Lush Desert

Last week, after three months in Mexico, we were ready to go home, but home wasn’t ready for us, still icy and blustery. So we came to Tucson, Arizona, where we are loving the desert. Every big saguaro cactus has a big personality. Cholla needles glow. Tiny wildflowers are beginning to bloom. Streams run through the dry landscapes. Here are some pictures, primarily from the marvelous Saguaro National Park, Catalina State Park, and Sabino Canyon, part of a national forest. Thank big government for preserving these beautiful places. Click on a picture to enlarge it and you can scroll through the photos using the arrows.

Saguaro National park

Creeks run down canyons through the desert. Steve took this photo of me building a bridge.

Teddy Bear Cholla against the evening sky.

Tanque Verde and the clouds in matching patterns.

Saguaro cactus in the national park

Wildflowers don’t let the dry, rocky terrain stop them.

Wildflowers are beginning to bloom this February.

In Sabino Canyon, part of the National Forest, there’s a delicious contrast of water and desert.

These fluffy pink flowers are blooming everywhere now.

Saguaro against the amazing clouds.

Built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as part of the nation’s Depression recovery, these stairs are maintained in the magnificent Saguaro National Park, Tucson, Arizona.

Thousands of giant saguaros grow across this valley in Tucson.

There’s a beautiful and smooth loop road on Saguaro National Park. It’s steep but bikers love it.

Agave leaves.

Saguaro National Park sunset.

Catalina State Park, Tucson.

• Arizona
• desert
• Tucson