Saguaro National Monument…

We would have like to stay one more day in Benson to have made a run down to Bisbee, AZ but it will have to wait till our next journey through this area… Afterall we have to save something to see for the future!

But before we headed to Tucson we had one last excursion planned and it was a trip west to the Saguaro National Monument just east of Tucson. We took the short 40 minute drive west and found our way to the park entrance where we stopped to check in and water up for our hike. As we entered the park visitor center we were told that a small clan of Javalinas were sleeping in the shade on the back of the building and we could see them through a window.

 

Sure enough there were four of them and there were also two small babies trying to suckle their momma. Getting a picture of the babies was too difficult due to the glare on the windows.This was an unexpected treat and an excellent start for our hike.

We left the visitor center and went to the entrance gate where they collect fees of $10.00 per car (or use your annual pass like we did). From here you enter a one way loop drive through the Sonoran Desert. For those who don’t want to hike this allows you the chance to see a slice of the desert without having to leave your car. We stopped about midway at a trailhead and planned to take a 3 mile round trip hike into the Sonoran Dessert to see what we could see.

 

What did we see? Ton’s of beautiful cacti of various species and numerous saguaro’s and barrel cacti. What made this even better was that the Saguaro’s were blooming!!! I had never had the opportunity to see them blooming and it was quite a treat. Many of their milky white flowers which bloom mostly at night were still open in the morning hours. We also got to see Gila Woodpeckers and the White Winged Doves. Feeding? on the flowers. Not sure what they were eating – bugs? or nectar? or just getting water trapped in the flowers. We even saw a beautiful Iron Cross Blister Beetle (header photo) ambling across the path.

The next morning we woke up and took our sweet time getting ready to leave since we really weren’t going to head very far this day. We really enjoyed our stay at Butterfield RV Resort and enjoyed the hot tub and a special treat as they have their own observatory with a 16 inch housed in a 15 foot diameter electrically operated dome. We even got an exceptional view of Saturn – didn’t even look real!!!

We drove the 40 or so miles down the road to Tucson, Arizona to see one of our daughter’s softball friends. We will stay two nights and then move on to Phoenix to see more of our softball friends. We are now at the Voyager RV Resort and all we can say is wow!!! This is a huge resort with lots of very nice amenities and only $22.00 with taxes included at the Passport America rate…