2010 FAMILY ADVENTURE: SOUTHWEST ARIZONA
In February 2010 we decided to take a week in southwest Arizona during the kids school Winter Break. The weather was awesome (74-78F & clear), the resort was top-notch, and the kids really seemed to have a great time. The El Conquistador Resort is a golf mecca nestled into the beautiful Tucson mountains with comfortable beds, plenty of space to explore, three beautiful pools, and poolside food service (Kathe’s favorite part!). There was a separate kiddie pool (1.5’ deep) for Tessa, another kids pool with a great 150’ waterslide built into the rocks to help tire the other kids out, and the adult pool had a volleyball net & basketball net. Cold Bomb Pops delivered to the hot Jacuzzi were perfect for this outlaw group!

We visited the Old Tucson Movie Studios (above) about 45 minutes from the resort and got to experience the best parts of an Old West town. We witnessed a gunfight with Billy the Kid, took an 1880’s stagecoach ride (bumpy!), sat at the saloon bar for a cold Sassparilla, posed for the Hedges Outlaw photo, got some fun pics in the Horse-Thief coffin, & panned for gold (fool's gold) in the ice-cold sluce.

Another day we drove 2 hours south into Bisbee to tour the very cool (45F) Queen Copper Mine. The thin mine train took us miners (equipped with slickers, helmets, & hand-lights) deep into the inactive mine to see what it was like working underground in the 1880s. Those guys were seriously nuts but it was a well-paying job back in those days! After the mine we drove north stopping in the historic old west town of Tombstone. Kathe got chosen to shoot a bad guy (blanks) in a western action show, and we all got to shoot pistols & rifles at the shooting range (FUN!).

Another day we visited the Tucson Desert Museum that featured animals & plants of the AZ desert. Jeffrey got to handle a snake, Tessa had fun watching the hummingbirds buzz around our heads in the aviary, and exploring down into the dark caves was fun too. My favorite animal was a Black Rattlesnake, very dangerous but very cool! Tessa added several new animals to her bedroom collection (hummingbird, otter, & prairie dog).