Confessions of an RVer: SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK

You know the cactus that you see in all the western movies? The ones that are tall and they have an arm that grows on each side. Well they are saguaro cactus. The locals pronounce it sa-war-oh. Only a girl from Texas would pronounce it the way it is spelled, right?

When Mr. W told me that we were going to Saguaro National Park, I didn't think too much about it. I had no idea that this national park got its name for a reason.

When we stopped to take the picture of the national park sign, we met a couple and their friend who were from El Paso. They moved to Tucson a couple of years ago because they love the music, the weather, and the people. They were a wealth of information.

We started driving through the park and the speed limit through the park was 35 mph. It became apparent really quickly that this main road through the park was a commuter road. There were tons of people driving through and they were not happy if you were driving the speed limit. Mr. W kept pulling off and letting long lines of cars pass. Why would you have a commuter road through a national park?

Anyway, Arizona is desert. There are adobe houses everywhere. There are few trees. Most everyone has rock for their yards. There isn't grass. There is very little water. Most people aren't fond of this type of terrain, but I for one really like it. So, all kinds of cactus go hand in hand with the dessert. But to see saguaro cactus EVERYWHERE, lining the skyline, was just awesome. My pictures don't really capture how truly amazing this is.

All the cactus are beginning to bloom.

Cactus everywhere

You can't get too close to this cactus. If there is the least little bit of static electricity around you, the cactus will jump out and attach itself to you. Ouch.

More blooms

The saguaro cactus is 75 years old before it gets its first arm. The life expectancy is around 200 years.

See them all over the mountains? I can't begin to capture this. I wish you could see this in person.

There was a picnic table inside this. It is sitting on the top of a mountain. What a place for a picnic.

There was a loop that was for high clearance vehicles only. It got you off the commuter road so you could take your time and really look at the scenic views.

This guy was laying in the middle of the road. We thought he was dead but he wasn't. It is a coach whip snake. He wasn't going to give up his spot in the road.

Outside the visitor's center

I know I keep talking about the time change, but this has really messed with my internal time clock. Plus the network shows that normally come on at 8:00 are coming on at 6:00. Late night shows come on at 8:30. Plus, the sun is up and bright at 5:00 am. So, the next morning, we got up early and decided to go for a hike on one of the trails in the state park. We had coffee, breakfast, sat around looking at Facebook and were dressed and starting on the trail by 8:30 am. We walked 2.3 miles and were back by 9:45. This hike was like walking on a beach with hills. You were going up and down, changing elevations but walking in sand the entire time. The state park trails must be the place to be because there were a lot of people out on the trail and the parking lot was full.