Arizona: Tucson 🌵 Time
Saguaro National Park is one of the gems in the Tucson area but not the only one. The saguaro cactus 🌵 which is the notable iconic cactus of Arizona and Mexico, cover the countryside in Tucson. It’s an incredible forest without leaves. Never would have guessed there would be so many in an area but if these saguaro had leaves it would be a dense forest. The saguaro are amazing, sturdy trunks and they are incredible water managers for the desert, supporting the local animal life with shelter and sustenance. The native Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui people use all parts of the saguaro, building with the outter tougher ribs and various medicinal and culinary uses for the meat and fruit. May/June is the season for flowering and it would be worth it to return just to experience that desert transformation, as well as the fruits to follow. We had a great drive and even got Jayden some hill driving experience in the park. Ended with a light hike and rock climb of Javelina Rock to enjoy the Tucson sunset.
Old Tucson is a western themed park and movie set. It’s been the site for multiple films like 3:10 to Yuma, Eldorado, the Shootout at the OK Coral, Tombstone and my favorite documentary about a small towns survival against all odds… The Three Amigos! 😎 The park is more nostalgia than anything and probably a touch expensive for what it is but fun to see the movies set and various acts. Jayden and Robert even got in on the magic show.
The surprise of the Tucson stop was the Chiricahua National Monument about 90min east of Tucson. The pictures don’t do it justice, the scale of these volcanic rhyolite pinnacles were other worldly. Its was like the rock formations in one of our favorite Pixar movies UP but… everywhere. Michele, Robert and Peyton even hiked Sugarloaf Mountain 7310 ft peak and found some snow! Massi Point was full of hoodoos to explore but we didn’t expect the park to be that awesome and could explore too much further with the dogs but Charlie did help Robert do his Jr Ranger book. If you’re ever passing through southern AZ on I10, it’s worth the 45min detour south!
