Desert and Cactuses!

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Trip Start Aug 15, 2005 Previous
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  Tucson, Arizona, United States
Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Sunday 11th September 2005

Well after a short 3 hour shuttle bus journey from Flagstaff, we arrived at Phoenix airport around 12.20 pm, earlier than expected. It was clear sky and red hot heat. Mandy and Vince had offered to collect us from the airport to take us to Tucson where they live. It was nice to get into the air conditioned car. We were driving down the highway and could see the mini tornados in the distance, it was so cool. We drove past Dairy Queens (it's like a fast food place). They do the BEST ice-cream I've tasted yet! Dan had a chocolate Blizzard and I had Banana Pie which was just amazing! We sat outside in the sunshine eating them. Mandy said we were calling at the Ostrich farm which sounded like fun! When we got there, we each had a cup of food. You could simply pour the food into a shute for the Ostrich's to take or be daring and let them eat out of your hand.....Dan and Jack got pecked on the hand! I gave the Ostrich's a miss and fed my food to the Deer with Zoe, they were so cute. Mandy bought an Ostrich egg for $15 it was huge! Apparantly, it's the equivalant of 24 normal chicken eggs! She didn't want it for the shell which are just lovely but for the egg.
We stopped off at a Mexican for some food, I had soup with Avocado and Lime which was lovely...I think we all had the same except for Zoe and Jack.
We then headed back to Mandy and Vince's house. A beautiful huge house in Tucson, just beside the mountains. It is absolutely gorgeous with a swimming pool and hot tub outside.
As we were driving down the road, two young boys were having a lemonade sale with the little 'Lemonade for Sale' stand they sit next to with the sign on the top just like on the TV!!! It was so cool, when we stopped the car, we walked up the street to get a few cups of it for 50 cents a cup, it was lovely aswell!
We had a go on the basketball hoop playing a game called 'pig' together then I then sat listening to Vince playing the piano, Jack playing the Cello and Zoe the flute, they are great together.

1. Desert Museum

I can see the big arched half moon window above the door and the sky is turning red...just a great moment.
We all went outside as it was going dark to use the pool. As the sun went down, the bats came out flying over us and you could see the shadow of the mountains in the background. I sat most of the time in the hot tub with Mandy while the others played ball games in the pool. I nice end to a nice day.

Monday 12th September 2005

This morning Dan woke me just after 7 am I had the best nights sleep! Dan went for an early morning run with Vince in the mountains. I got up and showered and Mandy allowed me to use the internet to start updating the travelpod. Zoe and Jack were at school today and Vince was leaving for Morocco on a business trip. Just one thing that is different over here, the kids start school at 7.30 am and finish at 2.30 pm!
Mandy, Vince, Dan and I went for a Chinese at lunchtime at this lovely little restaurant, the food was just lovely! We nipped to Vince's work as he had some things to drop off and then we dropped him at the Shuttle station where he was catching his shuttle to Phoenix airport. Mandy, Dan and I then nipped to the supermarket (Basha's!) to stock up on Vanilla coke and Apple Jack cereal for Dan (a favourite the last time he was here). Zoe had soccer practice tonight so we all went along to watch. Dan kicked the ball around with Jack and I sat with Mandy and a mum of one of the girls. Zoe is really good and soccer seems to be a popular sport over here.

1. Sabino Canyon

It went dark, the floodlights came on for soccer practice but it was still really warm. An overall nice relaxing day.

Tuesday 13th September 2005

It's great to be here. Today we woke for breakfast and had cereal which was just lovely! I miss cereal so much! Zoe and Jack were at school again today so we went to check out some shops. I found an absolute bargain honestly! I got a pair of O'Neil shorts for $6!! Thats only 3 pounds and 32 pence! (can't find the pound sign on these keyboards over here!). I also found another Abercrombie shop and got a T-Shirt for $19.99 which is only just over 11 pounds! Bargain or what!
We stopped for a Japanese lunch which was just beautiful. The guy stands by the stall offering samplers so when Mandy and I had a sample of the meat we couldn't resist!
I am also getting much better at using chopsticks but still the last to finish!
Dan and I then had a swim in the pool back at the house to cool down as it's hot for us pair here! I also caught up on a few emails (it's nice to have internet access where the time dosen't run down!). I sat watching the T.V as Mandy and Jack had soccer practice tonight. I rolled into bed around 10.30 pm and Dan stayed up to watch some T.V.

Wednesday 14th September 2005

Got up early this morning and we tried the Ostrich egg for breakfast which was actually quite nice, and very fluffy - Mandy cooks a good scrambled egg! She also had some Oatcakes from back home so she made us some with cheese...yummy! The egg tasted just like normal chicken egg I guess.
Mandy took us for a drive to Sorino Canyon today, a short drive from the house.

2. Vicks and Dan at the Desert Museum

We parked at the Canyon entrance and got some shuttle tickets which would take us into the Canyon a few stops. The bus didn't leave until 12 midday so we went for a wander down the tracks. Mandy warned me before walking on the tracks to watch out for rattle snakes, terantulas and other species! Well...you can imagine what I was like walking in the what is known as desert in flipflops petrified of spiders!
Dan kept going off the tracks to find stuff to take pictures of. Today is really hot, we topped up on sun cream before we came out but it was roasting! We caught the shuttle 4 stops up in the Canyon and got off. The drive of the shuttle was telling us to watch out for Mountain Lions!
We decided to walk a mile and then walk back. On the way we stopped at the little bridge where the stream was running through and we took our flipflops off and paddled our feet in the cool water, it was just lovely! The mountains are just beautiful, covered in Cactuses, from small ones to absolutely huges ones...see pictures! As we were walking we could see loads of dragon flies, the odd lizard would cross the path and then we saw some chipmunks. We also saw a road runner bird on the way in as well which I forgot about. It was really hot whilst walking, Mandy says it's cooler here than normal! Phew! My bottle of water had heated up whilst walking!
We caught the shuttle back to the Visitor Centre and carpark and nipped to 'Risky Business' for lunch it was very nice. During the hot afternoon we swam in the pool for a bit.

2. Sabino Canyon

Dan played pool (as in snooker/pool!) with Jack whilst I did some internet research for Nz and Oz. We then watched Harry Potter the Chamber of Secrets. A nice day overall.

Thursday 15th September 2005

Woke this morning and had breakfast. Spoke to Liz and had a catch up which was nice and got some more advice about the next leg of the journey...thanks Liz.
We have had nice relaxing day today. We sat outside in the sunshine and used the pool. It's a little hot to sun bath so I shaded with a towel! I normally enjoy sitting in the sun but boy it's hot! I have lovely flip flop tan marks on my feet! YEY
Dan and I then came inside for the afternoon and played some pool and then we had tea of Lasagne with Garlic bread (thanks AGAIN Mandy!). Whilst we were eating tea, Mandy noticed out of the window that there was a Bob Cat on the wall, it was quite big and an absolutely beautiful animal to see in the garden! It jumped off the wall to the back and off it went before we could get chance to get a picture...it was just beautiful.
Jack had soccer practice tonight so Mandy and Jack went to soccer, Dan and I have been outside with this cool light to see if we can find any scorpions as they glow up in the dark but no luck tonight.
Dan has taken a beautiful picture of the moon tonight from the garden...see photo!

Friday 16th September 2005

This morning Dan woke me and we went downstairs and ate breakfast in the morning sunshine. It was going to be another hot day today.

3. Lizard at the Desert Museum

Dan found a small snake in the pool this morning so he decided to fish it out.
When Mandy arrived home from the gym she shouted to Dan as she had found a terantula outside the front door!!! I was horrified as you can imagine but it was only a small one and actually dead. Mandy picked it up and brought it into the house! She put it in a plastic food bag as I was petrified of it...even though it was dead! We decided to look around the shops again today and I invested in another piece of footwear, some tevas which are really comfortable. We stopped for lunch at this really cool place called Sekura. We actually sat around the griddles and the chef came out and cooked right there in front of us. He was banging his utensils and preparing the food, it was fantastic! He piled the onion into a cone and lit it, this huge flame rose into the air, it was fab! He then served us and we ate, it was just beautiful! I am getting much better at chopsticks and all this food is just delicious!
We chilled out in the afternoon by the pool again. I got on the case and changed the flight dates to Fiji and the reserved our seats on the train from Tucson to L.A. We leave here Tuesday night overnight on the train to L.A where we are staying a night before flying to Fiji on the 22nd September. Both Zoe and Jack had a soccer game tonight so I went along with Mandy and Zoe to watch the girls team and Dan went with Jack. It was still really warm outside but I wore trousers to save my legs from the mosquito's which caught me the other night! Just one thing I noticed today that I had to add was that newspapers get delivered like on 'paper boy, the computer game!' except in a car! The lady drives down the street and just chucks the paper on the drive...very amusing!

Saturday 17th September 2005

I've been poorly today.

3. Sabino Canyon

We got up at 7.30 am as Zoe and Jack had soccer most of today and we were going along to watch and support. We had breakfast and headed out into the heat. It wasn't long when we got there when I felt really bad. The lady across the street from where Mandy lives offered to take me back to the house so I took up the offer and came back to the air conditioned house. I felt really sick so went straight to lie down and woke at 2 pm! I felt a little better. I did some reading and watched some T.V until the others came back. When the others arrived back we decided to go out for some tea and went to 'Risky Business'. As I hadn't been well today I decided to go for the Nacho starter, a light bite....I have never seen such a LARGE plate of Nacho's in my life and that was a starter!!!! By the time I had finished them it looked like I hadn't even started!! I took them home in a take out box! Dan had a bean burger which he seemed to enjoy!
When we got home, we went and sat outside as it was lovely and warm. Jack and Dan played in the pool on the inflatables and then Jack, Dan and Zoe sat in the hot tub, I sat this one out. The moon was beautiful tonight and the sky was clear. A perfect night!

Sunday 18th September 2005

Not a great deal to report today although it's been another lovely day. This morning Dan went along with Mandy to watch Jack play soccer (Mandy is very busy at weekends during soccer tournaments!). I got up and showered. When Dan got back we played some pool and during the afternoon managed to sort out our final arrangements from Fiji to New Zealand.

4. Sabino Canyon

We sat by the pool in the sunshine and Jack made us a lovely Strawberry smoothie (one of his specialities!). As it went dark and after tea we sat outside in the back garden looking over the mountains in the hot tub. The moon and stars were beautiful tonight so Jack got out the telescopes so we could get a better view of the moon. We could see the craters and it was so bright. It has been a nice day today and I'm feeling much better than yesterday thankfully. I also managed to be online the same time as Kate at one point during the day and we may be able to meet up sometime in Fiji which will be nice.

Monday 19th September 2005

This morning we got up and after breakfast packaged some bits and bobs to send home. It is much cloudier outside today but still 90 odd degrees!
Mandy, Dan and I went to a local shop called Target that sells pretty much everything, it's like a larger version of Woolworths! Dan got himself a 'minimag' light (for Fiji!!) and we stocked up on shower gel and some more sun block. We stopped at a really nice mongolian restaurant for lunch. It was really cool, you took your bowl and filled it with whatever you fancied from noodles, beansprouts, tofu and mushrooms, peppers and then whatever meat and fancy sauces you preferred. You then put the bowl on the bar where the chef was and took the next available number, the chef then cooked the food on the griddle for you! It was great! I had egg drop soup and bread with a bowl of brown rice to go with mine and Mandy and Dan had the hot and sour I think it was.

5. A prairie dog...

The bread was like a hot pancake and tasted delicious! Chopsticks again and hey I'm getting better! We wrapped our parcels and nipped down to the post office to send them home.
Dan and I played some pool during the afternoon. When Jack had been to his Cello lesson around 8.15 pm Mandy took us to 'Cold Stones' which is what I can only describe as the BEST ice-cream parlour I've ever been to! You can choose from literally hundreds of combinations. I had this huge chocolate waffle in a bowl filled with chocolate ice-cream with crunched up snickers, kit-kat and m&ms. They take all what you choose and mix it up on a 'cold stone' then fill the waffle...just absolutely beautiful although I did feel rather sick afterwards! Dan had the largest size and of course didn't finish it, the waffle was covered in 'hundreds and thousands'.
Now when we got home Zoe came through from the hall quite scared and said there was a Terantula in the house....A TERANTULA....can you imagine! It was HUGE and just sitting on the floor. I'm so glad it wasn't me that had walked through I would of had a heart attack! Mandy was trying to scoop it up into a mixing bowl with a spatula whilst Dan had ran off to get his camera! (see picture eeek!).
They put it outside by the garage whilst I was still freaking about it inside with Zoe!
Mandy says she has never had a terantula in the house before....oooh it would be whilst I was here!

Tuesday 20th September 2005

Mandy woke us this morning at 6.30 am as we were going to the Arizona-Sorona Desert Museum which is a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden all in one place! I'm reading this bit off a leaflet....it has over 300 animal species and 1200 kind of plants on display alive in their natural desert settings! It took around an hour to get there so arrived about 8.35 am.

6. A black bear at the Desert Museum

The drive here was lovely, we were up and down, up and down driving through the desert, cactusus to each side of us, mountains in the distance, just lovely!
It was already warming up outside. The guy at the entrance told us there was a reptile show at 12.15 pm so we wandered around to see what we could find. Dan was camera happy as you can imagine...walking off the paths trying to find snakes and lizards! We walked in the hot sunshine through the desert, the odd lizard would run across the path in front of us and signs showed that snakes could be anywhere! I think I rubbed sun-cream in my eye at one point and for some reason my nose wouldn't stop running so I was looking for things with one eye holding my nose!
We stopped half way round for a lovely ice cold limeade...mmmm and well needed!
We had lunch in a nice air conditioned restaurant, Mandy had wraps, Dan had a steak sandwich and I had a veggie burger.
We stopped off for the 12.15 pm reptile show where we saw a gila monster and rattle snakes. The talk lasted an hour and we got some useful information!
We saw everything today including mountain lions, javelina, black bears, coyotes, bob cats (like the one in the garden!), ocelots, jaguarundi, all types of birds including humming birds which were nice, otters, beavers, deer, mexican wolf, and prairie dogs along with all kinds of reptiles and invertebrates it was great!
Tonight we are leaving on a train overnight (the joys of travelling!)to Los Angeles and would like to say a HUGE 'THANK YOU' to Mandy, Vince, Zoe and Jack for their hospitality and especially Mandy for putting up with us all week! It has been really nice to stay with you guys and a definite favourite landmark to add to our travel experience....so thanks you guys!

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

7. A Jaguarundi at the Desert Museum	8. A bighorn at the Desert Museum!	8. A coyote at the Desert Museum	9. A humming bird at the Desert Museum
9. Lots of Cactuses!!!	A snake at the Desert Museum	Big arent they??	Dan and Jack feeding the deer
Dan feeding the deer!	Dan next to the BIG cactus!	Dan paddling at Sabino Canyon	Dan with the Ostrich!
Dan's little dude	Gulliver the dog!	Mandy and Zoe feeding the deer	More Cactuses!
The dead terantula!	The moon in the desert!	The snake Dan found in the pool!	The terantula found IN the house!
The view driving back to Tucson	The view of the moutains from the garden

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