Pretty Prickly

I had an opportunity to attend a three day conference in Phoenix Arizona last week, so I decided to take Karen with me, add a couple of vacation days at the beginning and end of the conference and so we spent April 10-17 seeing landscapes that are much different than those of Indiana. We Spent Friday night in Indianapolis at a hotel where we could leave the car parked for the week and flew out at 6:00 AM. Because of the time zone changes we landed in Phoenix at 6:50 AM, rented a car and head out to Tucson for the day. We pretty much just headed south to Tucson (a two hour drive) to be able to see as much as possible and then get back to Phoenix for the night. We found the visitors center got maps and information and decided to take a couple of hours to walk around the city focusing on the old town and cultural areas. The photo below shows that color selection for buildings is done a lot differently than in Indiana, which explains why the Mexican restaurant in North Webster looks so out of place.


The photos below are of the old court house. I just can't see getting serious justice in a pink court house.

A ways further on we came across the "old town" section where a block of the original buildings had been preserved and converted into a southwest art center.

Since it is spring we were treated to some pretty spectacular flower color.

Inside the Old Town Artisan areas was a pretty nice courtyard with table and chairs where you could order from one of two or three restaurants.

At three or four times during the day there was a group of Mayan dancers that did a 30 minute routine, very colorful.

After lunch Karen did a little shopping at one of the local jewelry shops

She bagged a bracelet

While we were eating lunch we heard cannon fire. So after lunch we headed across the street to a section of the old original fort that has been preserved and rebuilt.

There were people in period dress demonstrating life as it was when the first Europeans settled the area.

We sampled bread cooked in the bee hive oven.

Here is the cannon that got our attention earlier in the day. They are actually firing aluminum foil balls toward the direction of the restaurant. No wonder we heard it so well.

We got back to the car and drove out in the country to visit a desert museum.

The trip out was on a winding road through some mountain passes that provide some scenic overlooks.

The desert museum was pretty much a botanical garden with collection of native plants and also several displays of native animals. The most common icon for the Sonoma desert is the saguaro cactus. This cactus plant will get up to 50 feet tall and live a couple of hundred years. South of Phoenix is about the only place where these live. They are quite interesting.

The desert museum provided both some shade and beautiful vistas out in the desert outside the park.

Again since it was spring when we were there, even the cactus were in bloom. When mixed in with other flower shrubs and wild flowers, the views were quite colorful.

Most of the structures we saw were built out of native materials, and as you can see there were not a lot of trees around. When the Saguaro Cactus die they leave a wood skeleton that is used with other sticks and in some cases canvas to provide a little shade.

The variety of plant was quite dramatic. We found out that all cactus are succulents, but not all succulents are cactus. There were dozens of plants that were some sort of yucca. Almost everything in the desert bites. pointy, spinney, prickly stuff everywhere you look. Where there are not hostile looking plants there are just sharp rocks. I suspect camping is quite a challenge.

There were trails through out the museum and several really well constructed bridges and wall, for the most part all made of stone or mud bricks.

Occasionally we would spot a lizard. There were several types.

The color and variety of plants kept me much entertained.

The top of this giant yucca could be seen from all over the museum grounds. When I finally got to a place where I could see the whole thing, I could not get back far enough to get all of it in one photo.

The landscapes were quite interesting and varied.

Prickly Pear cactus are perhaps the most common plant in Arizona.

The shrubs that are there are kind of scrawny, but they do have pretty flowers if you look closely.

Some of the cactus seem to have a pretty nasty attitude.

Eventually we got to a part of the museum/park where there were some native animals. Most of the mamals were hidden away from view in shady nooks and caves. you could only seed a bit of fur sticking out from behind a rock. Birds, however, were fairly active and quite visable. Even this turtle dove that almost blends away as it sat on its nest was easy to spot since it was so close to the trail.

These ducks are an unusal type that I was unable to identify, but they were interesting standing in the desert.

There was a large areas for humming birds. Photographing huming birds is quite tricky. If you can find one sitting you can sometimes get a good shot, but when in flight it is almost impossible.

The Saquaro Cactus provide plenty of habitat for animals. there are hardly any of the really big cactus that don't have at least on hole in the side of it.

There were lots of really pretty flowers in bloom, quite stuning in color.

On our way back to Phoenix this was pretty typical of the landscape through which we drove.

We had a good time in Tucson and will probably vist it again some day if the opportunity presents itself.