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.