A Visit to the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum

On Wednesday, February 1, we shoved off and landed west of Tucson at Justin's Diamond J RV Park.

After lunch we drove about ten miles up the road to  the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum which is much more than a museum.

It has acres and acres of desert paths to walk, as well as a desert zoo, a reptile house, a humming bird enclosure, a rock and mineral display, a gift shop and lots more to see and explore.

The large cacti you see above are Saguaro.

We were surprised to learn that they have a skeleton inside made of wood.  Some grow to be 50-feet high and live for more than 70 years.  Above on the left you see what remains of a dead Saguaro Cactus that is still standing.

This Black-Tailed Rattlesnake looked dangerous.

Part of this snake appeared to be hanging out of his glass cage at the bottom and both Karen and Bill were afraid to touch it to find out for sure!

The crystals on display were gorgeous. 

These Teddy Bear Cholla look cuddly, but don't be deceived.  Like almost every plant in the desert -- they are full of thorns.

More on the Desert Museum tomorrow.......