Part 9, November 2008 Land Cruise News

Part 8 left us at the Walnut Canyon National Monument in Arizona. From there we drove through Sedona to the Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona. At this point, we have 70 degree weather and sunshine with a slight breeze. Perfect !!!!!!!!!!! The sunshine didn't last long. When we got to Phoenix to visit some friends, it started to rain.

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After Phoenix, we drove to Tucson and stayed a few days at the Gilbert Ray campground. We spent those two days in sun one minute and torrential rains the next.

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Such a variety of cactus on the Sonoran desert.

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73 degrees!!! We're in heaven.

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The storm is approaching!

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Sonoran desert rainbow. Is this an oxymoron?

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We woke up on Thanksgiving morning to a downpour. It lasted a good part of the morning and then the sun came out.

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We took the opportunity to go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The museum is a combination zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden. While there, the staff conducted some free flights with various raptors. This owl,

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a hawk

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and a roadrunner. We were really interested in this part of the tour since we were involved with raptors in Sitka when we first moved there.

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There were many other animals and birds at the museum.....Like a Big Horn Sheep,

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Bobcats,

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A Cardinal,

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A Javalina,

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Hummingbirds,

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lots of different snakes,

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another Cardinal,

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A kestral.

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We spent over 4 hours there and thoroughly enjoyed it. Sunshine prevailed until later in the afternoon. Then.... more rain. We left Alaska for this?????

Chuck cooked a turkey with most of the fixings for Thanksgiving dinner. We sat in the camper and ate our dinner in the pouring raining. Just like home.....

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The next morning the desert smelled different having been soaked overnight with rain. The cactus looked like it was blooming white but it wasn't--it's just the way it looks. Beautiful. We will have to come back some day when the cactus are in bloom.

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We heard from several people that a visit to the Kartchner Caverns was a must. We are very happy we did even though photos were prohibited. The story behind the caverns is very interesting and the caverns themselves are outstanding and pristine. The State of Arizona got a deal when they paid $1.5 million to a rancher for the property. And even better when the Kartchner family gave back $250K to help build the park.

We are curious, however, to know what the two cavers received for finding the caverns a little over 20 years ago. A must if you are ever down in southern Arizona.