Bucket List Item #15: Visit a National Park

The half way point! Considering I turn 30 (*bleh*) in 2 months, we are in for a VERY busy December and January…..

While in Arizona, we took advantage of time to kill to visit a National Park. There are 3 national parks in Arizona – Grand Canyon, Saguaro, and the Petrified Forest. The nearest to Phoenix was Saguaro National Park which was 140 miles south in Tuscon. We were blessed with fantastic sunny and warm weather and a content baby who napped on the drive down. From our hotel in Tempe, the drive to the national park was exactly 2 hours. Our hotel checkout was at 11am but our flight home to Boise did not depart until 10pm so we had plenty of time to be out and about in the state of arizona.

When we entered the parking lot of the visitor center on the west side of the park, the first thing we did was take Brynnley to the changing station because girlfriend was smelling ripe. Well, it was one of those situations where you decide to just throw the whole outfit away because the damage is so bad…… 😬 She needed a souvenir onesie from the gift shop that said “I sh!t my pants in Saguaro National Park!” haha! Don’t worry, she had a new clean outfit moments after we took this picture together.

Saguaro National Park is home to the nation’s largest cacti. It was established in 1994 and covers 92,000 acres.

There are several trails and paths through out the park with miles and miles to explore among the tall cacti. My mom was recovering from a medical procedure and we were on somewhat of a time limit so we just toured a little bit around the visitor center and didn’t venture too far.

This was one of those destinations for me that is “I’ve been there once so I don’t think I will need to go there again.” The cacti-covered park is very unique but I think I would prefer to explore other areas as the desert isn’t my favorite landscape.

Before long we were back in the car, driving north to Phoenix again for a meal and then to return the rental car. We listened to a couple Dateline podcasts and had some Cheezit party mix for our roadtrip snack. Brynnley was a trooper, as usual, and it was fun to cross the bucket list item off with all three generations!

About Stronglikemycoffee

College student-athlete committed to living healthy and happy. I want to share my recipes, fitness tips and silly stories with YOU! There's nothing like crushing goals and becoming stronger than you ever knew you could be.

Posted on December 6, 2022, in Healthy Lifestyle. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.

  1. Sunny and warm…did your Mom sweat hearts? Or maybe that only happens when she hikes : )

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