Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, April 27, 2010

The best way to enjoy the Sonora National Park is with a visit to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place.

The best time to visit is early in the morning when the animals are more active and the temperature is cooler. Most of the museum is located outdoors. There are almost two miles of outdoor paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert.

Here is a mountain lion in natural habitat.

This is called a black bear, although his fur is a dark brown.

The coyote is a symbol of the American West. The Navajo refer to the coyote as "God's dog". A versatile and seemingly indestructible animal, the coyote continues to impress us today with its outstanding survival skills.

Javalinas (peccary) are found in Southwest North America, Central and South America. Having a strong resemblance to pigs, they are 3-4 feet long and weigh 44-88 pounds. They are social animals and often form herds.

The Organ Pipe cactus is related to the giant Saguaro but with several stems rising from the ground. In Arizona they are only found naturally in the region around the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, southwest of Tucson.

The Agave cactus, also know as the Century Plant, with a striking appearance and often giant flower stalks, are popular as landscape plants. But they have been eaten, drunk, and worn by humans for centuries. The common name of century plant is a misnomer as they only live to 40-50 years. Here is one starting to bloom. Most species are found in semiarid habitats ranging from sea level to over 8000 feet.

Most agave are monocarpic: after growing slowly for many years, they bloom once and die. Flower stalks of some agave grow with amazing speed, towering over head in just a few days. This agave has already bloomed and is dying.

We visited the hummingbird aviary and I was able to get a rare picture of a mother feeding her baby.

It is a very interesting and educational museum.

Old Tucson Studios, Tucson, AZ April 27,2010

A superstar in its own right, Old Tucson Studios has hosted over 300 film and television productions since 1939.

You might recognize this freight depot from some of the John Wayne movies filmed here.

I got "volunteered" to help out with Sir William Wiley's Miracle Elixir Show. He asked me to spell "silk", louder and faster, louder and faster, then asked what cows drink. I of course said "milk". He decided I needed some of his elixir (which turned out to be a bottle of sarsaparilla). After thinking about it later, I decided I was partially right-baby cows drink milk!

This is the hotel used in the film "McClintock" where Maureen O'Hara jumped from the second floor porch into a wagon of hay. Remember??

I found a new profession!!

Bill was tending bar....

This is the "RENO", built in 1872 for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad to work the legendary Comstock Lode and later to become a movie star.
Famous passengers include Presidents U.S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt, John Wayne, James Steward, Katherine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, and Elizabeth Taylor. It has appeared in nearly 100 movies and televisions programs including Rawhide, Twilight Zone, Wild Wild West, and Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. The Reno is known as the most photographed locomotive in American history.

Here is the entrance to the "High Chaparral" set. The mountain in the background is Golden Gate Mountain and is seen in many westerns.

Bill is standing in front of the main house from the High Chaparral set, again with Golden Gate mountain in the background.

Here comes the stage. Bill and I took a ride in it and I can't imagine riding for several days in it. From Tucson to Tombstone took several days. If you didn't have a bad back when you started, you would when you arrived at your destination!

Bill in front on the "town set" from High Chaparral. Looks pretty authentic, doesn't it??

This is what it looks like from the side!

View of the courthouse. Notice the "gallows" in the center. Other John Wayne films made here include "Rio Bravo" and "Rio Lobo". The next time you watch one of the old westerns, see if you can spot the famous mountain in the background. If you can, the film was made at Tucson Studios.

Railroad station with the ever present Saguaro cacti.

Another railroad station on the set. Looks familiar, doesn't it?

Other westerns filmed here include "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and "Tombstone".

It's a very interesting place to visit if you ever get to Tucson, AZ.

Tombstone, AZ April 27, 2010

We took Rt. 83 south from Tucson to Sonoita, then Rt. 82 to Tombstone. The high desert south of Tucson has a lot of grass land for the many cattle ranches in this area. It is one of the prettier parts of the state that we've seen. That's the Santa Rosa Mountains in the distance.

Spotted this cowboy rounding up strays on a hillside just outside of Sonoito. Actually, these are life size silhouettes. Pretty lifelike, huh?

Downtown Tombstone certainly has that old west feeling.

Spotted this team of horses pulling the stage coach down main street.

Lunch time-just had to go to "Big Nose Kate's" for lunch. Kate was supposedly the girlfriend of Doc Holiday. The bar is original from the 1800's when Kate owned it.

Stained glass picture of Big Nose Kate. There were lots of pictures on the walls of interesting people from earlier times.

In addition to live music, there is always something going on in the saloon!

No trip to Tombstone is complete without a visit to the famous "Boot Hill Graveyard". More than 250 graves are located here. Seems most were violent deaths: "killed, stabbed, shot, suicide, hanged, drowned, and murdered" are on many of the markers. Emmett Nunnelley, died 1946, was the last person buried here. With the help of townspeople, he spent the last year of his life seeking to restore, as much as could be restored, this old cemetery. It was his request to rest here.

Murdered on the streets of Tombstone, October 26, 1881, were Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury, and Frank McLaury, the tragic results of the O. K. Corral battle which took place between the Earp Brothers with "Doc" Holiday and the cowboys.

Legally hanged, March 8, 1884, these men were found guilty of killing several people during the robbery of a store in Bisbee, AZ. They were all hanged on one scaffold in the Court House Yard.

A little humor on this marker. Moore was a Wells Fargo agent at Naco and had a dispute with a man over a package. Both died.

We had a booklet with a descriptive list of more than 250 graves. It was interesting to go from grave to grave and read who they were and how they died.

Saguaro National Park, April 26,2010

Saguaro (sah-WAH-row) National Park is divided into two sections, the Rincon Mountain District (Saguaro East) and the Tucson Mountain Mountain District (Saguaro West). Most of these pictures are from Saguaro West which is about 15 miles west of Tucson, AZ.

I always pictured the cactus as having 2 "arms", when in reality, in maturity, they can have many arms.

In front of this Saguaro is the willowy Ocotilla cactus which was blooming while we were there. It has long branches with bright red flowers on the tips. There are thorns about 1 inch long on the branches. Leaves appear after a rain, usually within 36 hours. This picture is at Saguaro East. The yellow bush is a creosote bush that was blooming in profusion.

Saguaro branches always grow upward. Occasionally frost or snow will freeze the tissue at the base of a limb and damage it, and the weight of the branch pulls it down.

Look! That's Flat Stanley standing in front of a young Saguaro. The Saguaro grows very slowly. It is only 1/4" tall at one year of age. This cactus, about 1 foot tall, is probably 15 years old! Saguaros must start life under a tree or shrub to protect them from drying out and be hidden from herbivores. Saguaros often outlive their "nurse" plants.

If these damaged branches survive, the growing tip will turn upward again. Saguaro tissue may be 85% water; a large plant may weight 8 tons or more!

Why grow arms? More arms equal more surface area for photosynthesis, and more places to grow flowers, thus increasing the number of seeds produced. In its lifetime it may produce 40 million seeds. Dispersal, rainfall, and other factors result in about ONE of these seeds living to maturity to replace the parent plant.

Saguaro grow slowly. In the most favorable conditions it may take 35 years for a plant to reach 6 feet; more commonly it takes 47 to 67 years. They don't usually grow branches until they are 70 years old and can live to 150-200 years old.

Saguaros can grow to 50 feet tall and are the largest member of the cactus family in the United States. The fruiting of the Saguaro signals the beginning of the Tohono O'odham (Native Americans of this area) new year. Families camp in the desert and collect the fruit for jam, jelly, candy, and a ceremonial wine used to bring on the summer rains.

The prickly pear cactus was just starting to bloom.

When a Saguaro dies, the woody ribs that supported it in life soon become visible as the softer plant tissue dries up and crumbles away. The ribs are used by the Tohono O'odham
to provide roofing for their lean-tos as wood is non existent in the Sonora Desert.

While keeping an eye open for rattlesnakes, this was the only desert creature we saw. He was about 5 inches long.

Westward Ho the Wagon! April 24, 2010

After "waltzing across Texas" (and New Mexico), we made our "home" in Justin's Diamond RV Park, just outside Tucson, AZ

Ceilidh enjoyed her daily walks around the park.

These are dead Saguaro cacti. The insides are very hard wooden spines. Notice the moon between the branches on the right hand cactus.

There were 4 miles of desert trails going out of the rear of the campground. This is an old cactus, from the size, probably 150 years old.

The cacti are just starting to bloom. It will be beautiful in this area in a couple of weeks.

Here is another trail in the Sonoran Desert. I loved walking here in the early morning (6 am) morning or evening just before sunset.

Sonset in the desert is breathtaking.

Our RV at sunset.