Saguaro National Park

Tucson, AZ

Close-up of saguaro bloom

Petroglyphs

(over 800 years old)

Tucson, AZ: Morning comes early here. We’re on the eastern edge of the Pacific Time Zone, so it was sunny and the birds were singing way early. We were up before 6:00 a.m. Smoothies for breakfast and then Mike was off to the GMC dealer to get the truck checked out. I sat outside and read for a while and then walked around and checked out some of the park models. A really cute place. Came back and washed out a few things and then started cutting up the strawberries we bought a few days ago when Mike returned. Said they hooked the truck up to the computer and there were a slew of error messages. Told him to return tomorrow around 8:00 and it would take a couple of hours to check out. Anyway, we decided to drive up to the Saguaro National Park which is only about 10 miles from where we’re staying. This area is in the Sonoran Desert. This is one of the hottest and driest places on the continent. Even though it is so hot, dry, and intimidating, it contains an enormous diversity of life. And the saguaro (soo-wah-ro) cacti are everywhere here. They don’t even start to get “arms” until they’re 75 years old. So, the large ones in the park are probably over 200 years old! And they are in bloom right now. We walked a couple of small desert trails and then drove a dirt road over the mountains and then back to the main road. Had to go back to town and fuel up since we were close to empty. Had a late lunch and then drove back to hike the little trail to check out the petroglyphs etched in the rocks by the ancient Hohokam people. It is believed these petroglyphs are over 800 years old. The sign at the beginning of the trail said to be careful for rattle snakes, scorpions, gila monsters, and tarantulas. Enjoy your hike. But it was 99 degrees when we did it so I’m sure they were all under ground. We didn’t stay out there long. Back home and relaxed the rest of the evening.