Letterboxing~Tucson: Agua Caliente

We next visited a place hardly believeable unless seen in person. This 101 acre former ranch is a true oasis in the Sonoran Desert, replete with palm trees, limpid pools, cool, clear, springs, 'tree tunnels', twisting calming paths, wildlife, and even a 200 year old Mesquite tree! We were awed and humbled with this park's beauty. What surprised us, too, is how it is world's better than any botanical garden we've visited, but yet, unlike most botanical gardens, is completely free, to walk, have a picnic or just meditate and relax.

A placard with history of Agua Caliente Park and a map of the trails.
Here's the 200 year old Mesquite Tree!

Walking on the trail beside one of the palm tree framed pools. To be towered over by all of the numerous palm trees with their amzingly huge trunks was a humbling, magical experience. We felt like we should have brought some figs to eat and coconut milk to drink so we could complete the experience.

This area of the trail was Jeremiah's ultimate favorite! The "Mesquite Tree Tunnel" My sweet son loves trees! Especially since he spied the many pecan and apple orchards on the drive through SE Arizona, he's been asking me every day if he can have an orchard, just so he can sit underneath the spreading canopy and read, play music and imagine.

The water for the three limpid pools comes from springs. The spring water winds it's way down 'creeks' through the palm trees until it reaches the pools. Behind where my kids are sitting on that palm tree, is a spring-fed creeks.

Near where we found the letterbox, with the beautiful hand-carved stamp inside (In this picture, Jax is holding the very box, in fact) , we also had our first up-close greeting with one of the 'big green sentinels of the desert', a noble and very large Saguaro cactus.