Wintering in Southern Arizona

We are very much enjoying a warm winter in Southern Arizona.  We are staying at Valley Vista RV Resort in Benson, Arizona, which is about 45 miles east of Tucson, 22 miles north of the famous town of Tombstone, and less than 60 miles north of Mexico (as the crow flies).  We are enjoying everything about this area, but especially the warm, dry temperatures!  We are planning  a trip down to Mexico before we leave, so I’ll show you that in a later post.  We have only been here for less than two weeks, but we have already explored quite a bit.  First though, here are some shots from around our campground:

The very next day after we arrived, Elijah insisted we go to Saguaro (sa-WAH-row) National Park.  This park has been high on his “must see” list since we started our journey.  We learned that Saguaro National Park actually has two districts embracing Tucson from the east and west.  Rincon Mountain District is located east of the city, while Tucson Mountain District is located to the west.  Since we are east of Tucson we decided to visit Rincon Mountain first.  Check it out:  Here are just a few of the sights we’ve seen…

Elijah also wanted to visit the famous Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum thinking it was more of a museum than a zoo.  It turns out it was more of a zoo and a huge desert botanical garden and not really a museum at all.  It was memorable nonetheless.  Just outside of it was the west district of Saguaro National Park called Tucson Mountain District, so of course we had to check that out as well.  Saylor was not at ALL interested in going (she was in fact quite opposed) so we left her home with Greg while just Elijah and I did this field trip.

Tombstone, Arizona, also known as “Town Too Tough To Die!” claims to be the most authentic western town left in the United States. We are only 20 minutes away and have already visited 3 times.  They have gunfights, stage coach rides, and old western characters galore.  Check it out:

Our latest find was an awesome park (that I had never even heard of prior to just a few days ago) called Chiricahua National Monument. I can NOT pronounce Chiricahua for the life of me, but this park is almost 12,000 acres of absolute beauty.  With it’s abundant pinnacles, many liken it to Bryce Canyon in Utah. We were blown away!   Pictures can not even begin to do this place justice.  But I sure tried…

I hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse into our travels.  Here are a few “around the house” shots as well as a “first time” picture.  You’ll see…

Thanks for joining our journey.  We will be here enjoying the warmth of Southern Arizona for another 5 weeks (3 more weeks here, then 2 weeks back in Cottonwood.)   Stay tuned for future adventures…

Happy Trails and Sunny Sails!