Loven Family Run 5k!

Yesterday my friend, Jennifer and I headed down to Cottonwood, at the "Blazin' M Ranch," to run our next 5k! It started at 8:00 am, and we both did better than our Sedona 5k! I finished at 40:35 (two minutes faster), and Jennifer finished in 34:43 (three minutes faster)! We had a blast! After you finish, the "Blazin' M Ranch" served us an old fashioned country breakfast! That's exactly what the doctor ordered, after our run! Mr. Kent had his state competition, for "Odyssey of the Mind," in Tucson; and I want to post all about it...but I'm waiting for pictures to be sent to me; so that will be the next post I'll write about! My friend Angela had Samantha for a sleepover Friday night, so I could go to my 5k (as Jeff had to work again). So when I went to pick up Samantha after the 5k...Angela was like, let's go to "Bearizona," I have a pass! Well sounded great to me, so us girls went to "Bearizona!" That place is getting better and better every time I get to go (which isn't that much). It makes me happy to see such a success in Williams! So until I get Kent's Odyssey pictures...enjoy this blog! 

Last Night: White Tank Mountain Regional Park

Why do vacations always go so quickly?! We arrived at our final camping destination this late afternoon. It's a very beautiful Sonoran desert campground, above the Phoenix valley. Our good friends Adi and Tim live in Surprise, which is literally 15 minutes away...so they came up to our camp site, with their kids, brought s'mores supplies, their chairs...and we all hung out for hours! We haven't seen each other in almost two years...so it was so wonderful getting to visit and be with each other. What a great way to end the trip! We head home tomorrow...which means...reality starts on Monday. This was a memorable spring break, state park camping trip extravaganza! Makes me love our state even more! Blessed we could do this. 

Kartchner Caverns "Rotunda/Throne Room Tour AND Queen Mine Tour!!!

This was a very exciting day! We woke up and got ready, because we had a 9:40 am caverns tour and we needed to be there an hour early; to explore the "The Discovery Center," and learn all about the caverns. Let me tell you...the rotunda and throne room tour was beyond amazing! It was an 1 1/2 long, and an hour was underground. No personal items of any kind are permitted...nothing. We walked through the first air locked doors. We all walked in, and that door closed and another one was waiting to be opened. Immediately the temperature was warm and tropical, in fact, 72 degrees and 99% humidity (year round). Crazy. After a couple minutes...we walked through the second air locked door...and then we had to walk through these misting machines..to weigh down our clothing lint, dead skin cells, little hairs, etc. All of those things make the caverns dirty and contaminated...so they try to limit as much of that as possible. After being misted twice...the third air locked door was waiting for us. The park ranger opened it, and welcomed us to the beginning of the caverns...the rotunda  room. During the tour, lights lit up certain areas, at certain times, and then switch off. The walls dripping with water, the many different, unusual mineral formations (even some that looked like huge slices of bacon). One of our favorite formations, are the hollow soda straws, with little drops of water hanging on the end. The park ranger continued us on our tour, enlightening us, educating us...then came the ultimate experience...the throne room. We are guided to a sit down area, over looking a massive room, but was unlit at this point); then the beautiful music starts playing, and the lights light up in different areas with the music...and there we saw Arizona's largest column formation called, "Kubla Khan." I'm just in awe, with these caverns. God's awesome creations are under the ground as well! ***Side note: the third picture down, of the hills, that is where the caverns are, beneath the ground. And on the saddle of the hills, beneath that, in the ground, is where the largest Arizona column formation is located. You can also see one of the caverns entrance, near the lower left of the hill*** After our tour, we went back to the trailer to grab some lunch...because we had our "Queen Mine Tour," in Bisbee, that we needed to get to. That tour was at 2:00, and the last time Jeff and I took the tour, was about 12 years ago. We knew the kids would love it too! We got our miner gear on, and was ready to go! The rail cars were the best part. Who doesn't love taking a ride 1700ft. into the mountain?! That's one of the best mine tours, because you do go so deep into the mountain, and really see how it's done. The kids loved it, and it was cool to be there again. We practically spent most of the day underground! So much fun! After our mine tour...Tombstone was calling our names again! We got to take a stagecoach ride (for the first time); and get a little bit more of the Tombstone history, with a colorful tour guide. We finished up our stagecoach ride, and grabbed some dinner at "The Crystal Palace." That place is so cool. Love that town! It was a really great day!