It's About the (RV) Journey....: Tohono Chul......................

Its been cold here in Tucson....50's during the day, and 20's at night! It rained all day Monday, but I guess in the mountains it was snow! So, Tuesday morning we woke up to clear cold weather and decided it was the perfect day to head out to Tohono Chul Park. With only two days left in Tucson, it was on our list of places we wanted to see, so off we went.

snow capped mountains

heading to the bistro for a tasty lunch

the patio surroundings were gorgeous

Tohono Chul is a botanical garden, nature preserve, art gallery and garden bistro spread out over 49 acres. For more information, click here. I actually read about it in one of J.A. Jance's mystery novels, where I also learned about the Queen of the Night cactus. This cactus blooms only ONE night per year, and Tohono Chul has the largest number of Queen of the Nights in the world. It blooms anywhere between mid-May to mid-July, and they all bloom on the same night. You can get on an email list to be alerted as to when the cactus blooms. Sometimes it is really short notice....like hours. Would love to see that someday.

lots of Christmas lights....on weekends the park is lit up for the holidays and is open at night

we loved this metal cactus water feature

the cactus and the tree seem to be coexisting

enjoying the garden paths

After a delightful lunch inside at the bistro, we started exploring the gardens. There are many, many little trails that meander throughout the park. Good walking shoes are a must. We logged a lot of miles...just sayin'. Its an interesting park, with artwork scattered among some of the gardens. We had fun watching and trying to photograph some of the many birds and hummingbirds we saw throughout the day.

art in the park

so many different paths throughout the park...very easy to get lost

more artwork

lots of birds

they loved the feeder outside the gift shop

There is a small art gallery to enjoy as well. The featured exhibit when we were there was "Birds in Art". The pieces were lovely, but my favorite was a quilt. I guess because crafting has been such a big part of my life this past month, I really could appreciate the work that went into creating such a beautiful piece of art. Examining the quilt a little more closely, I could see that the birds were embroidered onto the quilt. Nice!

a view from the art gallery....notice the metal sculptures outside too

a work of art

the birds are painted with embroidery stitches-wow!

There were 3 different trails that went out through the desert area, and of course we hit them all! The trails were not too long, and we really enjoyed walking among the cactus. This park is in the middle of the city, and you can see shops and homes as you walk through these trails. It did not take away from the beauty of the park though.

heading through to another section

we noticed artwork everywhere (love the lizard and the tiles water feature)

heading through the patio to the trail beyond

nice halo effect

another example of different plants co-existing

just beautiful

nice

rattlesnakes are holed up somewhere staying warm...no worries today!

we really like these "cactus trees"

new to us...these are called "cow's ears"

lots of inspirational plaques to ponder throughout the trail

pretty

a beautiful stroll through the park!

I like these barrel cactus plants too

the yellow has lots of swirls through it...very cool

nice

Each of the garden areas had its own character. Some were for attracting hummingbirds, some were educational and explained such things as how to harvest water in the desert. Throughout, there was artwork to enjoy. It was not only the actual art, but the setting in which it was displayed that made it just wonderful. I tried to capture that in some of the photos.

attracts butterflies

how nice is that?

water is a precious commodity, especially in the desert

nice healthy plants...

more art features

close up..

the purple was so striking!(bad photo, but the best I could get)

so pretty

the geology wall

One section of the park had demonstration gardens, to help give some ideas of plantings that you could do at your own home (if you lived in the area). I really enjoyed that part. They were all so nice.

an example of an outdoor living space you could do at home

let's check this out...Meditation Garden

peaceful

lots of blooms, especially where the sun hit

this cactus "person" seems to have his head down with his arms over his head saying "oh no" (we really do have fun with the cactus plants!)

At the other end of the park were two more short trails (Saguaro and Desert View?), that wandered in and amongst the cactus. We really had a beautiful day, crisp cool weather, and so thoroughly enjoyed this park. We were happy to see a crested saguaro, a mutation in a cactus that gives it the crested look. The cactus is healthy, just looks a little different. They are not too common, and we are always thrilled to see one!

such a nice park

we are always learning something new

a crested saguaro!

see the bird perched on top?

nice view

close up...isn't that cool?

these crested saguaro's are not too common

We have so much fun walking among cactus plants. Really! They look like people, and some look like they are "talking" to us. In one little area, one cactus seemed to be saying "touchdown" and the other cactus seemed to be clapping. I know, we are crazy, but we sure are having fun. Hahahah.

"touchdown"

"yeah"

so pretty

another nice view

Due to the freezing weather, some of the more vulnerable cactus plants were protected. Some had coffee cups on the tips, while others were completed covered in sheets. I guess this is not the best time of year to go to a desert botanical garden, but we still enjoyed ourselves immensely. Would be fantastic to be here when the cacti were blooming.

Tom and his new friend

pretty

so many of the plants were covered to be protected from the very cold weather

There were several different gift shops on sight, with lots of nice items at a reasonable price. Being in the RV, if it doesn't have a purpose, we really can't justify taking up space. However, we did succumb in the greenhouse and bought a couple of really nice plants. I am particularly excited since I had such success with the Christmas cactus. We'll see!