We mailed off some postcards from Tumacacori before we headed out to Organ Pipe National Monument. Being Memorial Day Weekend, we didn’t expect there to be too much traffic, given that Organ Pipe is a ways out there. As we drove down, there was very little traffic on the way from Tucson.
However, as we got close to the visitor center, we encountered stand still traffic that took us another hour or so to go the last two miles to the visitor center. When we got to the visitor center, there were only a couple other people there. It was all traffic headed south to Mexico.
We had the run of the place and the kids promptly got to work on their Junior Ranger books.
Ducky was exploring the museum as well and generally trying his best to run amok!
Jarek looks over the model of the park while Evan adjusts his vest
Dad on duty wrangling the babies!
We went out to do the short nature walk around the visitor center. We saw a number of neat saguaro cacti.
Evan poses in front of an organ pipe cactus, while Garrett has had enough.
A pair of saguaros are dueling with one arm tied behind their backs!
Back at the visitor center, the kids turned in their books and received their badges.
A happy Randal back at the AirBnB enjoys dinner after a long day on the road!
Starting off – a quick overview of postcards from some other places that we sent out.
We drove down to Coronado National Monument, about 2 hours from our Air BnB in Tucson.
They had a small visitor center that was focused on the Coronado expedition. They had a display of chain mail and helmets.
While the kids worked on their Junior Ranger books, we hung out by their observation window. They had some chairs set up by a water feature. We were graced with some deer that came up to the watering hole.
Randal was very interested in the Day of the Dead display at the Visitor Center.
Ducky explored the touch and feel science station while Jarek worked on his book.
After completing their books, they received their Junior Ranger badges! Meagan and Randal looked at post cards.
After their books were complete, we drove up a short distance and prepared to do the hike to the cave. The cave is an unprepared cave – that is it is in it’s natural state and has no stairs, hand rails, paths, lighting or similar installed in it.
The hike was fairly aggressive, but short up a ravine.
We passed a cool rock formation that the kids thought looked like a lion, I thought it might be a Sabertoothed Rock!
Evan poses by the entrance to the cave.
To enter the cave, you need gloves and lights. Properly equipped, we began our descent into the cave. The entrance is a fairly steep slope covered in boulders.
I worked my way down with a sleeping Duck while the kids waited at the bottom of the incline.
The kids all took a pose by this stalactite formation. The lights that I got were very bright and helped out a lot with the photos!
On our way out, we saw some of the ancient graffiti – from the 1890s made with candles. The graffiti marked the passage of previous travelers through the cave.
Complete with our cave adventure, we prepared to head back down the trail before the park closed.
We were rewarded with a beautiful view of the valley as we descended through the sunset.
Back at the bottom. Ducky was a bit grumpy, and Randal was out.
Back at the AirBNB, Duck and Randal were both out for the count!
A Mexican Jay gets a drink from the drinking fountain. We got to the visitor center in the afternoon after an hour and half drive.
The visitor center was a smaller one with a small museum. The kids got to work on their books.
The hardest part of getting their books done is distracting Garrett and Randal.
Jarek and Evan interview the Ranger as part of their book.
Books complete, they receive their badges!
Garrett loves to push buttons. He was very entertained by this display, as long as he got to push the buttons.
We took the scenic drive up to Massai Point and had a late lunch at the top. Then we did the little nature hike around the top of the mountain.
We took several pictures of the amazing views and rock formations – you will have to click to enlarge to do them any justice.
The mountains are referred to as ‘sky islands’ because of their elevation, they get more moisture than the surrounding desert. The wildlife isn’t able to move between the mountains due to the lack of water in the desert below. Fort Bowie is approximately 30 miles away in the picture, in the distant mountain range.
I have a video of the scenic drive up to Massai Point which I hope to put together soon!
We did a little something different yesterday. Meagan and the kids went back down to Chaco Culture National Monument to see a solstice performance by some Native American tribes while I took the RV onward to Monument Valley, UT, our next stop. At least that was the plan anyway.
Meagan and the kids got out early and on time to make it down there, but then they ran into a bit of a road block, literally.
These jokers were upset about oil – about the fact that they were not allowed to drill by New Mexico. So they decided to block the road to the National Monument and the cultural activity was the way to go. Personally, I have a strong allergic reaction to people who block roads, for whatever reason. So, I’d be happy to see them never get their desire.
Changing directions, Meagan and the kids headed out toward Monument Valley as well. She took a different route than I did, and stopped by Bluff Fort.
The kids got rocks and were making petroglyphs.
Meanwhile, I was having fun dodging cyclists and thunderstorms on the road.
You can see Shiprock off to the left of the road between the power lines.
I spent most of the drive driving into and around the storms. The winds were very strong. I had a head wind for most of the drive that slowed me down a bit and the truck was working hard to compensate for with the hills without overheating.
I came up on this guy riding his bike on the road. Daring soul, on a two lane road.
I arrived without incident at the campground, a short time ahead of the storm. The campground is nestled in a valley surrounded by towering sandstone bluffs.
I got the rig set up in our spot and was finishing up the connections when the rain drops began to fall.
Soon, there was a torrent flowing by.
I grabbed Ducky out from the truck and rushed him into the RV. I finished setting up the insides while the rain and wind battered the RV.
Meanwhile, at Bluff Fort, they also got hit by the storm and one of their trees was blown over.
Meagan drove by Mexican Hat rock on the way to the RV park.
Later at night, we were hit again by another batch of storms. We heard some rubbing noise, sometimes sounding like a baby cry. Only the baby wasn’t crying. I went out in the storm to investigate. Apparently I had parked too close to one of the branches, shown in the above photo. It wasn’t that it was hitting the RV, but it was above the bedroom slide out and when the when blew strongly, it would move the branch and rub on the top of the slide. Not much to do near midnight, so I adjusted the RV tilt so the back end was down away from the branch as best I could get it. I moved the rig to a different spot in the site away from the branch the next morning.
Of course, we got hit by one of the strongest parts of the storm (yellow blob) that night.
We drove down to visit the Tumacacori site in southern Arizona. Tumacacori is one of the mission sites preserved from the Spanish expansion and colonization attempts of what is now the American Southwest.
The site is right up on the road and is fairly well preserved.
Unloading at the parking lot.
The parking lot brings you right up to the museum / gift shop / ranger station / visitor center. The shop was pretty small, but it did have a nice museum attached to the gift shop.
Garrett enjoys an apple snack on the benches outside the visitor center.
Ducky was very excited about the diorama display where he could turn on the lights. The display recreated the church as it was in the early 1820s.
While Garrett and I explored the museum, Randal explored the visitor center.
We took a quick walk through the garden.
After working on their books for a bit, we took the kids into the museum to do the practical portion of their Junior Ranger activities. The church structure is visible in the backgound.
Out on the mission grounds, we began to take the self guided tour. At the various points around the mission, they had some symbols that indicated what or where things were at.
The view of the inside of the church, from the entrance. The mission was intentionally abandoned, and the icons and other carvings were removed by the people at the time.
Looking out from inside the church. The Park service had done some restoration of the structure.
The big three kids next to the mill stones of the mission.
We walked around the grounds and stopped by the ramada, where the natives would hang out outside their houses and cook to escape the heat. It was quite warm this day, and we took a little rest in the shade, then made our way back to the Visitor Center.
We walked by the ruins of an earlier Jesuit church. The foundations were preserved by the park service with a coating of plaster.
Back at the visitor center, the kids finished up their books.
The Ranger checked their work while we looked on.
Randal contemplated his choices of chaos at the bookshelf.
All books checked, the kids did their Junior Ranger oath and were sword in and got their badges.
Garrett even had a Junior Ranger program for his age group, and he got his first Junior Ranger badge as well!!
This was a nice site to visit. There was a longer walk to the river that had previously supplied the fields and orchards, but we elected to not do it due to the heat and the kids were wilting by that time.
Access to the park was easy – just off Interstate 19 about an hour south of Tucson. This site is perfect for a half day visit.
We had originally planned to visit Ft. Bowie NHS when we came west from New Mexico, but we changed the plan due to the required RV repairs. I cut out the visiting days and we pressed on to Tucson, so we could turn in the RV to the shop and get the repairs started.
Once the RV was delivered to the shop, and we were settled in the AirBnB, we got to work visiting the various sites we had passed up.
Ft. Bowie is a little town along I-10, of which if you are not careful you would miss it. It seems that their major activity is pecans or another tree nut – there were large orchards of them there. The other big store was the combo gas station/ jerky store/ RV park, where we stayed at one night on our way through the first time.
Our campsite at Ft. Bowie, AZ. We had a very nice sunset.
Arriving at the trail head and parking area, this is the valley that you have to hike up to get the historic site.
Before we commenced the hike, we had lunch.
A quick look at the information signs at the trail head:
Arya helps Garrett across a bridge. The trail started out on a gentle climb through the woods.
Garrett insisted on walking for a bit. That worked out O.K. for a little while, but he ended up in the pack before long.
We encountered the ruins of the Apache Indian Agency building along the trail.
As we climbed out of the valley and up in elevation towards the Fort site, we passed an Apache shelter that was re-created.
We passed by Apache Spring on the way up to the visitor center. The spring was the source of conflict over the site, being able to sustain the Fort or the Indians.
We enjoyed some spring flower on the way up as well.
We came up on the site of the first Ft. Bowie, which was abandoned around the time of the Civil War. After the Civil War, a second Fort was re-established up the hill a little ways.
A view of the ruins of Ft Bowie. Not much remains but the foundations of the buildings.
The kids worked on their Junior Ranger badges at the visitor center slash museum. Randal enjoyed some pack free time to stretch his legs.
The museum contained a number of artifacts from the site:
Arya talks with the Ranger about her book, while Evan restrains Randal, who is very interested in the display.
The kids completed their books and were sworn in by the Ranger. We took the Overlook Ridge Trail back to the parking area.
As we headed back, clouds were blowing in. Fortunately, no rain fell. Getting caught in a desert rain storm was not my idea of fun.
Beautiful desert cactus flowers greeted us along the trail. As we went down the trail, we pass a fault where the geology and plant life changed rather dramatically to a more forested area.
The trail provided wonder vistas of the mountains and valley.
We came down off the ridge into a small forest (bosque) along the main wash.
Stopping for a photo at the bottom. Somewhere along the trail I lost my hat, which had been tucked in the pack. I wonder if Ducky had pulled it out?
I got to break in my new walking stick that I had picked up at Guadalupe Mountains park.
Despite the signs saying it’s a 1.5 mi walk, it’s more of a 2 mile hike in and out to/from the visitor center.
After our rest day, we drove to Albuquerque, New Mexico, our next hub for a week or so.
Happy morning baby!
We went to Petroglyph National Monument, which is located on the west side of Albuquerque. This was a different kind of Monument – there isn’t a visitor center per se, but an information center. There are four different trail heads that you can go to. From each trail head, you can hike along the cliff faces and observe the various petroglyphs.
There was a notice about Rinconada Canyon and numerous break ins of vehicles. Stay classy, Albuquerque.
We decided to go do the Piedras Marcadas Canyon hike.
We started out on the Mesa loop trail.
A passerby took a nice group shot of us, along with a friend we met up with in Albuquerque.
At the end of the mesa trail, we came down a fairly steep trail. Then we returned along the base of the mesa.
The trail did not generally permit close inspection of the rocks, as it was along the base of the mesa and the carvings were on the boulders up on the hillside. Most of these pictures were taken with the zoom on the phone cameras, so please excuse the weird angles on some.
As we got toward the end (beginning) of the trail, we encountered some of the better carvings.
Sun wheel petroglyph.
After our hike, we went to Costco for a resupply run as well as dinner and ice cream for the kids!
Randal was all about his chocolate sundae!
Brother, why won’t you share with me??!!
Thanks for reading!
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Garrett poses on the overlook from the Carlsbad Visitor Center with the valley behind him.
A cut away view of the Carlsbad Caverns, showing the natural entrance. The image below is the lower portion of the cave.
We got the Junior Ranger books and the kids worked on them for a bit in the visitor center. We decided to hike in the natural entrance down to the lower cave.
Family shot, by Evan, at the top.
A view of the walkway to the natural entrance. The tour of the cave is self guided, unlike some of the other caves we toured.
As we went down, we did meet a guy coming out going up. That’s one way to get your steps in!
As we worked our way down, we saw some neat formations. When we were working our way down, Jarek encountered a Ranger on the way up and they had a chat for a bit, which was also part of their Junior Ranger program.
Stopping before this passage for a family shot. I (Alan) would have to crawl on hands and knees to get through this with Garrett on my back.
Out on the other side, we continued on our way.
We saw some more neat formations on the way down. I’ve selected a couple of them for this post. Perhaps I’ll put the rest in an album somewhere.
One of the pools of water in the big room at the bottom of the cavern.
Garrett was passed out when we got to the bottom of the cave. We stopped where the elevators came in for a bathroom break.
Touring the big room at the bottom, we saw wonderful formations, like this one above, fairy land.
There were numerous other formations that were lit up as well.
At the completion of our loop, we were glad to have the elevators available to ride back up the 700+ feet, rather than walk back out!
Jarek turned in his badge at the completion of our walk in the cave. Arya and Evan did not have their books finished until a couple days later, when we stopped by on our way to Guadalupe Mountains National park and they turned in their books and got their badges.
Updated 1/6/2025 with additional images from the trip!
Today we drove up to see the Casa Grande Ruins. It was about an hour and a half drive from Tucson. Traffic wasn’t too bad. We had a bit of a later start than we would have liked, so we changed the plan from Organ Pipe Cactus to Casa Grande. Our plan is to hit Organ Pipe tomorrow.
Below: A view of the Casa Grande structure from the parking lot.
The site is fairly simple overall, a small visitor center with a little museum and complex A of the site, which contains the Big House.
Below: An information placard describing the finding of the site.
The kids worked on their Junior Ranger books for a bit then we watched the park movie, which had some good information. At this park, they gave us the badges up front with the books, so Alan held onto them until the kids were done with their books.
The next couple of images will give some scale of the site. It was interesting to see that there were astronomical functions built into the structure.
Below is the model of the various compounds. Apologies for the glare – I was unable to find a shot without it. The model does show the scale of the community, which at one point had ~2,000 people living there.
Site plan of the ruins in the Casa Grande site and surrounding area.
Various artifacts found at the site.
Mock up of a pit dwelling of the time period.
A view of the structure, showing some of the interior walls and spaces, as well as the thickness of the walls.
Infographic display regarding the engineering of the site.
Infographic on the modern history of site.
While the kids worked on their Junior Ranger books, Randal and I played key chain toss. He thought it was very funny. I would toss my keys into the wagon, and he would fetch them and drop them off the side, then I would toss them back in again as he giggled.
Randal has been saying a lot more words now, and has actively communicated via sign language, e.g. ‘more’ (usually food). His walking has improved significantly and he is also a climber.
This site was very accessible, which worked out well as he could chill out in the wagon while we explored the Museum and the grounds.
A little perspective on how large this structure is!
A happy Randal!
I hope you enjoyed today’s update! I’ve got a few more in the backlog to catch up on – Carlsbad Caverns from April; Fort Bowie and Colossal Cave from the last few days and a Fix It update with all the other shenanigans that have been going on.
Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog
The trail started out on a gentle climb through the woods.
We took the Overlook Ridge Trail back to the parking area.
As we went down the trail, we pass a fault where the geology and plant life changed rather dramatically to a more forested area.
