A Big Rig Tour of the
Southwest
 
During our tour of the
Southwest, we traveled on a big rig. Students took turns in the driver's
seat during the trip. Check out the cool adventures we had!
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Our first stop in the Southwest was
Monument Valley, home of the original Navajo Indian Reservation. |
While in Phoenix, we saw many palm trees and the sagauro cactus. We couldn't stay long because it is the hottest city in the
Southwest!
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The Hoover Dam was an exciting place to visit. We learned that it is currently the world's 35th-largest hydroelectric generating station. This dam, located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an instrumental role in its construction. 
The Grand Canyon was a "GRAND" sight. It is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the state of Arizona. Did you know that the Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and more than 1 mile deep?
Now that's a BIG canyon!!!
 
Our next stop was Carlsbad Caverns located near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The stalactites and stalacmites were absolutely amazing. Carlsbad Caverns is sometimes referred to as the eighth wonder of the world and is famous for its 80 limestone caves. Did you know they are the deepest chambers in the world? There are over one million Mexican free-tailed bats in the caverns. If you come to the park during May you can see the "Bat Fly". That is when thousands of bats fly from the main cavern entrance. 
 We left Carlsbad and headed to El Paso, Texas and Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. Juarez is located just across the border from El Paso, Texas. El Paso and Cuidad Juarez together form one of the largest international border cities in the world with a combined population of 2.5 million people.
Another exciting stop was at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. Here we
learned about how the Texas Freedom Fighters gave their lives to fight for
their independence.
Alamo Website
We visited the largest capital building in the nation! It is located in Austin, Texas.
Guthrie, Okalahoma is known for its historical buildings. The magnificent architecture of Oklahoma's
first State Capital, still stands today as a National Historic
Landmark. History is brought to life each day on Historic Trolley Tours and in places like the Oklahoma Territorial Museum, Oklahoma Publishing Museum and the Frontier Drugstore Museum.
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