The Desert.........

Since the desert is such a new and different environment for us, we put the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum up towards the top of our list of "must see" places.  For more information, click here. It is listed as one of TripAdvisor's top 5 Museums and Botanical Gardens in the country. This museum is part zoo, botanical garden, natural history museum, art gallery and aquarium all in one. Since we were interested in this museum and a variety of other attractions, we picked up a "Savings Passport-Tucson Attractions" at the campground office. It paid for itself quickly, as many of the coupons are 2 for 1. This was one of them. Just sayin'.

The flight behavior program is offered twice a day...at 10 and 2, and since it was 10, we were so glad we got to see that! It was an amazing educational program, and was very well choreographed with the animal trainers there. The focus was on the birds, so the trainers would duck behind the vegetation so you really didn't seem them...just heard them speaking as the demonstration bird flew overhead and landed on various plants.

flight behavior program

look what just flew in

checking us out

he kept flying overhead

desert falcon

excellent program

The desert is quite beautiful. The cactus plants and other flora are so incredibly different from what I am used to, and the colors of the desert are striking. The mountains and the sky add to the majestic views. The sun and the heat are to be respected though. In December, it was quite pleasant, but I can just imagine in the height of the summer. There are various "ramadas" around the museum that offer shade when you need it. I even spotted an air-conditioner! 

budding

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the museum is mostly outdoors

ahh...some shade

The museum's zoo  has mostly animals and reptiles, birds and hummingbirds of the environs, educating us about the desert fauna. I was particularly interested in the cats, which live here in the desert. There are black bears here as well, way up in the hills, which we were surprised to learn.

fenced in!

road-runner

awww....look at the cute little bobcats (that can do some real damage!)

back on the trail

really nice desert plants

is that an AIR-CONDITIONER???

beautiful

okay..okay...okay

so pretty

another zoo exhibit...desert prairie dogs

waking up from a little nap

isn't that pretty?

 The zoo exhibits are interspersed throughout the museum, which is mostly outdoors. There are signs reminding us that we are in the desert and to watch out for snakes. (I tried to ignore those signs, but I did watch where I walked)! The museum also has a great cafe and gift shop. We brought a picnic lunch, since you never know, and saw the crested saguaro on our way back to the parking lot to eat. Its right outside the museum, but we didn't see it on the way in.

a crested saguaro!

what got caught in the web?

again...close up of the crested saguaro right outside the museum entrance

pretty desert color

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 There was a special aviary for hummingbirds, which was really great! These little guys are beautiful. I especially like the magenta and turquoise colors on some of them. We also saw a hummingbird when walking around the trails, out in nature. Beautiful and unexpected.

hummingbird

another

another

outside in nature!

noticed lots of nests too

 Another aviary was for birds and ducks, and there were a few birds that really caught our eye. Of course, the bright colors were the easiest to spot! We sat on a bench quietly, and saw quite a few different species.

in the aviary

 For some reason, there is also an aquarium section in this desert museum, depicting marine life from around the world. I had to take a picture of the otter for you Chris! (Ollie!!)

otter

Another section of the museum depicted farming in the desert. We were amazed by the squash that grew up a tree and the fruits were hanging like Christmas ornaments!

pretty, huh?

farming display

check that out...squash growing in the tree...survival!

 When we walked through one of the aquarium buildings, I was drawn to these sea worms....check it out. I also really liked the plaid fish swimming in the same little aquarium. And the seahorse!

All in all, we really enjoyed this museum and introduction to this desert environment that is so foreign to me. We spent about 4-5 hours exploring here!

isn't that cool?

love the plaid fish

some kind of sea worms...very cool

also cool to me!

Saguaro National Park is not too far from the museum, and was another "must see" for us. For more information, click here. We had a few hikes picked out, but since it was a little late in the day, we did  just did a few short trails, each about a mile or shorter. Our first stop though was the visitor center. I love the national park movies...they are so informative and interesting to me. The film at this visitor center was especially nice and all I can say is that it had a great finale. 

another world

outside the park visitor center

visitor center patio

at the end of the film, the lights go on, the screen rises, and...

the view!

more outside the visitor center

ready for a short hike?

 Our first little walk was on the Discovery Trail. The saguaros against the backdrop of the desert and mountains and the changing sky was just beautiful. The other cactus species and plants added to the beauty.

beautiful

the desert colors were striking with the clouds all around

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cool looking cactus

great flora around here

 We then ventured off to another trailhead, which was down a dirt road that weaved up and down, over and around, through the park. The road was in good condition, so we weren't too worried. The drive through the park was other-wordly , with saguaros everywhere. Saguaros only grow in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. Once we got to the trailhead, there was a new-to-me warning. This one was about African bees. Apparently, there were African bees nesting somewhere near the trail. Hikers were warned that if a bee bumps into you (but doesn't sting you), you are too close and get away. If you get stung, pull your shirt over your face to protect your skin and face and run away for at least a quarter to a half mile, at which point they should leave you alone, and immediately seek medical attention by calling 911. Hhhmmm. Needless to say, we had no issues with bees. Oh boy. .You just never know, do you?

heading down the dirt road

winding through the park

here we go!

how cool is that?

what does that say? Bees?

staying on the trail

stepping along the trail

a fork in the road

lots of clouds forming

wow....what happened to that one?

isn't that pretty?

very cool plant life

at the top of the hill....the views down were awesome

saguaros everywhere!

check that out....a 3-fer

beautiful....nothing else to say about it!

It was getting late in the day, and the sun sets pretty early now, so our last hike of the day was to Signal Hill, which was just a short walk. The big draw, besides the view, are the petroglyphs at the top of Signal Hill. Amazing!

heading over to Signal Hill there on the left

nice picnic area!

ugh...

come on Susie...its getting late

petroglyphs

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going down is so much easier than up!

 On our way out of the park to head back home, a coyote ran across the road in front of us. He looked at us, but was not at all interested and went on his way hunting for his dinner. We enjoyed the lovely views on our way back, and we were hoping to see a gorgeous desert sunset. The clouds thickened and we were out of luck. Another time!

see the coyote?

cruising for dinner

really nice!

This campground is quite active, with many activities for all different interests. I We took advantage of a holiday activity here....a one hour singing only concert of holiday music by a few of the singing groups here in the campground. I really thought it would be like a church choir type affair, or a school holiday concert, and was planning on going alone since that is not Tom's thing at all. Well, at the last minute, he decided to go as well. This concert was so good! Some extremely talented people here! Most seemed professionally trained, and I believe I heard that the conductor was a retired college music professor. Regardless, we really enjoyed it! Both of us! And it was nice to just walk home, since it was just down the street in the auditorium. I kinda like this type of campground! Reminds me of summer camp (which I never went to but imagine it would be like) for adults.

full moon....looking down our street!