That's a big cactus...

Last time we went to Arizona I had planned on stopping in Saguaro National Park, but we ran short on time. So this time we made sure to do it. As far as the national parks go, it doesn't have the overly dramatic mountains, canyons, or anything like that, but it's one of the only places in the world where you can see these incredibly massive cacti, and there are a lot of them. They call it a cactus forest, which I didn't know was a thing. The pictures do not do them justice, these things were really, really big. Also, the whole park was like a southwestern themed nursery, with hundreds of different species of spike laden plants carefully arranged around each other. It was not the kind of place you'd want to have to run through in a hurry, because you'd end up with a lot of holes in your body and needles sticking out of you. Not really sure why these plants have to be so violent, but maybe there are a lot of things that would eat them otherwise? Either way, we did a couple of short hikes, checked out the cactus forest, and otherwise had a pretty good time. Probably not near the top of many lists of national parks to visit, but we'd definitely recommend it.

It's hard to see, but that's a lot of cacti... for miles and miles.

Here's one of the more aggressive ones picking a fight with Paul...

Some of them get to be more than 40 feet tall, but this one was still Nolan size.

 

Don't... touch... anything.

 

Adam worked on his selfie skills... look for him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.

Yep, that's a tall one.

The Arizona Great Outdoors

While in Arizona for Spring Training, we also got a chance to see a few of the area's outdoor recreational areas. After dropping off the grandparents at the airport, we checked out the nearby Papago Park in Phoenix. We did a short little trail there to check out a hole in a rock (more exciting than it sounds). We only stayed for a short time before heading back south toward Tucson. We got to put another pin in the map as we visited a random national monument along the way - Arizona is full of these things. Just off the freeway toward Tucson was Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, which preserves one of the largest Pueblo structures still standing, a four-story "big house." You can't venture inside of it anymore, but it was impressive to check out.

 

 

 

 

Yep, that's a grande casa.

Dream of Spring

For the second year in a row, we decided to head to Phoenix for Spring Break and to watch some spring training baseball games. This time we were joined by the cousins from Utah and grandparents from Missouri! We watched a couple of games, got a little rain, played some baseball of our own, and otherwise just enjoyed hanging out with family. The weather is already beginning to heat up as we leave the cold of winter behind. Before we know it we'll be sweating in the humidity again! But for now, we'll bask in the beautiful sunlight of spring!

How most nights end up...