Introduction: We were once again looking for a trip that we could do with a toddler and other big kids. We didn’t want to do a resort vacation because I was nervous about chasing after Sharon near a beach/pool. We considered El Salvador, but ultimately decided it would be difficult with too many babies (the Dweks joined us again!) and not enough infrastructure. We also thought about LA (luckily we didn’t choose that because of the wildfires) and other US states. Ultimately, we decided to revisit Arizona and also go to the southern border of the US and Mexico. There were a few national parks that we wanted to visit that were very far from Arizona, but doable. The Dweks came, but stayed in Tucson while we ventured to New Mexico and Texas.
Days 1-3: Tucson
Sabino Canyon
After a late landing in Phoenix, we stayed at the nearby airport hotel for the night. In the morning, we drove about 2 hours to Sabino Canyon. When we visited in 2022, we tried to come here, but the shuttles were fully booked, so we made sure to book it in advance for this trip. We took the Sabino Canyon shuttle, which is about a 30 minute journey to the top. Once we reached the destination, we chose to get off and hike for about a mile. We saw beautiful desert scenery of saguaro, prickly pear, and cholla cacti. Sharon was our newest hiking champion, crying whenever she wasn’t allowed to walk herself. Allen and Joseph enjoyed running ahead and Shelly and Steven had a blast hiking together. Joanne was thrilled to be carried in her mom’s arms. After the hike, we took the (very crowded) shuttle back down. On the way down, the shuttle makes 8 stops where it drops off or picks up passengers. We ended our visit with the short Bajada Loop Nature trail, where we saw a rare crested saguaro. This park was very nice, but would have been spectacular had there been any water in the streams/pools. Fun fact: saguaros don’t grow arms until they are about 75 years old!
Saguaro National Park
On Friday, we began the day at Saguaro National Park West. We did a short hike at Signal Hill, climbing a small hill to some petroglyphs, and the next hill for some nice views. Next we stopped for lunch by Ez-Kim-In-Zin picnic area. We ended the morning at the Desert Discovery Trail, a paved 0.4 mile loop with beautiful cacti to see.
After our visit to Saguaro NP, we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a combination of botanical garden, zoo and natural history museum. We got to see some animals, feed stingray and view more desert plant life. While it wasn’t as great of an experience as I remembered from years ago, we still enjoyed the activities it offered.
We spent Shabbat relaxing by the hotel pool. Unluckily, there was a cold freeze across most of the United States and it was chilly in the morning, warming up in the afternoon sun. Nevertheless, the kids enjoyed swimming in the hot tub and going down the water slide. Unfortunately, Sharon hit her head on a lounge chair and had to spend the evening in the hospital for stitches – the second time in consecutive trips we had to go to the ER. After Shabbat, we began our long 5 hour journey to El Paso, Texas.
Day 4-5: Road Trip to New Mexico and Texas
Carlsbad Caverns
After a very very late night, we headed out the door relatively early to drive another 2.5 hours to Carlsbad Caverns. It sounds insane, but the cave was actually really cool and a great activity for us. When we got there, the kids were immediately attracted to a ranger who recruited them to participate in an MLK service project to help clean the area. They got their cleaning gear (safety vests, sticks and pails) and walked around the lot with a ranger to clean up any trash. As a reward, they got awesome Carlsbad Caverns neck gators which were perfect for the weather.
Afterwards, we went down the elevator 750 feet to the Carlsbad Caverns. It was interesting that everything was pretty much self guided – the rangers didn’t even take you down the elevator and once we got down, we were free to walk around by ourselves. We did the Big Room Trail, a 1.25 mile paved walkway along the beautiful cave. Sharon was having a great time walking the paved, mostly flat path. We were all enthralled by the cool rock formations – stalagmites, stalactites, soda straws, popcorn, etc. etc. it’s amazing what a bit of water and a lot of time can create!! It felt like a surreal experience. We spent a little more than an hour exploring underground. Although we anticipated doing the shortcut, once we were there and saw that everyone was engaged in the activity, we decided to do the entire loop. We really enjoyed this experience!! This was a great, child friendly activity. The one regret is that we didn’t get to see all the bats fly out at sunset because they are currently hibernating for the winter!
Guadalupe Mountains National Parks
After a great visit at Carlsbad Caverns, we drove about 40 minutes back to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas. This was a pretty boring NP for us since we weren’t doing any major hikes. It was also freezing!! After a quick stop at the visitor center, we decided to only do the Manzanita Spring trail – a short 0.5 mile there and back walk with beautiful views of the Guadalupe Mountains in the background. We did a short stop at the Frijole culture center and enjoyed the short walk. (We considered doing the .75 mile Pinery Trail right near the visitor center too, but the kids were getting tired and we still had to drive back to El Paso.)
We ended the day at the Mexican-US border near El Paso. Throughout the entire drive, there were tons of border patrol cars. We even saw a few making stops! It seems that President Trump’s new immigration policy was already in full swing. We also had to go through several border crossings, where they (sometimes) asked us to roll down the windows and questioned if we were US citizens. It was a strange experience, but really brought the news to life.
White Sands National Park
After leaving El Paso, our first stop was Pistachioland in Alamogordo, about 1.5 hours away. There, we saw the largest pistachio (statue) and learned the history of the pistachio in America. The pistachio is native to Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. However, after the Iranian hostage crisis and ensuing embargo, America stopped importing goods from Iran. Farmers attempted to grow pistachios here, but encountered several problems along the way. Eventually scientists chemically engineered pistachio trees to successfully grow in America. Today the plantations has thousands of mature pistachio trees, which produce tons of pistachios each year. After the short (20 minute) tour, we tasted some of the flavored pistachios and even had pistachio ice cream!
Next up was the main attraction of the trip – White Sands National Park! This was a bucket list item and something that we’ve been wanting to do for a while! The park has enormous dunes of white sand, really gypsum, that is soft and fun for sledding. It took us a few attempts to figure out the best way to get a great sledding experience. Look for a steep hill, wax the sled, and go down the same path several times to create a smooth line. Better yet- find a path that someone already created and go down it. We had a blast climbing up the soft sand and sledding down. Despite the 40 degree temperatures, we were very comfortable and even hot at times. There was no wind, which made it a very pleasant experience. We spent about 3 hours sledding, driving around the park, taking in the scenery and taking pictures. We originally wanted to walk the Interdune Boardwalk Trail, but it was closed due to a mishap from the Air Force base nearby. (New Mexico was (is?) a testing site for the Air Force. Although a bit anticlimactic at first, once we got into a groove, we really enjoyed our time at White Sands National Park. Some notes – you can drive right to up to many of the dunes, park the car and get right out to sled. We did this in a few spots around the park. You can also walk further if you want to get to a more pristine spot. The gift shop at the park was only eh so it may be worthwhile to look for souvenirs in Alamogordo.
We then began our trip back towards Arizona, ending the day in Lordsburg, NM.
Day 6-7: Southern Arizona
Chiricahua National Monument
Today was super cold! We were dressed warm, but the wind made it feel extra cold! The Dweks met up with us again at Chiricahua National Monument. The park itself was beautiful and full of hoodoos and amazing rock formations. The visitor center has a Junior Ranger program and gives you a backpack to borrow with supplies for the hikes for the kids to use and learn more about the sites.
Our first stop was Echo Canyon Grottos, which was a short 0.5 mile trail that led to grottos. Unfortunately, the wind made the hike unbearable and nearly everyone was in tears along the way. Shout out to Joseph who was an A+ hiker who didn’t complain once all day!
After we warmed up from the cold, we stopped at Masai Point, which was a very short walk to a beautiful viewpoint. Only Joseph and the adults got out, but it was worth the view. Luckily, the wind calmed down and we were able to enjoyed the scenery. Then we finished the scenic drive back to the visitor’s center.
Tombstone, AZ
Our next adventure was in Tombstone, AZ. We explored the recreated old western town, watched a gunfight at the O.K. Corral and took western photos in “olden clothing.” It was more fun than we expected!
The original plan was to spend the night in Silver Spur Homestead, a tent style glamping experience. The set up was really authentic and we enjoyed hot dogs cooked in the fire. However, Rita decided that it was simply too cold to spend the night in those conditions (25 degrees) without a real room and we audibled to sleeping in a hotel in Tucson. We missed out on the tent experience, but were thrilled to be in a warm room, even if Sharon didn’t have a crib.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Since we readjusted our plans and spent the night in Tucson, we ended up piling another audible and changing Wednesday’s plan too. We started the day at Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch, which was a really cool experience for everyone. We fed 12 different and unique animals, including ostrich, lorikeets, giant tortoises and donkeys. Rita, Sam and Allen even kissed a goat!! The lorikeet was able to open the container of nectar and suck it by herself. It was a fun activity and highly recommended!
The next activity – Organ Pipe National Monument – required a lot of driving and was really out of the way. We had to rush through the park because we had dinner reservations in Scottsdale. If we had more time, we would have gotten more out of the park. Organ Pipe NM is enormous!!! The Ajo scenic drive is a 1 way 17 mile loop and takes about an hour to complete!! Along the drive we stopped at Arch Canyon Trail, but we only walked for a bit before turning around. At the start of the trail is a natural arch formation. As you continue it to the 1.2 mile there and back trail, the arch disappears behind you. The landscape was very beautiful and as Sam noted, “it’s the greenest desert,” with tons of different types of cacti. The organ pipe cactus is wider and shorter than the saguaro with many arms. We enjoyed the park, but the drive was really very long and the park was too remote for us to enjoy it properly.
We had dinner at Kitchen 18, which was buffet style for winter break and delicious !!
Day 8-10: Scottsdale, AZ
After all the driving and travel throughout the week, we knew we’d be really tired. We planned to spend the last weekend of the trip to the Scottsdale/Phoenix area, enticed by the kosher food and somewhat warmer weather. We didn’t really create a solid plan, but knew that we wanted to spend time outdoors, give the boys a horseback riding experience and possibly do other activities. Unfortunately the Arctic freeze continued and it was very windy on Thursday, making it feel very cold in the morning and early afternoon. Since we changed the previous day’s plans to go to Organ Pipe, we decided to do the local activities on Thursday. The Dweks considered going to Sedona (we have already been there twice) but decided against it when they saw the weather forecast.
We started at Hole in the Rock in Papago Park, a very very short hike and climb to a literal hole in the rock. Shelly cried the entire time but Sharon had a blast. It was a beautiful view but the wind made it uncomfortable. We debated what to do afterwards and ultimately ended up at the Phoenix Zoo. The animals were very lively and we enjoyed some of the unique experiences, including the camel ride and money village. We also laughed watching the apes / chimps play hide and seek with the kids. After a few hours, the Dweks headed back to the hotel to relax, but the Francos needed more action. The wind has calmed down enough that we decided to go to Goldfield Ghost Town to ride the Superstition Zipline. Since Utah, Joseph has been wanting to do a zipline and we finally had the opportunity to do it. It was a tandem Zipline chair, pulling you back and then releasing you forward. Afterwards, we were able to sneak in a 30 minute horseback riding session through the desert for Sam and the boys in a nearby corral, while Rita stayed in the town with the girls. We took a train ride around the village and enjoyed Prickly Pear lemonade. We ended the night off enjoying dinner with the Dweks.
On Friday we headed north towards an alpaca ranch. We spent an hour learning about these beautiful animals and cuddling with them. It was the highlight of Allen’s trip! We learned that alpacas mate when the male sings to the female, the female can “pause” her pregnancy and that they are herd animals. Alpacas are not kosher, because although they chew their cud and have split feet they do not have hooves. The animals were mostly friendly and we had fun feeling their soft fur and taking pictures with them.
After that, the Dweks continued on a hike, but it was time for the Francos to relax. We enjoyed insane milkshakes at Soda Jerk Co Milkshake Bar – they were truly works of art!!
Arizona allows Waymo to operate in its cities. Waymo uses driverless cars to transport people. Joseph was enthralled and became obsessed trying to learn everything he could about them. As a treat, Sam took Allen and Joseph in a Waymo ride back to the hotel. We spent the rest of Friday afternoon and Shabbat at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge waterslides and pool and enjoying the outdoor activities that the hotel offered. After Shabbat we stopped for a bite to eat before catching the red eye back to New York.
Total Mileage: 2,030!
