Travel Adventures in Arizona and New Mexico, Part 1: Tucson

We're home from our latest travel adventure! This trip took us through the heart of Arizona and New Mexico. We packed in a ton of educational attractions, including National Parks, museums, tours, historic sites, and so much more. We celebrated the 100th anniversary of Route 66. We ate local specialties and learned so much. We had a fantastic time and I'm really excited to tell you all about it!

Because I blog about educational travel, I was given media passes and other benefits for some of the places we visited during our trip. Some places we went are free for everyone, while we paid full price for the rest. How much I paid has no influence on my reviews. Everything I share is something that I recommend without hesitation. If you see any gaps in my narrative, it is because I didn't love that particular attraction, restaurant, or hotel enough to recommend it to you, regardless of how much I paid or didn't pay.

---------

Tucson, Arizona

On Thursday, April 4 Steve and I had an afternoon flight from San Francisco to Tucson. By the time we were off the plane and picked up our rental car, it was pretty late. We hadn't eaten, so our first order of business was dinner. I'd done my research ahead of time and learned that eegee's is a beloved Tucson fast food chain, famous for their namesake frozen fruit drink, grinders, and really good ranch dressing. There's an eegee's near the airport, so that's where we headed.

We ordered their meatball sub, fries (with ranch), a lemon eegee (the original flavor), and cinnamon sugar fritters for dessert.

The sub was delicious, with a generous amount of melted cheese over meatballs and marinara. The fries were crisp and tasty and the ranch was excellent. The cinnamon sugar fritters were addictive, fried perfectly. But it was the eegee that blew us away. It was sweet, but not overly so, with chunks of real lemon throughout. It was soft and smooth and so refreshing. We both agreed it was the best frozen lemonade we'd ever had.

After dinner, we headed to the The Leo Kent, where we would be staying for four nights. This boutique hotel occupies the first nine floors of 1 South Church, Tucson's tallest building. It's in the heart of downtown. We loved our stay. We were on the 9th floor and had spectacular views of downtown, with the mountains in the background.

 

We headed to bed, excited to explore Tucson. I'll tell you all about our first full day in The Old Pueblo tomorrow. 

The Fifty States By ColorIt: Missouri

I have a new coloring book that I absolutely love and I'm so excited to share it with you! The Fifty States by ColorIt is everything I want in a coloring book (affiliate links here and below). The hand-drawn illustrations are gorgeous, the thick paper is very high quality, and the spiral binding on top means the pages lay flat. 

I love that each of the designs features so many of the official state symbols. I picked a random page to color first, which happened to be Missouri. The design includes the state animal (Missouri mule), state bird (Eastern bluebird), state dessert (ice cream cone), state flower (hawthorn blossom), state game bird (Northern bobwhite), state grape (Norton), state insect (honeybee), state monument (Gateway Arch), state musical instrument (fiddle), state tree and arboreal emblem (flowering dogwood), state tree nut (black walnut), plus the state seal and state flag. 

I colored the page with Prismacolors. They performed beautifully on the thick, smooth paper. I am really happy with how my page turned out and can't wait to color another state!

State Symbols That Have Changed

Recently, I've been working on a lot of crafts inspired by state symbols. That got me to thinking - has any state ever changed one of their symbols? Obviously, states have changed their flags and their seals, but has any state decided that their state bird no longer represents them? Or that there's a better choice for a state tree or flower? Let's dive in and find out!

State Birds

Here is the current list of state birds, along with their scientific name, picture, and the year they were designated. There have been quite a few additions in the form of state game birds, waterfowl, raptors, etc. but I only found three examples of states that changed the actual state bird. Florida just tried to change theirs, but it stopped in the Senate. 

• North Carolina had originally chosen the Carolina Chickadee as its state bird in 1933. Due to concerns about its unpopular nickname, they repealed the designation after less than a week. Ten years later, NC selected he Northern Cardinal as its state bird. 

• South Carolina changed its official state bird from the Northern Mockingbird to the Carolina Wren in 1948. They felt the Carolina Wren was a better choice because it is found in all areas of South Carolina and doesn't migrate away from the state. 

• New Hampshire changed their state bird from the New Hampshire Hen to the Purple Finch in 1957. While there are no plans replace it, reports suggest climate change could push the species out of the state, potentially affecting its status.

State Trees

Here is the current list of state trees, with their scientific names, photos, and years they were adopted. I was only able to find one instance of a state changing their state tree. Kentucky had a bit of a kerfluffle with theirs, but ultimately it was not a change. Florida updated the cocoa tree on the state seal to the Sabal palm when they adopted it as the state tree in 1953, but that wasn't a change of state tree either. 

• Utah changed its state tree from the Colorado blue spruce to the quaking aspen in 2014. The aspen is much more widespread in Utah than the blue spruce, which is the state tree of Colorado. 

State Flowers

Here is the list of state flowers, their scientific names, images, and dates of adoption. Like the state birds, there have not been many changes, but there have been additions as states have designated state wildflowers and floral emblems. I was able to find two states that changed their state flowers. Tennessee had a bit of a crazy history with their state flower(s) but I'm not counting it as a change. Georgia has legislation in progress to replace their state flower, but it hasn't happened yet. 

• Kentucky is the Bluegrass State, but they changed their state flower from bluegrass (which is not a flower) to the goldenrod in 1926. 

• Indiana has changed its state flower from the carnation (1913) to the tulip tree blossom (1923) to the zinnia (1931) to the peony (1957). There is a vocal minority that wants to change the peony to a native flower, but for now the state flower is the peony. 

New Year's Eve 2025

We usually host a small get-together for New Year's Eve, but Trevor and I were flying home from Boise that evening. So instead of having friends over to our house, we asked them to meet us at Dos Coyotes near the airport for a non-traditional New Year's Eve dinner. The food was excellent and it was great fun to end the year with some of our very favorite people. 

Celebrate NYE (affiliate link)

I'm frustrated with how the metallic stickers scanned. In real life, the gold is shiny and you can barely see the clear part of the sticker. On the scan, it's the opposite. Oh well. The layout is complete. It's in the album and up on the blog. Mission complete!

Fabric Applique Wall Hanging

After making the stuffed cross ornament, I tried another idea using the same fabric. This basic applique project is a great introduction to hand sewing and makes a cute wall hanging. Obviously, you can use a cut-out design from any fabric; it doesn't need to be a cross. The link in the materials list goes to some adorable forest animals. Affiliate links below. 

Fabric Applique Wall Hanging

Materials: 

• applique fabric
• iron-on interfacing
• fabric scissors
• background fabric
• embroidery hoop
• embroidery floss
• needle
• craft glue

Steps: 

Cut out the image you're going to applique, leaving a 1/2" border around the edges. Fuse the interfacing to the fabric, then cut out the image precisely. Cut the background fabric about 2" larger than the diameter of the embroidery hoop. Put the background fabric into the hoop, then position the applique piece where you want it. 

Cut a length of embroidery floss in a matching or contrasting color. Choose a hand stitch for your project. I debated blanket stitch but decided to go for the simpler whip stitch. Sew all the way around your shape. 

If your applique is not perfectly centered in the hoop, loosen the embroidery hoop slightly to adjust the background fabric until it looks good. Tighten the hoop, then trim the excess background fabric, leaving 1/4". Glue that to the back of the hoop.