Our Desert Road Trip

One of our goals this year was to see as many national parks and temples around our area as we could. So far, we’ve been pretty good about crossing them off our list!

 Now that the holidays are over- we’re ready to get back on the road again! This time we’ll be heading south to sunny Arizona for the Wintercount (primitive skills) gathering. We decided to take a few extra days to focus on desert habitats and adaptations as we go. Hopefully we'll return knowing a lot more about the plants and animals just south of our desert home!

We were so excited to get on the road!  While we waited for Dad to finish loading up the trailer and getting the tires ready, the kids and I walked down to the mailbox because we just couldn't stand to wait one more minute longer! 

We drove that first day to Burro Creek Arizona to a quaint little desert camp ground.  Right by our camping spot the kids found a "Desert Garden" and were surprised to find there were so many different types of cacti!  After settling in to our spot, we rode our bikes down to the desert garden and took a look around. Kurt loved that they had a donation box for their desert brochures and quickly took a quarter out of his pocket and became our tour guide.

One of our favorite things to do when we visit a new place is to look up their museums and see what the area has to offer.  This is how we found the Hassayampa Desert Preserve. Anywhere that has a visitor's center with a sign that reads, "Please Touch" among their animal artifacts is my kinda' place! The kids loved it here. We saw all sorts of animals and info about desert life.  All of the big kids chose an animal they liked the best to do a small report on later when we get home.

The next day as we drove to our next spot, we dropped by the preserve yet again to walk the trails together.  They have a super fun scavenger hunt looking for different plants and animals.  Since we had a bit of a drive left until we stopped, we thought we'd wear them out a little bit.  We saw tracks, new ducks and Vance even found the remains of a bird hidden under a log.  It's all part of learning when you're in our family! 

For our first week in the Arizona desert, we've already felt like we're lived here a lifetime! 

After our week in Burro Creek, we headed south to the beautiful Sonoran Desert for our annual Wintercount primitive skills gathering.  While we were anticipating the heat of the desert, Mother Nature surprised us and went a different way.  The kids had a blast meeting new friends, exploring the desert and of course- Kid's Kamp!

Kids Kamp once again was so much fun!  We love that Dad is in charge.  The kids have been all over camp doing all sorts of things like: yoga, first aid, knife safety, weaving, learning about animals and their skins, bee keeping and honey, trade blanket- and even a treasure hunt! They made masks for mask night, wind chimes from terra cotta pots, pinwheels, goo and even chapstick.  I hope the friends they’ve made and experiences they’ve had will always stay with them! 

We only had one little mishap while we were there. I'll give you one guess who it was.  He's adventurous, brave and thinks he's a big kid in a little kid's body.  These gatherings are so wonderful for Grant.  More than anyone else, I see him in his element.  He really is a mini-Chase and it fills my heart to see him love, care and discover the Earth. 

The only problem is (much like his Dad), he seems to have a motor on 24/7 and it's always on high.  He doesn't walk anywhere- he runs, skips or jumps the entire way.  I love his enthusiasm and his endless amounts of energy, but for my poor anxiety sometimes it's just too much. 

One night while getting ready to head back to the trailer, it was pitch black and all we had was our lantern, which provided only enough light to see your feet in front of you.  As I was rounding up kids to take them back while Chase stayed for an instructor's meeting, I lost sight of Grant.  I knew he was close- I just couldn't see him as he was just outside of my available light. 

When we found him minutes later he was sitting and sobbing on a stranger's lap (she knew him through Kids Kamp) and covered in blood.  Honestly, it was probably harder for me than it was for him.  Someone close had grabbed him a honey stick to suck on and he was fine and dandy.  The medics on call and in the medic tent took wonderful care of him and they even drove us back to our trailer so that Chase could take him into town to get him stitched up.  

A few hours later, 6 stitches and a lollipop, he was back home and sleeping like nothing ever happened.  The next day he acted just like nothing happened, though he was now a walking legend and getting high fives and much deserved respect from everyone around him. 

I'm not sure what to do with this kid.  Luckily he's happy and quite a joy to be around.  I'm thankful that he's so brave- I just wish his Mom was even half as brave as he is! 

We ended our trip with a visit to the Saguaro National Park.  We have learned so much this week about cacti that we just couldn't leave the state without going there too!  We've had a blast.  The weather has been perfect and we're so lucky we get to have these experiences and learn so much, all while our best friends are right along with us.  

Now it's back home.  Back to where real life resumes. Back to loads of laundry and school in the classroom.  I'm not sure about the kids, but it kind of has me thinking, "When do we get to go again?!"