Kartchner Caverns State Park
Wednesday November 15th
Well my humans are taking me to the "Land under", I guess. They are taking me to the Kartchner Caverns just South of Benson Arizona. It might be fun for me with all those bats flying around at night. WE'LL SEE!!!
First we stopped in Phoenix around 4pm and parked in a Home Depot parking lot near 90th Street and Shea Blvd.
Daddy's best friend Len came over and they all left to have dinner at Mimi's Cafe. Somewhere around 10 pm we all went to sleep. After making sure the "coast was clear" I went to sleep next to daddy.
Thursday November 16th
We were rudely awakened by a garbage truck doing his thing about 50 feet away from us at 5:15 in the morning. MAN, was he loud!!
Then around 8 am mommy's good friend Betty showed up and took them to breakfast at IHOP. I was sleeping just fine until they came back from breakfast. They made a lot of noise (talking and visiting), said their good byes and then we "hit the road" again. Several hours later (I stayed in bed) we arrived at Kartchner Caverns State Park.
After finding their assigned campsite, they set up Lily. We will have water (very low pressure) and electricity. No sewer but there is a dump station nearby. We are suppose to have WiFi but it was not working and has not been working for weeks. The campground was very nice. Each site was separated from the next site by quite a distance. This was very nice!! After dinner it got very dark (the stars got brighter and closer) and very quiet. Most of the noisy people went to bed early.
As you can see, the site was "kind of level", very well kept and unfortunately not a lot of large trees. It was very close to the showers.
Friday November 17th
Mom and dad left after breakfast to take the tours of the caverns. For the history of the caves go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartchner_Caverns_State_Park. But briefly the caves were first found by Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen in 1974 on property owned by the Kartchner family. They found a sink hole in the side of a mountain and crawled down into the caves. It turns out they were the first humans to ever enter this cave. The cave has an average temperature of 70 degrees and 99% humidity.
The Kartchner's sold the land to the state of Arizona for 1.6 million dollars in 1988. The state then spent 37 million dollars to create special doors to the cave, the pathways inside the caves, tram roadway, gift shop and offices, and the campground. The special doors keep the cave temperature and humidity as it is, because this is a living cave. It is still growing today. Inch by inch. It took over 11 years to develop the cave for the first paying visitors.
There was the 10 am tour of the Rotunda/Throne. It is 1.5 hours and is about 1/2 mile long hike.
After lunch there was the 1:45 pm tour of the Big Room. It is 1.75 hours long and about 1/2 mile long hike. The Big Room is only open from October to mid- April after the bats have migrated south.
Here are some scanned pictures from a book we bought at the gift shop (no cameras are allowed):
Saturday November 18th
After breakfast and showers, mom and dad packed up Lily and drove into Benson to attend church at the Benson Seventh Day Adventist church. They said this church was "interesting, to say the least". Once back at the campground we all took a nap. After dinner we all watched movies. Here I am watching the movie in mommy's lap:
Sunday November 19th
After breakfast mom and dad packed up Lily and started driving again. I stayed in bed of course! Early afternoon we arrived back home all safe and sound. It's good to be home!!
Well my humans are taking me to the "Land under", I guess. They are taking me to the Kartchner Caverns just South of Benson Arizona. It might be fun for me with all those bats flying around at night. WE'LL SEE!!!
First we stopped in Phoenix around 4pm and parked in a Home Depot parking lot near 90th Street and Shea Blvd.
Daddy's best friend Len came over and they all left to have dinner at Mimi's Cafe. Somewhere around 10 pm we all went to sleep. After making sure the "coast was clear" I went to sleep next to daddy.
Thursday November 16th
We were rudely awakened by a garbage truck doing his thing about 50 feet away from us at 5:15 in the morning. MAN, was he loud!!
Then around 8 am mommy's good friend Betty showed up and took them to breakfast at IHOP. I was sleeping just fine until they came back from breakfast. They made a lot of noise (talking and visiting), said their good byes and then we "hit the road" again. Several hours later (I stayed in bed) we arrived at Kartchner Caverns State Park.
After finding their assigned campsite, they set up Lily. We will have water (very low pressure) and electricity. No sewer but there is a dump station nearby. We are suppose to have WiFi but it was not working and has not been working for weeks. The campground was very nice. Each site was separated from the next site by quite a distance. This was very nice!! After dinner it got very dark (the stars got brighter and closer) and very quiet. Most of the noisy people went to bed early.
Friday November 17th
Mom and dad left after breakfast to take the tours of the caverns. For the history of the caves go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartchner_Caverns_State_Park. But briefly the caves were first found by Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen in 1974 on property owned by the Kartchner family. They found a sink hole in the side of a mountain and crawled down into the caves. It turns out they were the first humans to ever enter this cave. The cave has an average temperature of 70 degrees and 99% humidity.
The Kartchner's sold the land to the state of Arizona for 1.6 million dollars in 1988. The state then spent 37 million dollars to create special doors to the cave, the pathways inside the caves, tram roadway, gift shop and offices, and the campground. The special doors keep the cave temperature and humidity as it is, because this is a living cave. It is still growing today. Inch by inch. It took over 11 years to develop the cave for the first paying visitors.
There was the 10 am tour of the Rotunda/Throne. It is 1.5 hours and is about 1/2 mile long hike.
After lunch there was the 1:45 pm tour of the Big Room. It is 1.75 hours long and about 1/2 mile long hike. The Big Room is only open from October to mid- April after the bats have migrated south.
Here are some scanned pictures from a book we bought at the gift shop (no cameras are allowed):
Saturday November 18th
After breakfast and showers, mom and dad packed up Lily and drove into Benson to attend church at the Benson Seventh Day Adventist church. They said this church was "interesting, to say the least". Once back at the campground we all took a nap. After dinner we all watched movies. Here I am watching the movie in mommy's lap:
Sunday November 19th
After breakfast mom and dad packed up Lily and started driving again. I stayed in bed of course! Early afternoon we arrived back home all safe and sound. It's good to be home!!
Very Cool! Looks like a great place we should take the kids to. Looks like Tiger likes the shorter trips too. ;) Thanks for sharing.
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