordering at the same time. By the way, I don't need to eat the food a second time.