BREAKFAST WITH FRIENDS…LAURIE AND ODEL

Thursday, March 8 – We met fellow bloggers Laurie & Odel, Semi-True Tales, for breakfast this morning at the Bisbee Breakfast Club. The BBC has a branch restaurant here in Tucson. What a delightful couple. We felt so comfortable meeting them for the first time....even though they are soooo famous in the blog world. We were a little late for our agreed upon time due to a GPS error on our part, but Laurie and Odel were very understanding and we had a great visit for about two hours. They were checking out of their campground this morning and heading toward Phoenix, so we were happy they could spend a little time with us. Thanks and have a safe trip Laurie & Odel.

Paul, Marsha, Laurie, Odel

We then took Bella out for a desert hike for about an hour.

After returning her to the motor home, we headed back out for a hike ourselves. We spent about two hours roaming around the desert and then returned to the campground to relax in the sun for the remainder of the afternoon.

It was then off to the Walmart grocery store this evening to re-supply our refrigerator.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM

Wednesday, March 7 - This morning we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum, and botanical garden all in one. Within the Museum, you see more than 300 animal species and 1200 kinds of plants native to this region. There are almost two miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert.

During our walk through the desert zoo, we saw prairie dogs, owls, snakes, bobcats, birds, coyote, lizards javelina, wolves, mountain lions, black bears, and numerous other desert animals all displayed in a natural setting.

Bobcats

Biggest porcupine we have ever seen.

These javelinas have a huge area to roam around. 

We could watch these little guys all day. They are so funny.

Mexican Wolf. They have been trapped, shot and poisoned to near extinction. Today fewer than 50 remain in the wild.

The highlight of our day was the Raptor Flight. These trained birds put on an unbelievable display of bird of prey flight. We saw a couple Ravens, a Gray Hawk, a Great Horned Owl, a Harris Hawk, and a Ferruginous Hawk. Three trainers, in separate parts of the viewing area, would entice the birds to landings in nearby trees using food. These birds would soar within feet of the viewers, many passing inches from our heads. What an experience!

Raven

Great Horned Owl

Harris Hawk
 

Ferruginous Hawk

There is hummingbird center at the Museum. As you walk around in the building, the birds fly everywhere. It was fascinating to be able to watch these birds up close and personal.

The desert is coming alive with color. Marsha was in Heaven looking at all the gorgeous flowers.

When we rounded on of the corners, Marsha said, "Look at the huge Wisteria." Once we got closer, she found out that is wasn't Wisteria but Mescal Bean. She just loved it and the beautiful Sunflowers.

This is the cutest picture of the day. This little squirrel was watching this hummingbird.

We then drove through the Saguaro National Park on our way home. This is the same area butting against our campground that we hiked in yesterday. So many cactus and other beautiful desert fauna. Many of the wild flowers are blooming and the cactus have fruit on them. It has been a little windy today and the air is filled with desert dust (dust storms). That has cooled temperatures down into the sixties. The forecast calls for the sun to shine, the winds to die down, and temperatures to get back into the 70's by tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DESERT…FULL OF BEAUTY AND DANGER

Tuesday, March 12 Part III - Our day was not quite finished. One of the “pluses” of staying at Justin's Diamond J RV Park is its location at the edge of the desert and the many nearby hiking trails.

We headed out for a mid-day hike to enjoy the desert environment. What a beautiful place. All types of cactus, blowing wild flowers, and RATTLERS!!!!

Yep, you got it right....Paul finally got to see a rattlesnake in the wild. We had no sooner mentioned to each other that it was probably too early in the year for snakes to be a worry , when we nearly stepped on a rattlesnake sunny himself in the middle of the path. We came within about five feet of this HUGE snake when we heard the rattle.

Not a good picture. We were both trying to recover from the sound of the rattlers!

It was at least ten feet long and as big around as your arm. Paul even cashed-in one of his Man Cards by screaming like a little girl :-)) OK....it was only about 4 or 5 feet long but it scared the crap out of us anyway. You can't see those suckers! They blend in perfectly with the sand and surrounding rocks! And Paul was only screaming to warn Marsha to LOOKOUT!!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!!!!

There's that rattler.

We were brave enough to continue on down the trail for about an hour and a half before finishing up back at the campground. It was a an exciting day in Tucson, Arizona. One we won't soon forget!

Here are some not-so-scary sights…just beauty all around.

Simple beauty.

Jumping Cholla

We call this the Praying Cactus.

Needles on a Fish-hook Barrel cactus

Got to love all those arms.

Home Sweet Home

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!