Puppy Dog Eyes Lead us to Tucson

So, originally we didn't plan on visiting Tucson. Then, with the government shutdown we thought it was surely off the list as seeing the Saguaro National Monument was the only draw there for us. Then, the little guy gives us his big sweet puppy dog eyes look, and asks if we can still go, because maybe we can see it from the gate. 

Awww,  sure sweetie, we'll drive 280 miles west just for you to see them!

If you go to the park on the west side of Tucson, though, you do pass through state land with plenty of saguaro to see. It was declared "the best day of his life". 

(Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but putting that out there really made the drive all worth it!)

I thought that we'd just see a few, but they grow just like a regular forest. A lot of these with the multiple arms would be about 150 years old.

With the monument closed, we checked out the nearby Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum instead. We went in the morning, and thought that we'd be done by lunchtime. 

After an hour in the hummingbird aviary it was clear that we were in it for the long haul. (For bad planners, they have sunscreen dispensers in the washrooms--genius!)

While some hummingbirds were shy, this little guy was a bit cheeky. He'd turn as if he was giving you his best angle, and was so far out on the branch he was nearly in the path. 

This photo isn't zoomed in; he really let me be that close!

Did you know that the inside of a cactus is woody? They had excellent exhibits and demonstrations while we were there.

Prairie dogs! These are some funny creatures to watch; they seem super paranoid, as if they don't realize that they are in a zoo and are on constant lookout for predators.

To say this is a museum is a bit of a misnomer, as it's really more of a garden and zoo full of desert life. Since it was all so foreign to us, being more familiar to cedar and salmon, there was a lot for us to learn and marvel over. We loved the javelinas (so ugly they're cute), and the variety of cacti.

More than six hours after we got there this little guy is still so happy and grateful that we let him linger as long as he wanted. 

That's hard to see in this picture, isn't it? ;)

We were bummed we didn't see the coyote in it's museum enclosure, but spotted one in the parking lot. (Right after we saw the sign not to feed the coyotes any cookies. Cookie-eating coyotes must be a problem there?)

Since it was a full day there, we'd gotten a recommendation to watch the sun set over the desert, so pulled to a nearby spot to hike up. Hiking in the desert made me a bit nervous, as falling on a cactus just seems like something I'd manage to do. However, we all stayed upright!

While the sun was setting in the opposite direction, the view of the moon rise over Tucson had everyone else captivated.

Not the best sunset I've captured, but there seemed to be a fair bit of pollution in the air making the colors a bit muddied.

Our first full day there was such a success, we stayed all week!

More tomorrow~

Judy