Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Wandering Wednesday - Desert Museum

 In the midst of being ill, I flew for the first time in several years to Tucson to participate in a second stage medical drug trial. My DH got to go along as my official "caregiver" and "chauffeur" which he took very seriously (haha). We had a day free before we were traveling back home so we drove to the outskirts of Tucson and checked out the highly recommended Desert Museum


I always forget the utter strangeness of the Saguaro landscape. The tall cactuses fill in the vertical view instead of the trees my brain is used to.

Inside the garden they had several Saguaro skeletons that were still standing. It was fascinating to see them still housing birds, lizards, insects, etc.
We went pretty slow since I feeling so crappy but we really enjoyed being outside in the warm (but not too warm) desert.
Another skeleton overlooking the long view of the desert.
Yowch, the ankle biter chollas.
This is the skeleton of a dried up cactus leaf. Look at that super interesting structure.

The coyotes were ignoring us in favor of soaking up the sun, a wise choice.
Look at the hook shape on those larger spines.
So very spiky.
There were many shady structures like this one with benches, lovely to sit and enjoy the view.

This very noisy bird was nesting or something near the javelinas.
I was really taken by the variety of cacti in the garden. The variety of colors was impressive.
Very Dr. Seuss-ian eh?


Pretty little bright fruits on the very ends.
Purple even!



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