Petrified Forest National Park is one of the most genuinely strange and beautiful places in the American Southwest — 225-million-year-old trees turned to crystal, scattered across a landscape that looks like it belongs on another planet. The Painted Desert stretches across the northern half of the park in rolling bands of purple, lavender, red, and cream, and the petrified logs themselves are jaw-dropping up close — swirling rings of quartz, jasper, and agate in colors no living tree could match. Shelby and Ben joined us for this one, and having good company made the whole surreal experience even better. LOVING LIFE HAVING FUN at Petrified Forest National Park.

Ehrenberg sits right on the Colorado River where Arizona meets California, and it punches well above its weight for a town most people blow past on I-10. The river here is wide, slow, and lined with palms — a genuinely beautiful stretch of the Colorado that most people never stop to see. We parked along the bank, let the dogs run the sandy shore, and discovered the Thirsty Pirate Beach Bar and Pirates Den island across the water. The sunsets over the river are spectacular, and the whole vibe is laid-back desert river town at its best. LOVING LIFE HAVING FUN on the Colorado River in Ehrenberg.

The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest is one of Arizona's best-kept secrets — nearly two million acres of ponderosa pine, alpine meadows, canyon rims, and high-country lakes along the Mogollon Rim. We have been coming to the Rim for over 29 years, camping on forest roads with friends and family long before the Z3400 was even a dream. The elk wander through camp, the wild turkeys strut past at dawn, the stars are ridiculous, and the air smells like pine and rain. Bear Canyon Lake, the Rim overlooks, the forest roads that go on forever — this is the Arizona most people never see. LOVING LIFE HAVING FUN on the Mogollon Rim.

LOVING LIFE HAVING FUN at Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "d'SHAY") — a stunning and sacred site located in Apache County, Arizona. Unlike most national monuments, it lies entirely within the Navajo Nation, and much of the land is still inhabited and used by Navajo families. The monument is jointly managed by the National Park Service and the Navajo Nation. Nazlini is a small, rural Navajo community located in a remote high desert region — the name comes from the Navajo word meaning "flowing in a crescent shape."

If you've driven I-10 through southern Arizona, you've seen the signs. Hundreds of them. Bold yellow and blue, stacked along the highway for miles and miles: WHAT IS THE THING? They start somewhere in New Mexico and they don't stop until you either pull off at Exit 322 or spend the rest of your life wondering.

We pulled off.

Bowlin's The Thing is a roadside travel center that happens to contain one of the most gloriously unhinged museums in the American Southwest. For a couple of dollars, you walk through a series of outbuildings packed with alien dioramas, animatronic dinosaurs, a mineshaft pit with a covered wagon at the bottom, neon-lit creatures, and wall panels asking questions like "What if we descended from ancient cosmic beings?" It is part carnival, part fever dream, part genuine curiosity cabinet — and it is completely, unapologetically itself.

Reecee got to come in. That alone made it worth the stop. Watching a dog wander past a roaring orange-lit T-Rex and a trio of aliens under a UFO saucer is a very specific kind of perfect.

Bowlin's The Thing, Dragoon, Arizona. Exit 322. LOVING LIFE HAVING FUN off the interstate.