Mission accomplished!

November 27, 2021

On the hunt in Tucson and other activities

Another no ride day in Tucson. We're going back to the studio we were at last night for more dancing. So how to fill up the day?

After a less than impressive sunrise (no clouds to reflect the light), we took off early for our day's activities.

First on the list was an estate sale in South Tucson. We found a few items there, then continued to Saguaro National Park since it was only 10 minutes away.

We stopped in the visitor center and walked around their garden area. Boy, I sure wish that they had had more ID signs on the plants. There were a few, but not enough for curious me!

I also talked to a ranger and picked up a map of the park since I was on the hunt to find a crested saguaro. With my still sore ankle, I didn't want to hike anywhere but he pointed out one that was near a picnic area. That sounded perfect.

We took off to drive the loop and check out the views of the Sonoran desert. Years ago, we'd biked this road and I sort of remembered hills, but WOW!! The road was narrow and winding with steep climbs. Maybe we walked some of them which we would have had to do had we done this ride this year. We were just happy that we were driving it now as we don't ever plan to bike it in the future!

It was a pretty day and there were lots of other cyclists out along with plenty of other people. After a little driving around, we did finally locate the crested saguaro which was on the road going to a picnic area at the end of the loop.

Boy, it was a beauty! And quite large with interesting swirls on it. I was quite happy that we had find one, although from my reading on-line, there are more accessible to see in the Phoenix area. That's where we are moving to next.

Since we were already at the south end of Tucson, we drove from the park to our next stop - Camping World, which is an RV super store full of toys. Don had a couple of parts he needed for the trailer plus we wanted to see what was on sale since they were running a Black Friday deals weekend.

It's always fun to wander the aisles of this place and we did find some stuff we can use like clips to hang our custom name flag on the awning. But Don ended up buying something he said he'd been thinking about getting ever since we saw one in Borrego Springs. It was a 7 ft. tall LED lit palm tree!! Good grief!!! Fortunately it was marked down.

Last year we had our 6 ft metal Xmas cactus with red chili lights on it and now we have this!! At least the palm tree can to taken apart and boxed for travel, unlike the cactus which now resides on our patio in Denver. We can take the palm tree with us on our trip next spring to Southern Florida.

After one more stop at Costco to fill up with gas, we returned to the campground where it was already 3 pm. Talk about taking up most of the day! We had about an hour to relax before showering and getting cleaned up for the dance.

After a quick meal, we took off to the studio we'd been to last night. I was happy to see that there were less people there tonight - about 12 couples so we had more room on the floor to practice some our new moves.

The music lasted for 1 1/2 hours and we got in lots of dancing before heading back home. We've been happy that we'd found these studio dances while in the Tucson area but it looks like there will be plenty of better non-studio locations to dance to live music while in Phoenix.

The next 2 days, if our feet and legs are up for it, we plan to do some bike riding. Maybe not the loop this year, but who knows:)

I liked the way the light shown through this cholla in Saguaro NP.

On our drive through the park we spotted this unique saguaro. Its drooping and curved branches were exactly like Don's arms when in dance frame!

Look at the spines on this plant! It was in the park's cactus garden and was labeled as a Condalia.

This Teddy Bear cholla looks so soft and cuddly, doesn't it? Not!

This cholla was also in the park's garden but wasn't labeled. It could be a Buckhorn Cholla?

And here it is! A crested saguaro! Biologists disagree about the cause of this form. Some say it's a genetic mutation that happens when the cells in the growing stem begin to divide outward rather than in the circular pattern of a normal cactus. This results in a fan-shaped growth at the growing tip of a saguaro's main stem or arms. Others say it's a result of lighting or a freeze. Still others say it's a result of damage by birds, insects, animals or people. Whatever the reason, it's very impressive to see one! There are about 25 documented in the park. What's interesting is that in the drive over to the park, I spotted another one at an intersection in the city but couldn't get a good picture.

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