Picacho Peak State Park, Arizona

Before we left to go eat breakfast in Lordsburg yesterday morning, I snapped this picture of Mr. Smitty enjoying a morning sunbath. It was cold there during the night, and so we were all happy to see the warm morning sun.

Since I told you about our run-in with the law here in Lordsburg in the 1970's, I thought you'd be interested to know that the constabulary of Lordsburg was well represented in the restaurant. There were three waiting to pay at the cash register when we left. Then, when we filled up our gas tank, who should be at the pump next to ours but...

Robert DeNiro comes to mind. Apparently our reputation for lawlessness precedes us.

After breakfast, we headed on down the road. We were aware of the frequency of dust storms in New Mexico. In fact, my father was a career marine. Albuquerque was the one duty station from which he had to request a medical transfer because the dust so exacerbated my mother's rather severe asthma.

Just after leaving Lordsburg, we were confronted by a ten mile stretch of road in which a series of signs had been erected, instructing drivers what to do if visibility were reduced to zero because of dust.

We had no problems, but it's easy to see how dust could be a problem in this barren landscape.

We only drove about 20-30 miles when we crossed the state line into Arizona.

We barreled past Tucson, a place we've visited many times, in favor of a new state park: Picacho Peak State Park. As we drove northwest out of Tucson, it came into view.

It's a very nice park, about a mile off the interstate. There's also a train passing by on the far side of the road. Both are far enough away that we hear just a low hum.

Our campsite is at the edge of the campground. This is the view from our dining room window.

Turning directly around from there, we see this:

Of course, Smitty's shadow self was itching to get out, and so we took the cat along.

He wanted me to be sure and show you his terra cotta toes. He wears them as something of a badge of honor.

I was thrilled to see saguaro cactus growing here in the park, thick as hair on a dog's back, as my dear father-in-law used to say. The saguaro cactus are some of my favorite living things.

Here are some fun facts about them: The saguaro blooms in late spring and only after dark. They are pollinated by bats during the night, and then the blossoms close and wilt by the following afternoon. Despite the pollination by the bats, one saguaro cactus will produce approximately 40 million seeds each year. Many of the cactus live some 200 years, but in their lifetime only a few seeds will even so much as germinate.

After they drop their seeds, they require 1 ½ inches of rain within the next day. Not enough, and the animals will eat the seeds. Too much and they will wash away. If they get the amount of rain necessary, they still have a difficult ride if they germinate. After one year, they are only ¼-inch tall. After five years they are one inch tall. And after 15 years, they will be only one foot tall. It’s amazing any of them exist at all. Only after sixty or seventy years does the first side branch appear. Kind of makes you want to treat them with more respect, doesn't it?

And here's something else: Many people are under the impression that if they were lost in the desert, they could cut off the top of a large cactus and drink the water. Apparently that only happens in Hollywood. The moisture stored in most cacti has a toxic level of oxalic acid, and only a few creatures of the desert can neutralize the poison.

So, you might be aware that I have just one page left in my Sketchbook. I've been holding out for a good picture of a saguaro cactus to finish out our trip. It's kind of poetic when you realize that this is the last "destination" on our agenda. After this, we'll be heading to the spot we would have wintered over even if we hadn't taken the long route by first driving around the perimeter of the United States.

So anyway...I've had in mind a sunset silhouette of a saguaro, but is there a better shot? I thought I'd try something else. Perhaps its ridges of needles.

Or perhaps standing under them and letting them tower over me. By the way, be sure to notice the hole in the cactus on the left in the image below. Some bird has taken up residence there at some point in time.

Or possibly I could bag the whole saguaro idea altogether and end with some other kind of cactus. Perhaps the prickly cholla cactus below.

Or this little fellow:

So we sat outside in the setting sunlight last night. Sadie was enjoying it from the comfort of her catio. The people aren't the only ones happy for some warmth.

We were drinking margaritas and waiting for the light to change. While we sat there, we noticed a green sheen on the desert floor. It must have rained here recently because there is some grass growing.

The mountain on the other side of the interstate turned a pretty red.

As the light started to change, I ran around taking practice shots. I was looking for a classic saguaro shape. This one isn't bad, but a few too many arms.

I kind of like the mountains in the background of this next one, but really, I wanted just one solitary cactus.

I could try cutting off the right-most one, but then, I needed to get up higher so that I didn't lose the bottom of the cactus in the background.

The mountains are nice in this next one, but I was still losing the bottom of the cactus.

Pretty sky in this next one, but not enough cactus.

Okay...now this one here, I think this might be the money shot. I'm going to keep trying for the next couple of nights, but this might be it.

My one word for this one word wonder: "Sentinel."

Day is done.

On the embroidery front, I've finished the 11th block of the Wine Country quilt.

Since we were without electricity at our last stop, I wasn't able to plug in my light box to trace the next Snow Globes block. The Wine Country blocks were all made from iron-on transfers before we left home, and so it seemed a good reason to finish off the 12th of twelve blocks. I got started on that one before we left Lordsburg.

We're expecting a nice warm day, and so we'll get out and do some hiking in the park. We've been yearning for some warmer weather, and perhaps we've found it here in the Sonora Desert, even if just for today.