Field Trip – Valley of Fire

Last week we joined a homeschool nature study group for a field trip to the Valley of Fire State Park near Overton NV.  It’s only an hour’s drive north of Las Vegas but the last time we visited was long before having kids.  The weather is just perfect this time of year for the trip.  Here are some highlights from our day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our little one is very much afraid of heights.  She even has a hard time at the playground.  She was not happy to be heading all the way up these stairs but she put on her brave face and let me carry her.

 

 

 

This log came from a forest of pine trees that grew in the area approximately 150 million years ago.

 

 

At our picnic stop, a group of girls discovered a badly injured dragonfly.  They grabbed a few small sticks and rocks and tried to help it get up and fly again.  Storyteller was pretty upset about this.  I think she could tell that their help was actually hurting it more.  She kept asking them to leave it alone but she was a bit outnumbered.  Even without their “help” this little guy didn’t have much life left.  The older girls led the way in making a memorial for him with rock and flowers.  They named him Sparkles and sang songs to him.  RIP Sparkles.