Tucson

I have to say the time spent driving from one park to the next takes most of a day.  In the case of Tucson the park, Suguaro, is split.  One part on the east side of the city and the other on the west.  Also Arizona does not observe daylight saving time so now is on pacific time. So I gained an hour.  That gave me time to explore the east park on arrival day.  What a surprise.  The giant suguaro are huge and grow like a forest.  On the park drive I could only admire them.  Today I visited the west park and watched a slide show about the desert. At the end curtains parted and the desert scene was revealed.  As in the photo. Then I took a short walk through the desert and drove the six mile auto drive through the desert.  Here I discovered just a few cactus in bloom.  Seems I am just a little early for that here.  Finished the day checking out historic sights in Tucson.  Native Americans historically connected to the desert believe God made man and put him on earth as a suguaro. Man returns to the ground when he dies.  Man and the desert, suguaro, therefore become one.  So it is an imperative to treat the desert with respect, dignity, care and love. The desert is a landscape of beauty, drama and textures.  So said the slide show narrator just before the curtains parted.  For my first experience with a great desert, the Sonoran, I can say it is dramatic, an extraordinary example of balance and interdependence of nature and very hot and dry. I will see more desert systems on this trip - the mojave, the great basin and great sands. The sonoran is considered a young desert - only 10,000 years old.  I think they said it takes the suguaro 200 years to get to mature height and 50 years before it begins to grow an arm.  They only grow in this part of the planet.  That gets my attention.