After enjoying our time in New Mexico, we stayed in Arizona for a week. We packed in a ton and took a break from our usual school routine and basically did a week of field trips - full on road school style!
📍 Coronado National Memorial and Coronado National Forest
Coronado National Memorial lies at the crossroads of four distinct ecosystems: Rocky Mountains, Sierra Madre Mountains, Sonoran Desert, and Chihuahua Desert. We hiked a portion of Joe's Canyon Trail as well as climbed up to the Montezuma Pass — Putting us very close to the border as Verizon sent a text saying, "Welcome to Mexico." Montezuma Pass is like being on a sky island looking out across the desert "sea." The rapid elevation changed over a short distance, which isolates habitat for plants and animals that cannot survive the hotter and drier conditions of the lowlands. Also, home to the Huachuca agave plant, only found in the Huachuca Mountains!
Valor earned his 8th Junior Ranger badge!
📍 Saguaro National Park
I had been looking forward to this National Park. The saguaros were majestic!
Did you know that a 5-10 year old saguaro measures only 1 inch tall? They grow to 2 feet tall between 20-45 years. 6 feet tall at 35-70 years. The saguaros grow their first flowers between 35-65 years old. Then begin growing arms between 50-100. A saguaro generally lives 150-200 years.
Valor earned his 9th Jr. Ranger badge!
📍 Kartchner Caverns State Park
The boys and I visited Kartchner Caverns State Park, increased our knowledge of cave formations, and on our cavern tour got to see Kubla Kahn (the tallest and most massive column in Arizona — 58’ tall), and the longest soda straw formation in the US (21’ 2”!). True loved riding the trolley up to the cave entrance for the tour, ha!
Valor earned his 10th Junior Ranger badge and True had the opportunity to earn his first!
📍 Tombstone, AZ
Have you watched the 1993 western movie, Tombstone? Did you know it is loosely based on real people and events in a town called Tombstone, AZ? In preparation, Nick and I watched the movie and then took the kids to see this real life western town!
Valor did a scavenger hunt around the Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park and earned another Junior Ranger badge (#11)!
