A LITTLE MORE WHIMSY

These murals were on the walls of a cafe at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, in Tuscon, Arizona.  You may remember we were there last April.  Seems such a long time ago now, the year is zipping along.

2017 CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP - APRIL 21ST, 2017 - ARIZONA SONORA DESERT MUSEUM - PART 2

Continuing our visit to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, we enjoyed seeing the Big Horn sheep.  There was a male and two females, one with a  super cute baby.  

Papa was keeping a wary eye on things.

Here's Mom.  The other female was nearby.

Again with baby.

And one more shot of the baby.  It was very active.

There was a gentleman on the side of the enclosure who had any information you needed about these and other deer.  He gave me one of the horns of a Big Horn, which was lying on the table.  I was surprised how heavy it was.

Here are a few facts about Big Horns.

We were delighted to find an aviary full of hummingbirds.  This link is from the museum's website.  Gregg took all the photos on the hummingbirds, and several throughout the museum.

There were some that were nesting. 

In another aviary we saw Gambrel Quails.

There were birds on the outside too.  This one looked like a female or a baby cardinal?  Maybe you can tell me for sure.

I believe this was a Cactus Wren.

Gregg took this photo of the Coati. 

There were sculptures of various animals, this one of a Javelina.

More of those beautiful yellow cactus flowers.

And others starting to bloom.

A very interesting and pretty red bug.  I identified him as a Bloody Net-winged Beetle and you can see more photos here.

I always like to pop into the reptile exhibit and here I found another volunteer with a snake wrapped around his arm.  He asked me if I would like to touch it, which I did.  I'm trying to remember what kind it was but didn't make a note of it.  If I don't write things down I so quickly forget.  I enjoyed another experience, and it was fascinating to see its tongue flicker.  Snakes use them to collect the odors that are present in miniscule moisture particles floating through the air, and also to smell.  No photos as it was very dark in there.

I almost forgot to mention that in each bathroom they have a hand pump of sun block that you are urged to use as you are greeted at the entrance, and reminded that this is the desert and we need to drink lots of water.  They have probably had a lot of people swooning in that heat.  We carried our water around with us, and also visited those sunblock pumps throughout.  I noticed what people were wearing.  Many wore long sleeves and their clothing was of a material that is designed for this kind of climate.  Most wore hats with very wide brims.  I took note!

So that was our trip to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  I can highly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in the area.  I have other photos and will share them as time goes on.

Gregg's cousin called not too long ago and tonight we pop on over to spend a couple of hours with one of his aunts who lives in Yuma. Tomorrow we go over to his cousin's house.  There are other family members in the area, whom we saw last January in Washington DC.  We are really looking forward to seeing them again, and looking forward to meeting others I have not met yet.

3.29 p.m. just stopped on the road so that Gregg can book our hotel in Yuma. We are at a gas station called Dateland Fuels and they have Pet facilities - cages - where you can leave your pets safely, instead of  them being in a hot car while you are shopping in their store.  There are locks provided inside the store.

We were parked next to a car from Florida. 

 4.09 p.m.  On the road we passed a car with license plates from Virginia. We're guessing they might me Navy.  Gregg and I made our first cross country road trip when he changed duty stations from Virginia to San Diego 39 years ago. 

4.36 pm the strangest thing.  We ended our journey, or so we thought, at a farmer's house, with farm equipment everywhere.  This is the second time we have used the hotel's app.  When you book the room it asks you if you want to use their directions.  We have said yes.  Last time we ended up at the wrong place, 15 to 20 minutes away from where we should be, but decided to give it another try.  This time we were instructed to drive down a very long dirt road with large fields at either side.  You should have seen Gregg and I looking at each other, trying to figure out if this was the right place and were we on another wild goose chase. There was a large domed structure and we asked ourselves, could this be the hotel?  As we looked at it from a distance, it seemed big enough but there were no signs.  We parked next to a tractor and a truck and a couple of other old pieces of farming equipment, not too far from the farmer's front door, and knew this was the wrong address.  No one came out to greet us.  We quickly put in fresh instructions, staying well clear of the original hotel ones, skedaddled and found the right place 10 minutes later.  For the second time we told the desk clerk what had happened.  Hopefully the information will be provided so that they can work on that glitch.  I'm sure we are not the only ones who turned up at the wrong place.

We spent the evening with Gregg's aunt.   We had a lovely time. She is still the dear, sweet lady I remember.  (When I first came to the States and Gregg put out to sea for the first time, we were living in San Diego and she and Gregg's uncle drove on over all the way from Yuma to take me out for the day.  It was one of the nicest things they could ever do for a homesick girl from England.  I loved them for it and will be forever appreciative for their loving kindness that day.)  We made friends with a little dog who was being looked after for a while. She came straight to me, jumped up on the couch and asked for a tummy rub. It was a lovely couple of hours chatting about old times.   

And now the day is over, we are back in our hotel and we are ready for another good night's sleep.

2017 CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP - APRIL 21ST, 2017 - ARIZONA SONORA DESERT MUSEUM - PART 1

Friday, April 21st, 2017  

We started early today and left the hotel at 7:20 a.m. The odometer reading is 51642.

We want to go to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. It opens at 7:30 a.m.

We have got our hats and water at the ready.  We needed it and still haven't gotten used to that heat yet.

We are passing hillsides full of cacti.  It is incredible!

Amazing to walk through this place, and it exceeded all expectations. I saw pretty yellow desert flowers.  

The desert cats were hiding from the heat.  However, there was plenty to keep us occupied for the three-and-a-hall hours we were there. 

They have a Gulf Stingray Exhibit where you can put your arm in a large pool and their curiosity brings them to you.  You pay extra for the stingray experience.  It was a lot of fun to see them swimming around, but first you have to wash your arms right above your elbows at a special sink near the pool, before you are allowed to dunk into the pool.  They were small ones, and even smaller when they arrived at the exhibit.

Here is Gregg with the two ladies at the pool.  

They were volunteers.  You could tell they really loved what they were doing.  One lady was a retired teacher. 

These are called cow nose stingrays and according to the link above, they are regularly debarbed, which is compared with trimming a fingernail.

A few would come and nuzzle my fingers and swim away.  It was an interesting experience, and a fun one.

I never would have thought to find this kind of exhibit at the museum, and it was wonderful dipping my arm into that cool water.

We had our photo taken with Stella, Guardian of the Gulf.

You might recognize a theme here.

If you click on this link you can read interesting facts about these stingrays.

I have more to share but will make it a shorter post for now.   More to follow.

2017 CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP - RANDOM PHOTO - ARIZONA

The Desert is Blooming!

Hello Everyone, I am sharing another random photo until I can put together another account of our travels.  I still have a few before this day.  We were at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  It was hot but absolutely gorgeous!  I look forward to telling you more later on.