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Keeping in mind that this is the General Travel forum, while most of the other threads here could have worked better on respective Regional forums...
I have always wanted to see Saguaro and Organ Pipe cacti up close in person, and it seems that about the only way to do so is visit southern Arizona, or cross the border and go further into Mexico. I finally got to playing with the idea of actually going, looked at a possible road trip across southern New Mexico with stops at some national parks and monuments along the way going & returning, 1800 miles round trip over a week or more with brief visits to six sites along the way...
Interesting, doable if I plan to avoid the worst heat & monsoons, but I wasn't excited. So then I looked at maybe just flying into Tucson for a few days. That looks more appealing, $280 air fare, low cost but nice enough hotels at least in Tucson. As usual for my exploration travels, I asked my kids if they'd be interested. My daughter said "Ugh" but her husband was interested, then surprisingly she came around - perhaps from a feeling of duty. So we're going for a Labor Day Weekend visit. Here's our plan so far...
I have always wanted to see Saguaro and Organ Pipe cacti up close in person, and it seems that about the only way to do so is visit southern Arizona, or cross the border and go further into Mexico. I finally got to playing with the idea of actually going, looked at a possible road trip across southern New Mexico with stops at some national parks and monuments along the way going & returning, 1800 miles round trip over a week or more with brief visits to six sites along the way...
Interesting, doable if I plan to avoid the worst heat & monsoons, but I wasn't excited. So then I looked at maybe just flying into Tucson for a few days. That looks more appealing, $280 air fare, low cost but nice enough hotels at least in Tucson. As usual for my exploration travels, I asked my kids if they'd be interested. My daughter said "Ugh" but her husband was interested, then surprisingly she came around - perhaps from a feeling of duty. So we're going for a Labor Day Weekend visit. Here's our plan so far...
- Leave Lubbock Saturday at 6:16am (unless the airline changes their plans like they love to do to people), quick change in DFW, and arrive Tucson around 9am if everything goes well. Grab bags if we have to check any, grab SUV, head to Walmart nearby to pickup a cooler & gallon jugs of water, maybe stop by Subway to grab picnic sandwiches to take - then head for Saguaro NP East. We may only do the visitors center, the 8 mile drive trail, and a few pullouts. One of my knees is just too old for much hiking, but at least we'll see some sights we've never seen before. The average high temperatures look to be slightly less than 100F and we've climbed hills in much worse in Death Valley.
- Saturday night at a reasonable hotel in Tuscon somewhere. I am leaving that shopping up to the daughter this time. The 3 Palms Tucson North Foothills looks nice to me, gets good review, and I love the rates - but we'll see what she selects.
- Sunday it looks like a 14 mile drive to Saguaro National Park West, a visit similar to ours at the east park the day before, maybe taking to-go sandwiches again in case we stay that long, seeing the sights from the loop drive and pullouts. Tentative plans are for a morning visit and 2½ hour to Ajo, so we have plenty of flex-time that afternoon. Other than the scenic drive to our Ajo hotel, I don't see any reason to get there early.
- It looks like two choices in Ajo for hotels that night.
- Monday we'll backtrack 15 miles, then head into Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which seems the most promising of the three parks, including both targeted cacti species, 23 mile paved hiway originally built for Prohibition Era bootleggers - 27 miles from Why to Lukeville, and some other possible drives - altho I don't know how far off of the pavement I want to take a rental SUV. We'll enjoy the scenic drive, visitors center, and pullouts - but I am wondering about crossing into Sonoyta, Mexico? I know the park was closed for a decade because of smuggler problems but I get the idea that it's much safer now, and wonder about the border town? We should probably pack picnic sandwiches again for lunch.
- Monday evening we'll leave the park early enough to be back close to the Tucson airport for dinner then overnight there.
- Tuesday, our plan leaves at 7am, quick change in Phoenix, and back in Lubbock in time for lunch.