June 30, 2012 Tucson AZ to Saguaro National Park, Senora Desert Museum, Tombstone AZ and Las Cruces NM

We woke up at 5:30am breathing in the fresh mountain air knowing we had to get moving because the 100+ degree weather would be upon us before we knew it. Watching the sun hit the peaks of the mountains in the early morning was so very peaceful. As we drove down off of the mountains, we went by tons of bicyclists out enjoying a ride up the mountain before 6am.  They looked really happy.  We could understand this. 

We wound our way through Tucson to the other part of Saguaro National Park.  The drive through the park was spectacular, with lots of stops for photos.  We even took some pictures of Patti with “the biggest, tallest, prickliest cactus” and a copy of her book, How Baby Coyote Learned to Howl.  We were intrigued by watching some people harvesting the fruit off of the large cactus with long poles.  We had learned this was a Native American tradition where they make jelly and wine from the fruit.  It was so interesting, we could have taken pictures of varieties of cactus all day, but we had many more things to do.

Next on the agenda was The Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, a zoo and gardens devoted to life in the Sonoran Desert.  We were so happy that we arrived in time for an hour and half guided tour by a very knowledgeable docent.  We learned much more about cactus, reptiles, mammals, plants, and insects.  It was with a small group and we had plenty of opportunity to get all of our questions answered.  Patti was happy to discover an outdoor labyrinth, and so had a nice meditative walk on it while Dick took a rest in the shade.  Because by now, it was again over 100 degrees.  After an ice cream shake, we hit the road again, this time headed for Tombstone, AZ.

Both of us had always heard about Tombstone and so were anxious to finally visit.  It was definitely an old West town.  We took a peek at The OK Corral, but decided to skip the shootout there…..Trip Advisor told us that that show was very HOT, and that there was a gunfight show at Doc Holiday’s Palace that was excellent and INDOORS with Air- Conditioning.  This was a plus.  We did enjoy the show.  Talking with one of the actors, he shared that all of the guys in the show had worked as stuntmen in Hollywood and chose to work at this show because of its fine quality and historical accuracy.  They did a really nice job, not full of cheesy inaccurate skits.  We walked around the town, and took a tour of the historic courthouse. 

And then….we were ready to leave.  It had been a very full day, with the plan to camp near Las Cruses NM.  The heat made us decide to find a hotel, which we did and pulled in for a shower and AC and a good night’s sleep.