Cacti & flowers

After breakfast, Donna, John & I headed up to the park’s rec hall for Shelley’s exercise class. Good thing the two of us were in the back row ‘cause we sometimes got the giggles because we couldn’t coordinate our arm and leg movements the way we were supposed to! Afterwards, Shelley went back to work and the rest of us (including Jack) headed for nearby Tohono Chul Park. This park is rated by National Geographic Traveler as one of the top 22 secret gardens in the U.S. & Canada and rated as one of the world’s 10 best botanical gardens by Travel + Leisure. We would have to agree with both – it was wonderful! Of course, it didn’t hurt that many of the cacti and other plants were blooming…

I believe this one may be a “bottlebrush”.

The prickly pear cactus flower is probably one of my favorites. They come in various shades of yellow, salmon and pale orange and have a very fragile look to them.

The flowers on the Saguaro cactus were just starting to bloom.

Don’t know what this purple one is, but it was sure pretty.

Here are John & Jack looking at a paloverde tree. They were blooming all over town and were very pretty. The two following photographs show closer views of the flowers on the tree.

I don’t know my birds, but hopefully Karin will let me know what kind of hummingbird this is!! Karin?

This next one is the flowers on a Goats Horn Cactus. Cool, huh?

And, this bird is a….. (Karin?)

This tortoise was sound asleep.

This flower was beautifully lit from behind (sometimes one gets lucky).

These are Desert Pupfish in one of the ponds. They have truly adapted to desert life and can withstand water temperatures of more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit – amazing!

One of the docents took us to see a nesting hummingbird that we would never have found on our own.

The park had some beautiful quiet areas, too. This one was particularly pretty.

And, the little lizards were everywhere! This guy was probably only 6-8” from nose to tail, but he sure looks bigger (and nastier!) in this picture.

After spending at least two hours in the gardens, we ate lunch there at the Tea Room. Don’t miss it if you’re in the area – it’s very nice and the food was quite good – we would definitely recommend it.

Later we went to visit friends from our Iowa Falls days, Steve & Ev, for a wonderful dinner & a very nice visit. Thanks, Steve & Ev – it’s always fun to see you again and reminisce!