Tucson
I stayed overnight with my friend Cory, and hung out for a bit in the morning on campus at the University of Arizona while Cory was at class/work ... I met up with my parents again in the afternoon, and then we visited Tucson Mountain Park, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and drove around a wee bit in Saguaro West National Monument

9 March 2006

Cory's house in Tucson It's gotta be cool to have orange trees in your front yard... Lawns sure are different in the desert southwest Palm trees and the desert sky Third Avenue, on the way into campus The Mall, University of Arizona The Mall Wildcat sculptures The optics building at U of A, where Cory does his research Football stadium for the Arizona Wildcats ... just a bit smaller than Beaver Stadium at PSU ;-) The library Wildcat Family sculpture Cactus Garden Old Main Looking at The Mall from the Student Union The Mall A patio in the Student Union ... I graded some Meteo 003 labs for an hour or two, so that I wouldn't be *completely* swamped when I got back to Penn State ... then I watched the Penn State basketball team beat Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament on TV, and met up with Cory for lunch After Cory had to go back to work, I met up with my parents and we drove out to Tucson Mountain Park west of the city, on the edge of Saguaro West National Monument Mountains Looking out over the valley Valley Cactus-filled wilderness Part 1 of a panoramic of Tucson Mountain Park Tucson Mountain Park Tucson Mountain Park Tucson Mountain Park Tucson Mountain Park Tucson Mountain Park panoramic Cacti! Looking back at Tucson to the east Dad sitting a bit further down the hill Tucson Mtn Park Dad, Mom & me at Tucson Mtn Park Dad, Mom & me The desert is cool Part 1 of another panoramic in Tucson Mtn Park Tucson Mtn Park Tucson Mtn Park Tucson Mtn Park Tucson Mtn Park Tucson Mtn Park panoramic #2 Rocky hill Winding desert road Tucson Mountain Park Saguaro dot the landscape Winding road My parents toured Old Tucson in the morning ... if you pick any random Western film, and chances are high that at least part of it was filmed here at Old Tucson, where they have a whole olde-style Western city built to be a movie studio Old Tucson's Hotel Saloon Old Tucson Another building in Old Tucson If you see this hill down any street in a Western film, it's a dead giveaway that it was filmed in Old Tucson Old Tucson Hill Saguaro cacti and Old Tucson Hill Tall spike of a saguaro Saguaro and Old Tucson Hill This picture just screams Old Tucson Hill Our next stop was the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Hummingbird Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Purple-throated hummingbird Purple-throated hummingbird Another hummingbird ... they sure don't sit still for very long! Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Me petting a cactus Palo Verde, a cool green-barked tree Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Imaginary evolution sculpture at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Not really sure what type of bird this is A parrot of some sort I'm sure if I were an ornithologist I'd be able to identify those Cool-lookin bird stalking through the cacti This bird was chasing the lizard around Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Aflac A duck Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Saguaro cacti grow pretty slowly ... this one's a teenager! Bighorn sheep at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Desert bighorns Turkey vulture, what an ugly bird Military macaws Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Looking out over the Sonoran Desert Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Mexican wolves (lobos) Lobo Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Black bear ... I guess they have those in the desert too, I was surprised Mountain lion Puma Curious mountain lion Curiosity got the other cat too Sonoran Desert The skeleton inside each saguaro looks pretty much like this Isn't a dinosaur skull kind of random cargo for a golf cart? All sorts of colourful minerals on display at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum If I were a geologist I'm sure I'd be able to identify these Saguaro West National Monument Saguaro Nat'l Monument These saguaros grow tall! This one's gotta be well over a hundred years old Have you hugged a saguaro lately? My parents posing by the saguaro Several saguaro Saguaro cacti Saguaro West NM Loop Road, in Saguaro West NM Saguaro and a desert hill Some big rocks On Cory's recommendation, we went back up to Tucson Mountain Park to try to catch a stellar sunset Looking out over the Sonoran Plain ... and I'm pretty sure all those white dots are RVs Cacti on the hillside You betcha I wanna climb all the way up there! Looking out over the Sonoran plain Sunset approaching Looking way back down at the carpark Lavender-shaded hills Part 1 of the early stages of the Tucson sunset Tucson sunset Tucson sunset Tucson sunset Tucson sunset Tucson sunset panoramic As long as I was up there, I figured I may as well wait and see if the sunset got better Dusk approaching Sunset City of Tucson Me up on top of the hill, watchin the sunset A little blurry, but proof I was up close to the top of the hill There were a few other people climbing up the hill from the carpark to check out the sunset too Sunset Tucson sunset Me by a saguaro See how deceptive flash can be? It really wasn't as dark as the previous picture, but the length of this exposure made it seem lighter than it really was Tucson sunset Finally! The sunset's starting to get better! Sunset behind the mountain range Lavender sky Cactus sunset Cactus sunset I wanted to wait as long as I could, but I needed to start climbing down before it got too dark to see And of course, the sunset finally gets spectacular as soon as I get out of position Sunset in the desert A blurry, yet fiery, sunset Cactus-covered hill and the dying sunset

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