Cowboys & Cactus

Tucson, Arizona (72 degrees, blue skies)

Our friend Debbie, from Indianapolis, flew out to visit us for a week.  It was so good to see her.  We'd been planning some fun places for her to see in the area.  She loves cowboys, so it seemed logical to take her to the Tucson Rodeo.  There were lots handsome cowboys everywhere! 

This rodeo lasts for two weeks in February and has been here since 1925.  It was a fun day.  We spent the day walking around the grounds and later watching the barrel racing, bronco & bull riding, and much more in the grand stands.  The highlight was watching the ProRodeo riders.  They compete for prize money but its not easy work. 



Clown

Debbie has a great Sony camera with a telephoto lens. Most of these pictures were taken by her and they really turned out great and caught the action. 


If you look carefully in the picture about you can see the clown curled up in the barrel.  This was one angry bull. 

The next day we went to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  We visited this beautiful place several years ago before we were fulltimers.  There is so much to see and many of the cactus had started to bloom. 



Prickly pear



This outdoor museum has a wide variety of plants and animals. There are many tours led by the volunteer docents to choose from each day that are included with the admission.  The cost is $14.50/per person but we were able to use our coupon book and received one ticket for free.  There is also a military discount available. 

Desert blooms

We loved walking along the many trails.  My favorite place in the hummingbird room. Debbie's pictures really captured them so well.  They flew around us as we walked around the room 

Look carefully (babies are in the nest)

I have probably posted too many pictures of them.  But, they were all so beautiful. 

Blue agave cactus can be used to make tequila.  A huge stem extends from the cactus and flowers at night.  It has to extend so high up in the air because it is pollinated by bats.

We saw our first crested saguaro cactus in Why Arizona a few weeks ago.  They are very rare (one in 200,000) and fascinating to see. It is not exactly known what causes this phenomena. 



The highlight of day was the Raptor Free Flight with the Harris Hawk's.  Several of these amazing birds flew around the area as one of the guides narrated.  There were several handlers that worked with the birds. It was so cool to watch them in action.   

Harris Hawk

After a full day at the museum we drove out to the Saguaro National Park and drove around the loop looking at the huge and numerous Saguaro cactus.  The visitor center told us about another crested cactus just outside the gate. It was a great day and so nice to share it with Debbie. 

Saguaro National Park



Crested Saguaro Cactus