Saguaros, Ruins and Birds

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Saguaro Cactus, Casa Grande Ruins and more Life Birds!

Paul finally dissuaded me from spending just one more day in Tombstone and we were on the road again Sunday, taking the scenic route from Tombstone- 82 west then north on 83 to Sahuarita, through the San Xavier Indian Reservation and, finally - to Saguaro National Park, west side. We really wonder why the Arizona roads, especially through the reservation are such a disaster. They are almost as bad in the National Park. It’s the first National Park we’ve been in that the roads were in such sad shape.

Saguaro (pronounced “sah.WAH.row”), is the giant cactus dominating the landscape on the slopes of the mountains and tops of the hills in the Sonoran Desert. It grows other places in Southwest as well. Saguaros, as tall as 50 feet, are the largest cactus in the United States. That the Saguaro is a remarkably useful plant has been known by Native Americans for hundreds of years. This cactus, together with many other desert plants, you and I could easily overlook, are an integral part of daily life of and survival of desert inhabitants. The Saguaro fruit is used for food and wine by Native Americans and also played a cultural role. It was believed that the Saguaro took on human form and moved about the desert at night. If you watch the Saguaro carefully and long, you will see them become people.

Flowers flowers everywhere in the spring create a riot of color in the desert and an abundance of birds, some of them living right in holes they or others had made in the cacti. We were advised not to drive the loop road in the RV - good advice - and so, left the National Park and preceded up to, then around, Tucson on Route 77 and 79 north to Florence, where we spent the night in a beautiful RV Park, Rancho Sonora. There were Gambel’s Quail, scratching outside the RV like chickens - life bird for us.

The next morning, on the way to Flagstaff, we stopped at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. These ruins are unusual in that the prehistoric Hohokam (prior to 1350 AD) built not only a walled village, but one that contained a main building with four stories. The village was centered by a ball court. The Hohokam abandoned the village around 1450 for no apparent reason; a very interesting place. At Casa Grande we identified a Rufus Hummingbird flitting about a yellow Mimosa.

Onward and upward and I mean that literally. We drove through Phoenix - unavoidable and predictably awful, up Route 17 to Flagstaff, climbing all the way. Being a flatlander, I am not at all fond of mountains, especially driving over them. By the time we got to the Flagstaff KOA, another beautiful RV Park, I was in need of a glass of chardonnay and thankfully welcomed the end of another eventful day

This morning, another life bird right outside our window - a Steller’s Jay. We went to the store to buy peanuts with which to bribe the birds to pose for us, hence the photos of the Steller Jay. Tomorrow it is back to Phoenix to collect Children and Grandchildren from the airport for a visit. It may be a while before I have time for another entry.

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Photos

Miss Lilly and her computer
I think Miss Lilly has developed a romantic relationship with my computer. Any time I open the lid she has to embrace it.

On the way
On the way from Tombstone to the National Park

Copper Mine
This is a huge copper mine on the way to Saguaro National Park as we drive through the Reservation.

Desert Blooms
Hummingbirds like this plant

Paul
Outside of the Saguaro National Park Visitors Center

Gambels Quail
Quail outside the RV at the RV park in Florence

Casa Grande
Casa Grande National Park - ruins