Giving Back to the Community and Having Fun - Western Style!

Today we got to assist the marvelous rangers and interns at the Tanque Verde National Park by locating, measuring, recording data, and pinpointing the exact location of saguaro cacti in a marked area. It was incredible how quickly our group took up the task and within minutes were working independently to record this information. This information is vital to the maintenance and preservation of the saguaro cactus and the park itself. The activities of the day answered an age-old question. "When am I ever going to use this math skill?" Ah, yes. The Pathagorean Theorum was in use today! A handy dandy tool was used to calculate this information, though, simply by looking through the tiny lens and reading the pair of numbers that were indicated - all the while keeping both eyes open. It was a little tricky at first, but soon they looked like pros at work. After making notes about the features of each cactus and measuring its height, our GPS Tracker specialist-in-training determined the coordinates that pinpoint its exact location on the earth. Pretty cool! After working for two hours in the desert, the students were sorry to go because they were having a great time. Back at the ranch, however, we saddled up and rode horses through the desert. I never knew how beautiful the desert could be. Swimming, fishing, and water color painting rounded out the afternoon. After another magnificent dinner, we enjoyed the rattle snake wrangler as he taught us about this much feared creature. Every day is just as fascinating as the one before. I can't wait until tomorrow.

Bright Angel Trail Discoveries

Our guide, Ken, has a Master's degree in geology and is pointing out to us the fault lines in this wall. He is also explaining about the shifting in the earth and how earthquakes occur.

Keaton and Menna stopping for a rest break along the Bright Angel Trail.

Menna and Zainab during another rest break along the Bright Angel Trail.

This is our group just prior to hitting the trail with our guides. What a great group!

We're homesick. NOT! Having a great time in Arizona!

A Most Memorable Day

I can't possibly put the activities of the day in any kind of ranking order. That's just how terrific the day was for us. We began our day by visiting Montezuma's Castle, a cliff dwelling that was left vacant about 800 years ago. It was incredible to stand on the very ground and view the very home of some of America's ancient people. After seeing these magnificent dwellings we started out for another magnificent site - Biosphere 2! This was remarkable! It can only be described by saying seeing is believing! We wound up our day by arriving at the Tanque Verde Ranch. What an incredibly beautiful and hospitable place. It makes me want to be a cowgirl! Our dinner was first class all the way, and very delicious! Although the itinerary is magnificent, the activities of the day are inspiring, educational, and awe inspiring. I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds for our young travelers.