Southwest Vacation - Day 3

Day 3 was mostly a driving day.  We had a five hour drive from Alamogordo, NM to Tucson, AZ to the Saguaro National Park.  Here's a look at our drive.

The Sacremento & San Andreas Mountains 

 



An encounter with Border Control -- no problem!  Thank goodness!

As we were driving along, Mark was looking at the map and saw Rockhound State Park in Deming, NM.  Well we HAD to make a stop there!
  

How cool is this!



Rockhound State park is located at the foot of the Florida (pronounced Flo-Rita) mountains.





Of course Mark had to set out and explore to see if he could find any of the gems located in the area, like jasper and agate.  He walked a 1.5 mile trail through cacti and rocks up a small mountain looking for jasper and rocks.  He found a few things to bring home, but he didn't see the treasure he was really looking for, a rattlesnake.  We were told they were active in the area...he didn't really want to happen upon one, but he would have liked to have gotten a picture of one...from a safe distance!  While he was out exploring, I was sitting up at the visitor center reading on my Kindle...swatting flies!  But it was really nice in the shade, so I didn't mind.

After a stop in at this little rock shop to purchase items unique to the area, like Thunder Eggs, and Black Rocks that come from Cook's Peak in the Florida Mountains, we were on down the road.

Texas Canyon - I-10 Arizona

Final destination of the day - Saguaro National Park, Tucson, AZ

When Saguaro National Monument was created in 1933, the park was a forest of cacti and it was believed the forest would last forever.  But due to record lows in 1937 and again in 1962 the Saguaros were dying off and researchers were worried about the future of the park and feared all the plants would die off in 1990s.  Before 1980 almost no young Saguaros were found and predictions of doom were made.  The land was turned over to the park service to be used for grazing cattle.  After decades of trampling by cattle, young Saguaros started sprouting up and the trend toward renewal continues today. 

Saguaros grow between 1 and 1.5 inches in the first eight years of its life.  As a saguaro begins to age, growth rates vary depending on climate, precipitation and location. The period of greatest growth in a saguaro cactus is from unbranched to branched adult.  At Saguaro National Park, branches normally begin to appear when a saguaro reaches 50 to 70 years of age. In areas of lower precipitation, it may take up to 100 years before arms appear.  An adult saguaro is generally considered to be about 125 years of age. It may weigh 6 tons or more and be as tall as 50 feet. The average life span of a saguaro is probably 150 - 175 years of age. However, biologists believe that some plants may live over 200 years.

Some mature Saguaros:

To show you the true height of the Saguaros, I had Mark stand next to one.

On his way out of the area he really did back into a cactus.  And because I was laughing so hard as he was pulling needles out of his booty I didn't get a real time shot, so I made him pose for a re-enactment.

As we were leaving the park the sun was setting.  I must say, there is nothing more beautiful than an Arizona sunset. 

One VERY notable street sign seen as we exited the park and headed toward the interstate:

For those of you who may not know -- my maiden name is Hill and my Dad's nickname is Pistol -
How cool is that!

After dinner at the Tucson Hooters (so Mark could add another location to his ongoing list - it's kind of become a game whenever we travel) we headed to our hotel.  Now, when you take driving vacations like we do, you don't make reservations because you're never really sure where you're going to end up.  So we saw a Comfort Inn close by and we bedded down for the night.  Only to be awaken every two hours by a nearby train...blowing his horn all through the intersection.