My pride and joy opened its first bloom overnight. It's a Trichocerius, a day bloomer. Quite a way to wake up!
And the following pics were taken on a morning walk in the neighborhood and out into the desert behind my house.
Prickly pear
Cholla. These guys come in several colors, I like this one.
A pomegranate tree in bloom.
Somebody planted hollyhocks, obviously they need irrigating.
One of the many Paloverde.
Glennda always hosts a nice show. This spring she had 40 artists all around her property, front yard, court yard, pool side, back yard and inside too. Such a great setting.
Was a good one.
Another day out in Southeast Arizona. We drove to Benson Sunday evening and stayed over at a QualityInn hotel so that we could get an early start Monday morning. . .and didn't spend all day in the car getting there.
After out "hearty" hotel breakfast we headed to Dragoon, Arizona and then onto a little patch of Coronado National Forest and a place called Cochise Stronghold. There's a forest service campground there and trailheads for several good hikes.
There is some Arizona history here with remains of houses that shows people tried to homestead here in the 1800's. There is still an eclectic mixture of private cabins and homes here. Folklore has it that the Apache Chief, Cochise, spent time here and supposedly he was buried somewhere in these rocks.
On the way back to Tucson we stopped at Amerind. Its a neat little Native American archeological museum tucked out in the country in Dragoon, Arizona. It has a long and respected history of excellence in telling the story of the first peoples in the Soutwest and northern Mexico.
There was a special exhibit of Zuni and Dine' (Navajo) jewelry and how thier craft gained a nationwide audience.
There is an art gallery there too. It's all worth a stop.
We found Cluff Ranch, a ranch that was given over to Arizona Game and Fish sometime in the 1940's. Now it's ponds are stocked for fishing, its woods great for birding but otherwise it looks a bit forlorn, overgrown, and neglected.
Apparently a neighbor of the ranch is an artist with a sense of humor. These we found just outside the gate.
Found a funky natural Mineral Springs spa just down the road from the campground. Enjoyed a nice hot soak.
Gigantic old cottonwood
Apparently this bridge over the river was designed to be a steel bridge but because of the War, steel was in short supply so it was done in concrete. Suppose to be a natural historic landmark.
Came upon a cattle drive. Just pulled off the side of the road and watched them come thru. Moving cattle up to summer pasture.
At the end of the Byway is the biggest Copper Mine in the world. That is what they told us. It is enormous. Google says it's the largest on North America. Chilie has bigger ones. ?!?
And we found another cemetery. Old and broken and very poignant. All Hispanic names that we could see. All that is left of original town site. It's all gone and part of the mine. Modern Morenci is a couple of miles away, built by mining company and very sterile.
It's a wonderful conservation area along the Gila River and adjoining Bonita Creek north of Safford. It's also an interesting drive out there through BLM land and the rich irrigated farm land along the Gila River valley. The River is flowing really strong now from spring rains and snow melt. The one trail we thought we wanted to hike was under water.
People have lived here for centuries. Native peoples inhabited the river valley for eons and settlers have left behind evidence of thier attempts at making a go of it. You wonder what stories these delapedated ruins could tell.
The roads in the conservation area are back roads to say the least but our ol' Honda can handle them.
The old Sanchez cemetary is still being lovingly maintained. This stone says that Lorenzo died in 1898 and was a Civil War veteran. Some had modern headstones but most were unmarked with only rocks piled neatly ontop.
Always in view of Mt Graham.
Got the RV out of storage for first trip of 2019. Just a 4 day jaunt to Safford, Arizona to stay at Roper State Park. Nice little lake, great birding, (it's the time of year), plenty to explore in the area, and great campground. We are near the lake with a view of 10,000ft Mt. Graham.
This Road Runner was high in a tree--unusually high, in fact, with TWO lizards in his mouth. Wonder if there is a nest near by with little Road Runners to feed.
We visited the Discovery Center in Safford this afternoon. Its run by Eastern Arizona College as outreach and community education highlighting Astronomy themes. Interested in this sign about the importance of limiting light polution.
A female Vermillion Flycatcher
