One more trip to talk about

After the trip to the Rockies, I made one more to Arizona. This was my once a year away game for the NY Giants and they were playing the Cardinals. I have been to the Grand Canyon and that was a bit too far to travel to in a short time. So the choice was Tuscon for a day and then Sedona for the other day. This is about those two destinations.

We went to Tuscon but we did not go to visit the city. We went to see the Saguaro National Park. I am really in to cactus and you can't go anywhere for better cactus viewing than this National Park. As you will note by the pictures, these plants grow big, possibly over 40 feet. As you drive into the park, which is open to cars and bikers, you immediately are surrounded by the various cacti. There is one type that stands out and that is the Saguaro. This is the one with what looks like arms growing out of the main stem. They are everywhere and tower over all the others. There are prickly pear and aloe and others that I do not know the names of. They are large compared to ones you see in stores that sell cacti, with the prickly pear we saw as large as over 20 feet wide and 8 feet tall. You would not want to run into that one or any of these guys.
The car trail is about 8 miles long. There was walking trails you can take also, but they run very close to the plants so you have to be careful. And you would not want to be out there in the dark as you would not see where you are going. I was amazed at the bikers, but not jealous. It was 103 degrees out there and it was hilly.

You cant help but be impressed with the Saguaro plants. Here they are in the desert that gets less than 10 inches of rain a year, yet they flourish out there. There were so many and most were between 6 feet and 30 feet tall. They live for well over 100 years and it takes up to 75 years to grow to maturity with any number of outgrowth arms. Some had up to 10 appendages growing out of the one shoot. Just and amasing plant. It was worth the trip.

That was the first day. The second day was spent at the game. The Giant's won so the trip was a success. The stadium was just another example of a better idea than Giant's stadium that was just built. This one is indoors, climate controlled and very comfortable. Lots of pretty women there too. No complaints.

The third day was spent driving a bit north of Phoenix. We ended up in Sedona for a few hours and had lunch. But to get there we drove over the mountains and the views were spectacular. It was also much cooler there than in Phoenix. On the drive, we went through the town of Jerome. It is a small hamlet that was built into the side of the mountain. It has been restored and many buildings are artist shops and the like where they eek out a living. Still is was very picturesque. We stopped a winery and did some tasting. The conversation with the owner was most interesting.

While in Sedona we did some shopping, but the sites are what you come for. The red rock formations are really breathtaking and you feel like you are in another world. The downtown strip can remind you of the old west but instead of horses, you have cars. Really a nice place to visit. Since we did not have a lot of time, we headed back to Phoenix, but we made sure to stop at three more wineries along the way. The kids really enjoyed this and I went along for the ride. I am not a conesour of wine, I will be the first to say. Give me a whiskey and let me guzzle it down. There is always the next drink. But I enjoy these visits as the people to run the wineries are very friendly and open and will converse with you like old friends. I had a few tastes, but being a heathen and totally uncultured, I can't appreciate the fine essence of a good wine. Just let me belly up to the bar.

Well this is it for my travels for a while. With the job situation, not sure when I will hit the road again. I might continue blogging to talk about what its is like for me to be unemployed. Not sure who would give a Sh$t. But then again, who reads this stuff now?????

Until I write again.