Tucson

We headed down to Tucson for the last bit of Spring Break. Eric and Max actually flew to Houston, and drove a car back that Eric's Bro gave him. Pretty sweet, and gets way better mileage than his truck. Anyway, Doug and I drove to Tucson after we dropped them off at the airport. Max and Eric met us there the following night after a long drive.
I spent a little time in Tucson many years ago when my sister Cathy lived there. It was fun driving around and recognizing stuff. We had Mexican food at a restaraunt we used to eat at 20 years ago.
We also spent a nice afternoon with Cathy's Dad and his wife(Dad Coon and Nancy). They have a gorgeous house up in the Catalina foothills on the north side of town. It was great to see them, and I hope they come up and visit sometime.
Tucson is completely different from CV. Right in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, the plant life is SO cool and different from anything I am used to living around. Technically, the Verde Valley is grassland, not desert, but some desert plants grow here.
When Doug and I got there on Friday morning, we hit the Desert Museum. It's kind of a zoo/museum/botanic garden all in one. Doug enjoyed the venomous reptile show, with a Black Tailed Rattlesnake(there are 18 varieties in AZ) and a Gila Monster. The cactus garden was my favorite, although they had a pretty cool selection of rocks and minerals. Most of the following pics were taken at the Desert Museum.


This was on the road on the way to the museum. The wildflowers were blooming, so the desert was quite colorful. That's kinda why I wanted to go down there.

It's a little early for most of the cacti to be blooming, but this barrel cactus wasn't paying attention to the calendar.

This is a Century Plant, a type of Agave. It blooms once in its lifetime(more like 25 years), and pretty much kills itself in the process. At the end of the bloom, it tips over and spreads it's seeds.

This is a crested Saguaro. I forget why it grew this way.

The funky tree on the right is called a Boojum Tree. I think it looks like something out of the X-Files. The plant on the left is an Ocotillo, and gets bright orange flowers on it's tips.

These are Totem Pole Cactus. One of my faves, besides of course, the Giant Saguaro, my all time favorite cactus. I must go south to see them in bloom in May or so. The flowers only open up at night, so you have to look early in the morning before they close up.

Saturday, Doug and I went to the Pima Air and Space Museum. They have a HUGE collection of old aircrafts. We took a tour around the outside, then checked out a few of the hangars. Doug took about 200 pictures, and enjoyed the guns and bombs and stuff on the fighter jets.

On Sunday(Easter), we all went to Old Tucson Studios, a touristy little spot where they film westerns, and have little shows and stuff. It was entertaining, and everyone had fun. I am on a search for a cowboy hat to keep the sun off my face. I really don't think I'll have a problem finding one around here.