Tuscon Day 4

The sunrise was beautiful on the way to Saguaro.

After talking to a ranger, the boys wanted to get up really early and try to see some wildlife. So we set the alarm for 5:30 and hit the road by 6 o'clock. It was thirty minutes to the east side of Saguaro National Park. We got there plenty early, but we didn't see a lot of wildlife. Mark spotted a jackrabbit, and the sunrise was nice, but no animals were about.

Saguaro was a different park for us, and we loved it.

The vistas in the desert were really pretty.

We did three short hikes along the scenic loop, and though the temperature was in the mid 50's when we started, it was close to 80 degrees by the time we ended at the Visitor Center. We did have one memorable stop along the loop at a place called Javelina Rocks. We decided to get out and explore the ghost trails in the area. It wasn't long before we completed our creepy-crawler list by spotting a rattlesnake. We only saw the last foot, including the tail, but it was clearly a large one. Mostly, we enjoyed the cactuses for the last time before we had to leave Tucson.

The trails were easy, but our feet were starting to get tired.

Mom with a saguaro that is hundreds of years old.

We saw another tarantula. That makes 3--one for each day.

Seth ponders the uniqueness of a saguaro forest.

Dax told the saguaro to put his dukes up!

The boys enjoyed the hikes, but the hikes were often a lot the same.

The rattlesnake was fleeing the scene.

We hoped to see some javelinas in the rocks, but it didn't happen.

Dax climbed all the way to the top to look around.

We added this phainopepla to our bird list.

When it got hot, we headed over to the Pima Air and Space Museum. Our legs were tired, but we enjoyed walking through all five of the hangars. There were dozens of aircraft of all sizes, but our favorite was the B-29 Bomber or the SR-71 Blackbird. Despite aching feet the boys enjoyed the simulators and reading about the aircraft. After we'd seen all the machines, we had lunch at a picnic table right there in the parking lot.

Seth liked this tiny one-man plane.

Seth enjoyed a flight simulator.

There was a separate hangar for this plane. 

Volunteers told us about this aircraft.

The boys played Snoopy and Red Baron.

The fire engine for aircraft was massive!

We weren't too sure what to do with the rest of our afternoon. It was hot and we were tired, but we'd driven past a large building called the International Wildlife Museum. It turned out to be the boys' favorite part of the day. The participated in a scavenger hunt as they walked past hundreds of stuffed animals. In one room alone, there were at least a hundred heads on the wall. Other areas had more interesting displays, and we enjoyed guessing the scat, fur, and teeth of a bunch of animals. We even sat and watched a movie for a while because we needed to sit and rest. It was another reminder that sometimes the best adventures are the ones that aren't planned.

Look at these 3 dodos!

Dad learned to catch birds from a lynx.

There were a lot of animals.

Seth walked under the belly of a giraffe.

This prehistoric beast had an impressive rack.

For some reason, there was a small Harry Potter display.

After enjoying the museum, we drove up to Phoenix to spend the night because we had a 6 AM flight the next morning so we could get Dad back to work.