The Gagnons are GONE! 4 days ago, we departed on our Summer 2021 RV Road Trip. First stop – Saguaro National Park in Arizona!
We hit the road in the early morning on June 22nd to begin our five week road trip to the national parks of the U.S. Southwest. We knew we had a monster drive ahead of us on day one, and that’s usually the way we like it, with fresh energy ready to conquer a long day on the road.
The kids quickly settled into the RV, and Justin and I into our front seats, for the journey. It’s like riding a bike – no matter how long it’s been since we were last in the RV, it always feels like home the minute we are back in it.
Music blaring, this time with our new road trip playlist for the trip, it was as if no time had gone by since our last adventure.
After about 15 hours, including stops, we arrived at our RV park in Tucson, the Tucson / Lazydays KOA, which would be our home for the next few nights while exploring Saguaro National Park and the Tucson area. We absolutely LOVED this RV park, and all of the amazing amenities there.
The kids favorites were the swimming pool, the go-cart rental bikes, pickle ball courts, and fun game room. We would definitely recommend a stay at this RV park to anyone in the Tucson area!
After a good night’s sleep, we hit the road early the next morning to explore Saguaro National Park with the kids. With temperatures of over 100 degrees expected for the day, we knew that we would be best off to explore the park in the morning.
A little background on Saguaro National Park. The towering saguaro of Arizona’s Saguaro National Park stand as the most distinctive mascot of this desert wonderland. Some more than 200 years old, these distinctive inhabitants of the Sonoran Desert are slow-growing, and the largest concentration of them are found within the park boundaries. Visitors will love spending their time in the park spotting these treasures, marveling at the desert wildlife, or viewing numerous petroglyphs that date ancient inhabitants back to 5000 BC. Broken up into two distinct regions, the east and west, visitors can opt to explore either, and visit Tucson as well, located in between.
Knowing that traveling in the RV would likely present some challenges for us with exploring both the west and east side of the park (the west, near the Red Hills Visitor Center because of an unpaved, gravel road, and the east near the Rincon Valley Visitor Center because they do not allow oversize vehicles), we opted to explore the Tanque Verde Region of the park.
Driving to the Tanque Verde area on the east side of the park, the amazingly dense concentration of saguaros within Saguaro National Park was evident, as we spotted them dotting the hills along our thirty-minute journey from our campground. We arrived at our intended trailhead for a morning hike, the Tanque Verde Falls Trail. Even though it was still before 8:30am, it was already 90 degrees out.
The Tanque Verde Falls Trail was a great way to explore Saguaro, and to experience all of the characteristics of Arizona’s Sonoran desert. We saw prickly pear and cholla cacti, many lizards, hawks, and of course a plethora of saguaro, along our journey. At around 2 miles long, it was a great hike for kids in the extreme heat, and took us bouldering up the dried-up waterfall (which would be fun to enjoy in the winter with water in it as well). Our kids always love climbing boulders!
After a visit to the Rincon Valley Visitor Center, we returned to our RV park for the afternoon, to enjoy the swimming pool and park amenities, all of which made the extreme heat a little more bearable.
The next morning, we woke up, with plans to celebrate our youngest’s 8th Birthday. His request for the day was simple: NO HIKING!
We took Quinn’s request and ran with it – opting to spend the day (after pancakes, of course!) at Funtastic’s Amusement Park in Tucson.
What an incredible day we had together, celebrating our now eight-year old and all of the joy he brings to our family. We hit the go carts, bumper boats, arcade, laser tag, water park, and amusement rides. This place really had something for everyone, and we definitely got our money’s worth with the wristbands we purchased for the six of us. Our family would definitely recommend this activity for any family visiting the Tucson area and looking for a fun way to spend the day, especially a hot one!
We closed out Quinn’s Birthday with a joyride around the RV Park in the go-cart bikes, and cake and ice cream outside together. It was a great day in the desert celebrating our youngest!
Our family had a great visit to Saguaro National Park, our 44th park that we have visited thus far! Onward to White Sands!
