In Tucson we have finally found the true desert! This is like nothing we have seen before. When we were in the red rock areas we thought we were in the desert, but this is the real deal. This morning we went to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and it was amazing. We went early to beat the heat, but it was really hot by the time we left at noon. You definitely need a hat, sunscreen, and water. The museum is unusual because 85% of it is outside, a living museum. There are about 2 miles of trails or pathways through the area. It is beautifully laid out, though, with water and shade stations all along the trail. There are also many docents that share information and point out things that you might miss otherwise. In some of the enclosed areas we saw javelinas, coyotes, birds of prey, hummingbirds, and many other animals. But the real stars of the show, in my opinion, were the plants. When I was teaching third grade, we did a desert unit every year. One of the videos I always used was about this desert museum. It's fun to see the place in real life now.
After lunch we decided to take the scenic loop drive through Saquaro National Park (west side). The loop is 9 miles of paved road with many pull-outs/viewpoints. The park is a desert wilderness with a "forest" of the saguaros. But there are hundreds of other kinds of cacti as well. We were very lucky today to get to see the rare and unusual Crested (cristate) Saguaro cactus. This strange mutation only occurs once in every 200,000 saguaros and only in one portion of the Sonoran Desert. It has a strange fan-like formation at the top and scientists are not sure why. We took so many pictures out there that it will be difficult to decide which ones to put in the blog.
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