The Saguaros are Sweet

The giant Saguaro is an icon of the American southwest and so are beautiful sunsets. Together these two icons make a beautiful image. My camera has been able to capture this image several times this past week and I have one more chance to get my best sunset image yet. Saturday we drove across Tucson to Saguaro National Park East enjoying a 6 mile drive through the park. We noticed there were not nearly as many saguaro cacti in this park as there are in Saguaro Park West just down the road and around the corner about 6 miles from the casita where we are staying. The reason is there have been several freezes in that area and freezing weather does a number on the saguaro. In fact, the saguaro which have ridges around the cactus show signs of damage including freezing temperatures. The most important factors for growth is water and mild temperatures. The cacti can hold 70% water in the inner reeds which run through the plant from bottom to top and live on this water for a long time until the summer and winter rains. Many of these cacti can live 150-200 years and at 10 years old may only be 1.5 inches tall. Some saguaro can grow 40-60 feet tall and have up to 25 arms. We counted 13 arms which was a record that we saw. The root system extends 4-6 inches deep but as wide as it is tall. The main tap root can extend more than 2 feet. The seeds of the flowers on the top of the cactus are carried by birds, deposited under the trees where the birds roost and then the seeds germinate and little off white puff ball type things (much like cotton balls) start growing using the shade of the other tree as protection. We saw many of these new saguaro plants and as they grow the shade tree and the saguaro either co-exist or one of them wins the race and the other one dies off.

As I write this blog, the Superbowl is on and the evening light here in the Tucson area is waning and my camera is on the tripod awaiting a spectacular sunset like we experienced last night. The most beautiful part of the sunset was during our drive across Tucson back to the casita. The entire sky was red, orange, yellow and beautiful and, of course, the drive back did not provide a good place to pull over and capture the images of the sunset. Too many wires, buildings, towers, etc in the way so tonight the sky is a little cloudy and we could have a most spectacular sunset and I am ready.

We have a piece of chicken, pizza sauce, flat bread, sliced tomatoes, salad, and an apple to eat before we leave. Two eggs for the morning breakfast and possible leftover pizza as well. We are sad to leave this gorgeous area but we are planning a visit in April/May 2012 and probably for several weeks but we will see. At least we will reserve a week here in the casita during the cactus blooming season. We highly recommend this great place to stay - so much better than a motel or even a bed and breakfast and very reasonable. If you want information on the rental, just let us know.

Tucson Studios and evening hike

Today we decided to visit Tucson Studios which is no more than 7 miles from our casita where we are staying. This is the place where many western movies and TV shows were filmed. John Wayne, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Maureen Ohara, Clint Eastwood, Gene Wilder, Harrison Ford and Ricky Nelson are just a few of the actors and actresses who walked around the set of Old Tucson Studios. It really is a great place to visit and we highly recommend it. It takes a better part of a day because there is so much to see and shows are scheduled throughout the day. The train takes you around the 3 mile perimeter of the grounds and is included in the entry fee along with all the shows. The stage coach ride is $3.00 which lasts for about 20 minutes. Make sure you also take the 20 minute guided walking tour which is very informative. We watched the shoot out, the cancan show, and the comedy action show in front of the Alamo facade. That show is hilarious and I have a ton of action images if you want to see them. The pizza we had was also very good.

We left there about 3 pm and drove to the picnic area in the Saguaro National Park West where we joined a sunset hike at 3:30 pm with a ranger. We hiked 3 1/2 miles and enjoyed the sunset at the Valley View overlook. What a great place to get sunset photos. We learned quite a bit about the flora and fauna of the desert and walked up and down hills and through a dry wash area. There is so little surface water but if you dig down about 8 inches or so you do start hitting water so the animals wallow in the dirt until they reach a cool, moist area. This is in the dry washes where the water runs when it rains. There has been so little winter rain that a lot of the trees and bushes are still dead looking and they are concerned about the spring flowering plants and cactus. Last year this time the desert was just starting the bloom. The ranger said it looked like photos in the Arizona Highways magazine with all the beautiful blooms.

The blooms that we have seen on the barrel cactuses are remnants from last year. Next year we plan on visiting in mid April to catch the spring blooming season.

Our week's visit ends in two more days and we will be very sad to return to Alaska. This is a great place to live and we see why so many snowbirds come to this area. The ranger who led our hike is a retired ranger who works at different parks throughout the year. He has worked the last two winters in Saguaro National Park and in the summer he works at Glacier National Park. What a great life he has. He stays in his RV during the winter and has a house up in Montana for the summer months.

Saguaro and more

What a great day we had today visiting the International Wildlife Museum and driving through the Saguaro National Park West. It was a beautiful sunny day with NO clouds in the sky but still cool and when the wind blew it was a very cool breeze. The wildlife museum is very nice and the animals were very well displayed. Here is the some info I found about the museum: Founded in 1988, the museum highlights over 400 species of insects, mammals and birds from around the globe. Some of the collections are more than 100 years old and all the animals found at the museum were donated by various government agencies, wildlife rehabilitation centers, captive breeding programs, zoos and individuals.

We then went to Saguaro National Park West visitor center where I bought a t-shirt with advice from a saguaro on it. We then walked the cactus garden trail and drove the 6 mile loop stopping and taking photos of the very unique one-of-a-kind cactuses. As you can see by some of the photos, they each have a character of their own. We signed up for a 3 1/2 hour hike on Friday at 3:30 pm where we will look for signs of wildlife as we hike with the ranger and wait for the sunset. The sunsets here are gorgeous and where we are staying there is NO light pollution so the night sky really puts on a great show.

Wed we visited Tombstone and enjoyed the trolley ride, a visit to Boothill cemetery, the Bird Cage and the museum inside the courthouse. We also went to the Rose Tree museum where we found the world's largest rosebush in the courtyard. It is over 120 years old and takes up over 8600 square feet in an overhead trellis with a base that looks like a twisted tree trunk. It was sent from Scotland in 1885, planted against a wooden shed and it knocked over the shed. Then the trellis was built as it grew. It has millions of white blooms during the spring and summer months.

We had dinner at a friend's house in Sierra Vista who moved three years ago from OH. Thank you Bev, Tom and Logan for your kind hospitality and a great meal.

We have thoroughly enjoyed cooking our own meals here in the casita and we even did a load of laundry tonight. This will be an annual event for us until we decide to spend our winters down here. We highly recommend a visit to this area.

Desert Museum Tucson AZ

Ken and I spent 4 1/2 hours today at the Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ. What a great place to learn about the desert, wildlife and the history of the desert. The exhibits are designed to fit into the surrounding desert landscape and the rocks in the exhibits are molded to look just like the real thing. Gravel and rock walkways lead to different types of desert flora and fauna and wildlife exhibits. The weather today started out very nice, then the clouds rolled in, the wind started and the temperatures dropped which prompted me to put on my Alaskan winter hat and a coat. Some folks even had gloves on as they walked around the museum grounds. We attended a Harris Hawk flying demonstration and learned how these hawks are trained to fly when released from their cages around the crowd and land on gloved hands of their trainers to get food. This all happens out in the wild and they can fly away if they so choose but they do not. As it was windy, it took all their energy to fly and even land. We then came home (approximately 7 miles from the museum) and made pizza on nana bread and ate salad. We are getting ready to enjoy a small scoop of almond ice cream. We have shopped at Whole Foods Market which is an awesome store with great organic and fresh foods. It is so nice to be able to cook fresh food while on vacation instead of eating in restaurants. We cook at home and really enjoy trying new recipes. We made a potato frittata this morning which was absolutely delicious. Tomorrow we are driving 70 miles to Tombstone to meet a friend from OH who moved to Sierra Vista AZ about 4 years ago. Watch for more blogs and photos Wed or Thurs.