Arizona Travel Agent
If you think the desert is barren without color you will be surprised when visiting the Wallace Desert Garden at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum! This place has over 5,000 desert plants on display from Arizona and other parts of the World. We recommend taking a tour as your guide will explain the rich history of the collection as well as share interesting facts about the vegetation in the garden. For more information visit the Arboretum website here.
We recently visited Saguaro National Park – I’ve never seen so many saguaro cacti in my life! This variety of cactus only grows in the Sonoran Desert. The saguaro cactus is precious to Arizonians. According to the Arizona Republic newspaper, “On federal land such as Saguaro National Park, it’s illegal to remove any plant, including saguaros, according to the National Park Service. As for state, tribal or private land, removal or destruction of saguaros in Arizona is illegal without the landowner’s permission and a permit.”
If you are a baseball fan, a great getaway to escape the cold March temperatures up North is to attend spring training baseball games in Arizona!
If you are looking for some theme park fun while visiting the Phoenix area we recommend the Castles N Coasters amusement park. We thought the park had the feel of an old time amusement park (we later found out it was opened in 1977). Kids will enjoy the huge arcade area. Most of the rides weren’t open yet when we had an early morning visit but we did play one of four miniature golf courses they had – it was a good one! (reminded me of Adventure golf in other parts of the USA). The amusement park also featured roller coasters, a go cart track, bumper boats, and more. See the Castles N Coasters website for admission prices and additional information.
Originally designed as a self contained facility for scientists to live in, now an environmental research facility for the University of Arizona, we found Biosphere 2 an interesting place to visit. Located near Tucson, Biosphere 2 features huge greenhouses which include among other things a rain forest and a simulated ocean used in planetary research. If you have been to The Land pavilion in Disney World’s Epcot this was like The Land on a much much larger scale. Those interested in nature & science would enjoy a visit here (we did!). For more information see the Biosphere 2 website.
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum outside of Tucson is another excellent attraction we visited recently! It was a combination of desert garden (showing a variety of Arizona plants) and a zoo. We saw the elusive Javelina for the first time, as well as a coyote, beaver, humming birds, deer, and more. Also great views from its location near Saguaro National Park. Visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum website for more information.
Recently we visited the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, Arizona. This scenic mountain location displayed lots of interesting cactus & plants. We recommend arranging your visit to take the one hour “Arboretum Discovery Tour” (free with admission). We found this tour gave a good overview of the Arboretum’s history and plant life. Check the Boyce Thompson Arboretum website for tour times and for more information. We liked our visit so much that we purchased a yearly membership – your entry fee can be applied to a membership if you wish. We look forward to taking the other interesting tours that the Arboretum feature!
Familytravelgurus.com owners Tim and Anne Larison recently moved to Arizona. This is another in a series of blog posts where we recommend Arizona attractions to experience.
After seeing the natural beauty of Arizona we did something completely different – tour the Titan Missile Museum near Tucson. For those of you who grew up in southwest Denver like me you probably knew someone who worked at Martin Marietta. My Dad worked there for years & I did too for my first year out of college.
On the tour we descended into the facility to see the control room.
We got a close up view of a disarmed Titan missile from below & above.
The model of the Titan in the picture below was something my Dad gave me years ago (he got it working on the Titan project at Martin). I donated it to the museum afterwards & they were very appreciative. Thankfully the Titan missile was never used for its original intent (as a weapon of war) but instead launched 12 successful Gemini space missions in the 1960’s.
For more information about the Titan Missile Museum click here to visit their website.
– Tim Larison
Familytravelgurus.com owners Tim and Anne Larison recently moved to Arizona. This is the first in a series of blog posts where we recommend Arizona attractions to experience.
One of our best Arizona adventures this month was sailing with the Dolly Steamboat – a 1 1/2 hour cruise on Canyon Lake. We had perfect 60 degree weather and the views were awesome as we sailed on the huge lake.
We learned that the lake is 100+ feet deep and stretches deep into the canyon (we sailed on about 1/2 of it).
The canyon walls were towering over us as we sailed by.
We saw lots of birds and a bald eagle’s nest. The captain’s narration as we sailed along was good telling us interesting facts about the lake and the sights we encountered.
We highly recommend cruising with Dolly Steamboat! We suggest making reservations in advance like we did. If you are one of the first in line when tickets are distributed you get your choice of tables when you board. We sat at one of the few tables in the back of the boat on the upper deck. This open air location was great in seeing the sights that surrounded us. Book direct with Dolly Steamboat by visiting their website.
I thought the Panama Canal cruise was wonderful, although I’m bummed that we didn’t get to actually see three of the ports that I’ve never before seen. While I completely enjoy sea days and the ability to relax and just soak in the atmosphere, my family was irritated and getting more so as each day passed. (we were at-sea from the evening of 09 March until the morning of 19 March when we docked in San Diego)They are not as able to sit back and relax as my one son (who is also a paramedic like me and LOVES some downtime!) and I enjoy whenever possible. The biggest disappointment for this son (Will) was the inability to collect a sand sample from Colombia, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. He had his containers and was SO excited for the possibility of expanding his collection. He already has samples from Cozumel and Grand Cayman from previous visits, so going to beaches there was not a priority in any sense. Oh well, it is what it is.
Disney, as usual, is all about cleanliness and protection of its guests and I didn’t see HOW they would be able to increase the coverage for folks but of course, they did! I think by about day 3, we were no longer permitted to serve ourselves at the buffet, drink machines, ice cream, or any other place that we could usually do that. Instead, there were numerous additional cast members there to serve us in all things. Also, in each and every stairwell I walked … regardless of hour, I was consistently seeing cast members with pails of water and disinfectant washing down the handrails and in all other parts of the ship, additional cast members were disinfecting any other surfaces that people would touch all day, every day.
I don’t think anyone should be concerned about sailing with DCL … there’s no company I trust more. Even before the day 3 change-over to passengers no longer serving themselves, the cast members at the buffet were changing the serving spoons, tongs, etc. out every 10 minutes. This company is the best!
We would hear reports that folks on other cruise lines were coming up sick, but Disney was NOT one of those floating petri dishes! I know that we turned around to go back to Grand Cayman in the night, on our way to Colombia, because someone was sick and needed to be air-lifted, but I was hearing “stroke.” I sincerely doubt that ANYONE would be airlifted because of a virus. That’s ridiculous. The Captain said we were unable to go to Colombia because of that return trip and the time delay , but I think he knew already that we’d not be allowed in Colombia. I DON’T think he knew we’d not be allowed to get fuel, so we did make the attempt to go partway into port — for a few hours, before leaving. Interestingly enough, we did see a Princess Cruise Line well into the area where folks might have been able to disembark, but I don’t know if they actually were able to do that. My family (and MANY others) were convinced that those folks got to go into Cartagena, and were a little upset about it. When I reminded my folks that if someone THEY loved was having a stroke, and how time is of the essence for that person’s very life, they contained their ire. We were finally refueled on the other side of the canal by a floating fuel barge. There was one other Brightstar alert I heard, a few days before the end of the cruise, but apparently all turned out well on that one. My sister-in-law was at Guest Services when an older woman was also there, and was thanking them for the quick and efficient response of the medical team for their emergency, and said all was well with them.
I can’t thank you enough for all you do for us in managing our cruises. We know that all will be well with you in charge and all we have to do is pack and enjoy!
If you would like help with a future Disney cruise, like we did for Debbie’s family, feel free to contact us by clicking here!