we were SUPPOSED to go to the grand canyon for a week after our time in zion in november. but some camper repairs came up and it was a long detour on our way to vegas, where we were meeting family, so we skipped it. then, when we started making our arizona plans for the […]
studies in ancient peoples of northern arizona.
after our long stretch in southern arizona, we moved a little bit north, to cottonwood, giving us plenty of options for new places to explore. within a half an hour, there were two national monuments (tuzigoot and montezuma castle), both of them preserving the ruins of communities of native folks who once called the verde […]
ajo, arizona.
after our camping trip to organ pipe cactus national monument, i was super excited to stop and visit the tiny little town of ajo, arizona, on our way to the next campground. i had read a bit about the politics and economy of the area, but i was most looking forward to all of the […]
organ pipe cactus national monument.girls only tent camping trip.
when we were coming into arizona, we passed a sign for organ pipe cactus national monument, which i had never heard of. our reservations weren’t anywhere near the park, so i figured we would just have to miss out. then, when our plans changed, due to the hot water heater drama, and we were coming […]
valley vista rv resortbenson, arizona.
after our stay in an unofficial 55+ community in mesa and hearing about how arizona is just chock full of snowbirds in the winter, i wasn’t super excited to head to benson, arizona. i was expected all the retirees to be grumpy about kids being in “their” park, and benson isn’t near a whole lot […]
arizona sewing extravaganza!
while we were in benson, i was able to get a TON of sewing done. the staff and volunteers (and other campers) were great about all of us descending upon the rec lodge and taking over, so i could set up a quilting factory, and the kids could rot their little brains out. we came […]
isaac = eleven.
last week, this guy turned ELEVEN. i have no idea how this happened. like all lidkids on their birthday, i made him pose for some photos. and he looks so grown. i told him to hold up eleven fingers, and he did this. he wanted chocolate muffins (which are really just oversized chocolate chip cupcakes) […]
fort bowie national monument misadventures.
on the day we went to chiricahua, we had high hopes of maybe swinging by fort bowie national monument, which is in the same neck of the woods. but, we had read that the hike just to get to the visitor center was three miles, round trip. we hiked enough at chiricahua that we were […]
tombstone tourists.
our current campground in benson is only about a half hour away from the iconic, old western town of tombstone, arizona. we figured it was worth a trip, so off we went…. our first stop was to watch a gunfight reenactment, complete with historical details. here we are, the full posse, waiting for the show […]
tumacácori national historical park.
on thursday, the kids and i loaded up and headed off to check out tumacácori national historical park. (pronounced too-mah-KAH-kohr-ee, we would learn). basically, it’s the ruins of an old spanish mission, a few miles north of the mexican border, and it was chock full of information about the history of when catholic european explorers […]