Saguaro National Park

One of our goals for this trip is to visit as many National Parks and monuments as possible!  Our first National Park turned out to be Saguaro NP in Tucson Arizona.  One of the great things about getting "slightly older" is that hubby now qualifies for a Golden Age Pass which gets us into all the National Parks and monuments for free.  Gotta love that! 

We woke to a lovely bright sunny day for our trip into the park.  We both really enjoyed learning all about the flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert, especially about the majestic Saguaro Cactus (pronounced Sa-WAR-oh)  which grows only in this area (and a bit of Mexico). Some quick facts about Saguaros: 1. They don't bloom until they are 50 yrs old.  2. They don't get "arms" until they are 70 years old! 3. The holes you may see in Saguaros are from woodpeckers making nests called "boots". 4. If the arms droop, it means the Saguaro has had frost damage.    On to some photos!

Here's the White Knight, having a bit of a prickly ride across the top of a Saguaro! 

Next we took a ride up the proverbial "dusty trail" through the park. It was a 5 mile loop road.  There were a few times I was pretty worried that the car would fall apart (hey, it IS 14 yrs old!) as we went bumping along. Luckily, we survived it.

Suz and a Saguaro

It's not perfect, but we tried. :-)

Honestly, a cactus forest was pretty cool.  We saw a coyote - and heard a pack of them out in the desert.  After we took the above photo, John climbed to the top of a hill to see some petroglyphs, left by native North Americans about 1000 years ago.  Once I get my new hip, I'll be climbing hills again too! Here's what he found up there....

Here are the other two major cacti that were in the park:  

Cholla or "Teddy Bear"

Prickly Pear 

Beautiful but only from a distance!  The park ranger did tell us that if we happened to unfortunately bump into one of these cacti, NOT to try and pick the thorns out with your hand.  He said to knock them off or scrape them off with something, but NOT YOUR HAND! 

Love this view, looking south towards Mexico. The park ranger said Mexico was 80 miles in the distance, and on a clear day you could actually see that far.

Had a wonderful time at Saguaro National Park!  After the park visit, we headed back to our RV Park, Voyager RV Resort in Tucson.  These people brag that they are the "best in the nation" but we weren't convinced. There was no Wi-Fi there and only 6 channels on the TV.  It didn't warrant the 20 bucks more than the other parks we've stayed at!  Just our humble opinion!

Check back soon for our next adventure: Pima Air and Space Museum, also in Tucson.  We're writing our blog tonight from Las Cruces New Mexico.  Finally a park with Wi-Fi!!