Saguaro NP

Red Hills visitor center is at Saguaro National Park ( pronounced Sahwaro). We arrived there at 7:30 this morning and called to wish Heather a "hippo birdie" before hitting the trail for a morning hike. Our friend, the zebra tailed lizard led the way! It actually stayed just ahead of us on the path for about 25-30 yards, like he/she was our tour guide!

The cacti grow up to 30-40 ft high, but average more like 15-20 ft. Some still had flowers/ fruit attached- the natives harvest the fruit in June and use it to make jellies and syrup. The saguaro host an amazing variety of bird life, from cactus wrens to white tailed doves, to elf owls to gila woodpeckers. We didn't see an owl but we did see the others, plus a red tailed hawk, gilded flicker and warblers. Luckily we have our bird book with us, plus literature from the rangers! 

It got too hot to be out by 11:00am so on to Sedona. We drove through the Prescott National forest and over some very mountainous roads. We took the car off and I drove it separately. It would have been tough work for the camper to pull the car, plus on the way down its more work for the brakes having the car back there!!! Right decision.... The brakes got very hot as we descended and Mark had to pull off to let them cool. We happened to be going through the town of Jerome at the time. This was a very "Blue Highway"road by the way Ree! An old timer approached us and asked if we were from Maine (our camper license plate). Of course we said yes, and he proceeded to tell us about himself, his old life in Maine, what brought him to AZ, and all about life in Jerome. He had a lot of whiskey on the breath, but he was harmless. He gave us a huge bag of plums from his own tree and wished us well in our travels. Wish we had thought to ask to take his picture. But we are going to head back to Jerome in the car on Friday night. From what we could see, great shops, and several people have told us the restaurants are some of the best in AZ. Maybe we'll run into "One Bar Bob" again! He got the name because he was kicked out of the only other bar in town and has never gone back! What a character.