The Lava Tubes

Living out west in the great state of Arizona brings with it lots of opportunity for adventure! Before Rich started at GCU and after we got mostly moved in and settled, we decided to take a daytrip to Flagstaff for a fun family fieldtrip! We left the Valley and headed north. We were amazed at how a short 2 1/2 hour drive north brought us to a completely different climate and ecosystem! We left the desert for the gorgeous northern Arizona mountains and forest! It was 35 degrees cooler in Flagstaff!

Our adventure for this day was to explore the lava cave!  The cave was completely dark. We had to have plenty of flashlights!

We had so much fun! The cave is about a mile long. We rested several times along the way. The path is fairly rocky and wet in some areas, so we had to be very careful. It was about 42 degrees inside the cave! That was a nice break from the 110 degree weather we had been experiencing in the desert!

Several times we rested, took pictures, and turned our flashlights off to experience darkness.

We had so much fun exploring the cave. None of us had ever done anything quite like this before. I'm so thankful for this family of mine. The children were thanked us repeatedly for bringing them on this little day trip. (I love a grateful heart!) And it was just fun to be together!

The views on the way and back from Flagstaff were incredible! The landscape of Arizona is so different than anything we've ever known. What a joy it is to experience a different area of God's creation!