Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum…
Today our friends, Al and Adrienne, took us to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum on the western side of Tucson.
We had visited the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Carlsbad, NM in 2007, but this was our first time here.
The scenery was just spectacular. More cactus than we knew existed, and many birds we had never seen before.
Below is the top of a saguaro cactus. They do not know what causes it to develop like this.
A very beautiful Barn Owl
This is what a normal saguaro cactus looks like. Supposedly they don’t start branching out limbs until they’re about 75 years old.
Another saguaro cactus with a strange top.
These are saguaro cactus ‘bones’. This is what is left after a saguaro dies.
A Great Horned Owl during the Raptor Free Flight demo.
A poisonous Gila Monster.
A very well-fed prairie dog on guard. 
An endangered Mexican Gray Wolf.
Coming back to Tucson in the late afternoon, we stopped at Silver Saddle Steak House for an early supper, hoping to beat the crowd from the rodeo going on here in Tucson.
The food was great! Adrienne, Al, and I each had a rack of BBQ ribs, and Jan had a 1/2 BBQ chicken. We all agreed it was some of the best we’d had.
Al and Adrienne dropped us off at our rig about 5:30 pm and we agreed to meet them at their home around 7pm for coffee and dessert.
Adrienne made us a great flan and we watched pictures of their trip to Ecuador and The Galapagos Islands last year. The scenery and animals were really something.
We got back to rig about 9:30, thoroughly pooped. But we had a great time.
Tomorrow they already had a prior engagement, so after we decided to stay another night, we’re going to get together again on Saturday for more sightseeing.
Later…
