Day 18 - Colorful Tucson

Photos 1-9 - Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum 

Photos 10-11 -  4th Avenue in Tucson, an ethnically diverse, hipster area with lots of shops and restaurants.  Not a single chain store or restaurant.  Very colorful!

 

We got an early start today, 7:30 am, because we were going to tour the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  Temps got up to high 90's later in the day.  On the scenic drive to the Museum we saw so many cacti.  There were saguaro forests as far as the eye could see, all the way up to the pinnacles of the mountains.  The museum covers 120,000 square miles and has over 300 species of cacti, more than any other place in the world.  A surprising number of cacti were in bloom.  Many species of birds are represented including Arizona's state bird, the cactus wren, shown above in one of Bill's photos.  The state flower, the saguaro cactus flower, and the state tree, the palo verde, are also found in abundance.  Animals living there include rattlesnakes, scorpions, bear, coyote, wolf, big horn sheep, javelinas, mountain lions, bobcats, ocelots, and lizards.  We got to taste flour made from the bean of the mesquite tree.  Tasted like a less intense form of cinnamon.  Tour guides were so knowledgeable and personable.  We enjoyed our four hours there immensely and highly recommend this vacation destination.

 

In the afternoon, we strolled the very long stretch of 4th Avenue.  See photos above.  The prices in the shops were amazing, probably due to the tourist season coming to an end.  I bought lots of beautiful jewelry and a colorful Mexican rug.  Bill got nada.   

 

Signing off till tomorrow, Marsha and Bill