Wednesday, February 15, 2017

What a gorgeous day! Blue sky and sunshine!

With 2 hours difference from our time zone (Phoenix is 2 hours behind Toronto), we were up bright and early… The mornings and evenings are cool and crispy, but the sun quickly makes up for the missing degrees. Even here, however, the wind persists in interfering with the warmth factor.

Our friends treated us to a day of nature discovery. It started with a visit to Sanctuary Cove (www.sanctuarycove.org), nested at the foot of the Tucson Mountains. The rugged trail was easy and started with a sand/stone labyrinth conducive to personal reflection, meditation and prayer. The slow climb lead to a cute chapel fitted with both indoors and outdoors brick pews. Very enjoyable.

Saguaros are called the monarchs of the Sonoran Desert, a well-deserved name! Those majestic cacti fill the landscape and like humans, they come is all shapes and forms. It takes about 75 years for a saguaro to grow and “arm”, giving you an new appreciation for the massive ones.

Our second stop was a visit to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is a beautiful nature park, where nature and wildlife co-habitate in full harmony. After a healthy lunch at the park restaurant, we watched raptors being close and personal with the visitors, under the guidance and supervision of park rangers. It was a real treat to see them flying high and low, aware of the crowd and wanting to please. Awesome!

And so many amazing plants! We will need to come from mid-March to mid-April (another trip this way in the future?) if we want to see this magnificent desert flora in bloom…

The day ended with a small get-together by the fire pit. Once again, the flames did their soothing magic, but the night was very cool and blankets provided a nice layer of protection against the pesky wind.

We have to get up at 6:00 am tomorrow to visit caves… so, time to hit the sack!