Warm Weather and Restful Relaxation

Welcome to Warm Weather and Restful Relaxation! When I left off on our travels 2 posts ago, we'd just departed New Mexico to go into Arizona. Arizona is an amazing (and warm!) state. 
After leaving New Mexico, our next destination was Tucson, Arizona. It had the warmest weather we'd seen in months, and we were thankful for it. One of the reasons that we stopped in Tucson was to see the Saguaro cacti. A Saguaro cactus is the "trademark" cactus with the tall body and 2-3 L shaped-arms, and is the cactus that's featured in all the Western movies. We visited Saguaro National Park, and learned that they can live to be up to 200 years old! Some of the scenes and views that we saw in the park were pretty extraordinary, and you can see some of them in the pictures below. 
Something else that we enjoyed about Tucson was the campground itself. The KOA (Kampgrounds Of America) that we stayed at was certainly the largest campground we've stayed at yet. They had many activities to do there, including putt putt golf, a scavenger hunt, bingo night, and a root beer social. We also experienced a really amazing good deed while we were there. An elderly lady with Alzheimer's had left her friend's RV to go to hers, but had forgotten where it was and wandered off. As news of this occurrence spread around the campground, no fewer than 40 civilians (our family included) began scouring the RV park even before the police arrived, to try and find her. There were people in trucks and cars who patrolled the streets in the neighboring area, people on bikes and golf cart, even on foot, searching the campground for about 3-4 hours, before news reached us that the lady had been found in a hospital. This experience will stay with me for years, and I am still in awe as to how many people took action in a time of need. 
While in, Tucson we needed to get our RV fixed. Our dryer wasn't venting moisture, so we dropped the RV off at a dealer, and headed to...the Grand Canyon!
To get to the canyon, we drove the truck from Tucson to Williams, Arizona, where we spent the night at a train station hotel. The following morning, we boarded the train which took us on a scenic route to the Grand Canyon. The canyon is an amazing sight, and I know I won't forget it anytime soon. While we were there, we hiked a couple hundred feet into the canyon and back. This hike was definitely the scariest hike I've ever done! There was a 1,000+ foot drop on one side of us (without a guardrail!), the trail was 5 feet wide, and it had snowed heavily the previous week, making the trail slippery. I say that this was the scariest hike of my life, but it was also the coolest. 
On our way back on the train, we were "held up" by some actors who were portraying train robbers. We were "stripped" of all tips, and we had quite an amusing time. 
Our last stop in Arizona was Gila Bend. This stop was a week long stay, and we didn't do anything notable outside of biking, playing corn hole, and playing at the playground. We were truly "in the middle of nowhere". The nearest grocery store was 40 minutes away! I rest my case. So we enjoyed some restful relaxation while staying in Gila Bend. 
When all was said and done, our time in Arizona was great. We checked out cool cacti, basked in warm weather, hiked into a canyon, and helped some people in need. I am definitely happy that we stayed in this (sunny) state!

​-Woodsman Will-

A Saguaro cactus posing for a picture.

Two different terrains: Barren desert and rocky mountains.

Root beer float social at the Tucson KOA.

Technically, it was snowed right after this picture was taken.

The train robbers put on a show for us before we left. (The poor guy in the yellow jacket almost got "shot".

Posing at the Grand Canyon.

My favorite picture out of all of these: A sunset with Saguaros.