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:
This is a small cactus garden (as well as a large saguaro cactus you can see in the background) in the campground.
Our “front” yard
The pool (that’s Saylor swimming) which is heated to 86 degrees. There is also a hot tub just behind here on that raised platform, that you can’t see in this picture.
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…
I think this is amazing. Their first little arms don’t even start growing until they are at least 60 years old and they don’t reach full height until they are over 150 years old.
I love this sign. Tee hee
This is called a fishhook barrel cactus
What a perfect saguaro specimen. This has to be over 150 years old!
This saguaro has 8 arms! Does that make it an octoguaro?
This is a pencil cholla.
This is the inside of a fallen saguaro. Saguaros have these ribs inside of them which are like the bones of the cactus. Who knew?!?!
They had a gorgeous paved hiking path.
This is an ocotillo. During the spring red blooms adorn the tips of each branch and provide nectar for migrating hummingbirds.
Getting a closer look
Teddy bear cholla. I learned that there are several varieties of cholla and not all of them are jumping. This is a non-jumping one.
Greg and Elijah recently went back to Saguaro N.P. again to do some hiking, just the two of them.
Greg made Elijah a new friend. “Cactus Man”
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.
There are walking paths all through the desert gardens
Their Limestone caverns exhibit
Elijah liked this the best, I think.
They had a great prairie dog exhibit that this picture does not even begin to do justice.
These are the ribs from old dead saguaro that lost it’s skin. They used them as poles for the fencing for the coyote.
cholla, cholla, everywhere!
Saguaro National Park – West.
We had a picnic here. What a beautiful picnic spot. What an ADORABLE little car! I love my Zippy!
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:
That thars the sheriff!
This guy was… interesting.
Saylor and I took a ride in a horse-drawn stage coach!
Showing off her new sunglasses outside the O.K. Corral
The famous O.K. Corral
We found this wanted poster and could not pass it up!
Popeye loves it too.
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…
She was trying to touch the top and knocking off Papa’s hat in the process. Tee hee
The next picture is of “Balanced Rock”. It was surreal to see it up close. It’s as if this huge boulder is sitting in a tip at the bottom, like a top!
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…
We removed two of the dining room chairs and moved our storage ottoman to use as bench seating. It really opens up the space and makes it so the chairs aren’t right up against the couch. I can’t believe it took us a year to do this!
Added some wall art we found “along the way”. This is my corner in the living room.
This is Greg’s corner in the living room. That “B” is made of antlers.
Amen!
This is the “first time” picture. We were having a hard time finding diesel during our last scenery swap day. We finally found a gas station, but it was a bit too tight for Greg to safely maneuver all 60 ft. of our rig through the gas station. There just so happened to be a closed RV dealer right across the street with a huge empty parking lot. Greg pulled in and unhooked the fiver and drove the truck over to the gas station. Zippy and I stayed with Exodus while Greg was fueling up Moses. That is the first time he’s unhooked to fuel up en route. He’s such a pro now that this whole process only added about 15 minutes to our trip time. As always, better safe than sorry!
This is quite funny. Sometimes Greg and I lie in bed and watch netflix on one of our phones so we aren’t using our hotspot data. Greg rigged up the selfie stick to hang down and hold the phone and we put this paper bowl behind it so the speakers are louder. We call it plugger tv and it works perfectly! Lol
I love our refrigerator. Family and friends on top and places we’ve visited on the bottom.
This is what it looks like in my tiny kitchen when I’m in the process of cooking and/or baking. Not a lot of counter space, but it works for me. I actually have more counter space than most RVs, so I’m not complaining. I love my tiny kitchen.
Just a cute picture of our cute Popeye.
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…
