5th Grade Field Trip to Southern Arizona
Getting to chaperone a field trip with one of my kids is a major privilege at our school. The parent participation is amazing! Everyone wants to help do everything. Our principal even takes the time to go on every single field trip - and he is a blast. This principal plays kick ball with the kids every day at recess. Because of this they love him to death - as do the parents. They have to do a drawing before every field trip to make sure it is fair. Once you have attended a field trip with that specific grade that year, your name doesn't go back in the pot unless they are in need.
So when Morgan let me know my name had been drawn for her field trip we were both ecstatic! And this was a fun trip. It was an overnight trip to several sites in Southern Arizona. After being at the school by 5am so we could board the buses, we drove 2 1/2 hours to Kartchner Caverns. The tour here was 2 hours long. I wish they would have allowed me to bring my camera in...it was beautiful!
We started at the visitor's center...
Morgan with her friend, Ella...
That afternoon we went to the Queen Mine in Bisbee - an old copper mine that was closed in 1975.
Before beginning the tour they outfit you in jackets, helmets, and a belt which they hang a light which is hooked to a battery pack on the back of your belt. Now we were ready to enter the mine. It was 47 degrees in there!
To travel into the mine we road on small railroad tracks on this little train. This is the entrance. Once inside the tunnel was not very wide (if I stretched my arms out I could touch both sides). As we were going in we felt like the Seven Dwarfs..."Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go...".
At different points along the tour the train would stop and we would get out and walk a short distance to different parts of the mine.
When the mine was operating someone would bike this cart around to fill it up with debris, then bike it out of the mine.
Here you can see the elevator shaft with the bell they used to communicate with the surface.
The man giving the tour used to work in the mine when it was still operating. This cart was the bathroom. It was even a two-seater! So much for privacy. It was also carted around through the mine. How would you like that job!
That night we went to the town of Tombstone. There we slept in the gym of the local high school - boys on one side, girls on the other. Glad I brought my air mattress! Before going to sleep they handed out popcorn and everyone watched Toy Story 3. The kids actually went to sleep pretty quick. I think everyone had a pretty long and exciting day!
Morgan invited my to sleep by her and her friends. I felt pretty special considering other girls would rather their moms slept by the other moms. Thanks, Morgan!
The next morning we were up bright and early (6am) for our final day...
After packing up the gym, we went to Boothill Graveyard. This is the old graveyard where many of the old gunslinger's made famous in Tombstone are buried. The most noted that we saw were Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury, and Frank McLaury who were killed in the O.K. Corral gun battle against "Doc" Holliday and Wyatt Earp.
From Boothill Graveyard we drove an hour to Colossal Caves just outside of Tucson. They allowed cameras in the caves...these were taken without a flash or a tripod (except for the one with Morgan in it). I didn't want the flash washing out the color in the rocks.
Everything we saw was a lot of fun, but my favorite part was being able to spend a good chunk of one-on-one time with Morgan. I sure love you, Morgan! You are absolutely amazing!