Saguaro National Monument
My parents & I spent the morning driving around Saguaro West National Monument just outside of Tucson, before returning to the Phoenix area to visit some other relatives in Mesa ... and then on the way up to Phoenix, we were car #3 in a 5-car accident on Interstate 10!

10 March 2006

Majestic saguaro cacti Saguaros Picture Rocks Road, in Saguaro West National Monument Saguaro West National Monument It's really a strange-looking landscape to see all these spiky saguaros around Sonoran Desert valley Cool-lookin' saguaros Those multi-pronged saguaros are really awesome Saguaro West National Monument Now that is a monster saguaro! Saguaro West National Monument Saguaros in the Sonoran Desert Saguaro West National Monument Saguaro West National Monument There are other types of cacti than just saguaro here too A desert wash ... not a good idea to be here in a thunderstorm Saguaro West National Monument I waited here for a few minutes as the clouds were passing by, trying to get just the lighting I wanted... Got it! This is probably my favourite picture that I took in Saguaro NM Desert hill Saguaro West National Monument Bajada Loop Drive, in Saguaro West National Monument Sun-soaked saguaros Bajada Loop Drive Saguaro West National Monument Many kinds of cacti Saguaro West National Monument Saguaro West National Monument Bajada Loop Drive, with saguaros-as-guardians along the road Saguaro West National Monument View from the Red Rocks Visitor Center in Saguaro West National Monument Visitor center view Saguaro West National Monument Saguaro West National Monument visitor center Saguaro West National Monument Saguaro West National Monument Bajada Loop Drive Bajada Loop Drive in Saguaro West National Monument Saguaro West National Monument Bajada Loop Drive Saguaro West National Monument Another of my favourite pictures from the day Close-up of the saguaro spines and spikes Valley View Outlook Trail Cactus-covered hill So many saguaros... A teenage saguaro This one almost looks like it's upside down Saguaro skeleton Valley View Trail Part 1 of a panoramic of the Valley View Valley View Valley View Valley View Valley View Valley View panoramic in Saguaro West National Monument Valley View Interesting rock formation Cacti trifecti Saguaro West National Monument Part 1 of another panoramic in the Valley View area Valley View Valley View Valley View Valley View panoramic #2 Looking out over the valley These saguaros are pretty tall Mom admiring the cacti Dad & Mom at the Valley View Overlook Propping myself up Valley View A large solitary saguaro Solitary saguaro with stubby appendages Different cacti Back in Tucson, I decided that we just *had* to get lunch at Waffle House, since I'd heard Daniel raving about them so much down South Waffle House in the desert! Dust storm along I-10 between Tucson & Phoenix I'm definitely not used to driving through dust storms There was lots of traffic on I-10 on the way from Tucson to Phoenix, and on an apparently notoriously dangerous section of the highway just south of Phoenix, traffic ahead of us suddenly stopped ... I slammed on the brakes and stopped in time (yes, I was driving the rental car), just barely, but then we got bumped from behind, and then another vehicle slammed into the back of the line at a pretty decent speed (so he was deemed at fault), which pushed us into the white truck in front of us, who then was pushed into the red truck at the front ... five-car pileup on the interstate, hooray We were definitely pressed right up against the truck in front of us There wasn't too much damage to the rear of our rental Chrysler 300 There was a bit more on the front though... Part of our car's on the truck's hitch Yeah, this truck was the one at the back of the line, that pushed everyone else together ... it was obvious he was the one at fault, as his vehicle suffered the most damage by far in the 5-vehicle pileup The fourth vehicle didn't suffer too much damage The overpass right by the accident site Lineup of victim vehicles The front of the second truck in line Vehicles #4 and #5 Fortunately for me I was 0% at fault, so it didn't affect my insurance at all! And my flight left very early the next morning, well before my parents' flight did, so they had to deal with taking the car back to Enterprise and telling them we were in an accident with it ... glad I didn't have to be involved with that, though there were multiple phone calls from insurance agents over the following weeks Five-car pileup Front-end damage on the 300 Front damage The guy peeling our grill off his trailer hitch Peeling off our grill ... so yeah, we were a bit tardy getting to Roger & Judy's place, but at least we had a very valid excuse! ... unfortunately I got a bit lazy and didn't take any pictures in the evening when we were visiting with relatives, so this is where my Arizona album ends

This album has 95 items in total    |    Album was updated 3/13/08 11:24 PM    |    Generated by JAlbum 7.4, custom skin ExhibitPlus 1.5