Saguaro National Park | Tucson | Arizona

At the top of Gates Pass in Tucson is a place to pull over and get some scenery shots of the surrounding area.  There are some ruins in this area, including the one above.

Contrary to what most people would think of a desert - there are times when it's quite colorful.  All the yellow trees are called Palo Verde.

 

Palo Verde trees bloom yellow in the spring, and then will turn green.  The trunks of the trees are also green, and the name means Green Sticks.   Unfortunately, with the partly overcast day, this one doesn't look as vibrantly colored as they are.

 

 

Cactus!  Really pretty and colorful when blooming - just don't get too close!

 

 

 

Usually a cactus will have a single color in one plant.   There were multiple ones of this type with two different colors blooming together.

Cholla, the cactus below has a nickname - the "jumping cactus".  Definitely stay extra far from them - you can imagine where they got their nickname!  They have caught me and I knew I wasn't that close!  This one is a small one.

 

The Saguaros usually look similar to this and some have many more arms on them. 

 

Some of them get tired, and their arms sag.  Technically, I have no idea why they do this, but it may just be a problem of getting older.

 

These cacti grow slowly, and may be 70 years old before sprouting branches on them.  By the time they are 150 years old, they can reach 50 feet, some of them, even taller.  Since they collect water, the bigger ones can weigh tons.

 

Saguaro cactus is home to many birds.  They drill into the cactus to make a little den for a nest.  Some birds will use abandoned spaces from previous years and build new nests.  This was taken at a different location, since I couldn't get a good shot that day.

 

 

This photo is an ocotillo, and it's not a dead plant, although it looks a bit sad.  This is what it looks like when there has been no rain.  You'll see in the following photo this (at another location) another ocotillo has had enough rain to keep leaves on the branches.   You can see a few flowers at the tips of the branches, even though it hasn't had rain recently.  When it does rain, it takes only a few days for the ocotillo to sprout lots of green leaves.

 

 

This is an ocotillo near where I'm staying and it has been full of greenery and blooms for weeks.  It's an interesting plant - just multiple stalks from the roots - with lots of thorns along the entire branches.

 

 

This might be cheating a little, but this cactus was near where I was staying, I just thought I'd add this because it's so pretty. 

 

Arizona has lots of nice sunsets.

Two Years of RVing

This week I am celebrating the fact that I have been traveling in my 5th wheel for two years now.  It was a big learning curve in the beginning and I still find challenges, such as finding the perfect boondocking areas!

After my trek from San Carlos, Mexico, I landed in the first casino after the border.  Easy to find and get into and about midway between Tucson and Green Valley so that I can get to either place in a few minutes.  I got here on Monday and will be leaving on Sunday, which should be a great time to get through the Tucson area.

This casino is not as large as the one where I stayed for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta last year and the food isn't as good, but it was great to be able to stay here for the week. 

I was able to do some errands,  get my computer in to get serviced because it refused to let me install the latest antivirus, and to get a few things I couldn't find in San Carlos.

These are a few of the plants that are around my parking area.  Not much is blooming yet except for the Palo Verde, the tree with the yellow flowers above, and the ocotillo below.  The Palo Verde has green trunks and branches, very unique.

I've had mostly great times, but some frustrating times also - for the most part, it has been well worth it!  And I've met some great people along the way!

Gila Bend, Arizona

 

 

 

Today I moved to Gila Bend in Arizona, a small town on Interstate 8 going west.  The drive started out with a dusty desert scene, little scrubby bushes and mountains in the background.  I was disappointed and thought it would be a boring drive, but shortly there was more vegetation, palo verde trees were along the highway as well as a few saguaro cacti.  Then I started seeing more of the saguaro and bushes with little yellow flowers along the road.  It ended up being a pretty drive because the vegetation stayed with me through some hills. 

 

The saguaro shown above and in the photo below is very special because it's got a crest on it.  They are known as a crested saguaro and are quite rare.  Somehow, something goes wrong with their growth pattern.  It makes it very unique among the others, which just end with the tapered top. 

 

 

 

The Palo Verde tree is the state tree and has multiple green trunks.  The following photo shows one taken close to sunset, which gives it a golden color.  When I first saw them, there were only a few around and I thought they were rare, but now they appear all over the landscape.

 



 

And just because I think these are pretty, below is a colony of golden cactus.  I have usually seen them as single cactus or a couple together, but this is an entire family.  It's a beautiful shade of golden yellow - and very spikey.  There are some very interesting cactus in this area - such a variety!

 



 

I spent the last few days with a couple other solo women RVers, one of whom I met in Florida before I left.  Robin, my caravanning friend, came down from her volunteer work for a couple days to visit so she got to meet some other solo women.  We had a good time together, but then it became time for us to go our own separate ways again.  Hopefully we will all meet up again somewhere.