Flagstaff, Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, South to Tucson, and more... (Sept. 30 - Oct. 4)

I've been away from wifi for four days now, so I'm playing catch-up on my blog.  We've seen so many beautiful sights, it's hard to keep them all straight and chronological in my mind, but I'll give it a try...

When we left the Grand Canyon on Saturday, we headed south to Flagstaff and saw the first true signs of fall--the beautiful golden aspens on the mountains...

Then we drove on through Oak Creek Canyon.  The roads were narrow and winding with no room to pull off for photos, so these were taken from the window of a moving car...

But we did have a lovely stop for lunch in Sedona with all its glorious views of red rock...

We stopped for the night just north of Phoenix and the next morning continued south to Oracle, Arizona, where my brother and sister-in-law have a new home at Saddlebrook Ranch, north of Tucson...

 The entire community has gorgeous views of the Catalina Mountains--Mount Lemmon, in particular!

On our drive to a restaurant the first night, we added to our wildlife count by seeing an elusive Gela Monster (pronounced "He-la"), a fast moving roadrunner, a quail, and a coyote.  The only one we managed to catch with the camera is the Gela Monster...

For the next two days, Frank was our tour guide and chauffeur around the greater Tucson area.  We started out by visiting the Biosphere 2 (FYI: Biosphere 1 is "Mother Earth"), now owned and operated by the University of Arizona as a research center.

The building of Biosphere 2 began in the late 1980s, and in the early 1990s, eight people were closed in there for two years, planting, growing, and raising all their food and producing their own energy. 

 It was amazing to see their rain forest and ocean...

One of the most interesting sections was the giant lung, which helped to equalize the air pressure as it heated and cooled throughout the sphere...

Here's an example of malachite on the outside grounds of the Biosphere...

In the afternoon, Frank drove us to the far side of Mount Lemmon, so we could drive to the top of the 9,000 foot mountain, named for Sarah and John Lemmon, botanists who visited the area in the 1880s.  These are some of the HooDoos and views we saw on the drive up...

Our second full day included a visit to Saguaro National Park (pronounced sa-Wah-row).  The Sonoran Desert is the only place the Saguaro cactus grows.  Here's an interesting chart that shows how large and how old a mature Saguaro can be...

And some views in the park with the Rincon Mountains as a backdrop...

Just to give you a perspective of the size, here's a photo of Doug taking a photo of a Saguaro...

Those little holes in the trunk are often homes for Gela Woodpeckers, Desert Wrens, or Owls.

In the afternoon, we had a lovely visit with Joanne Ellis, a cousin (but more like a sister) to my mother, and Joanne's friend and helper, Nick.  It's been years and years since I've seen Joanne, but we keep in touch through letters and by phone.

Thank you to Frank, Sharon, and their son Russell for a lovely visit!  

We hated to leave on Wednesday morning, but it was time to move on toward Carlsbad Caverns in southern New Mexico.  These huge boulders were near Dragoon, Arizona.

And here's a view of Las Cruces, NM against the backdrop of the Organ Mountains.  A closer view would show how the mountains actually look like the large pipes on an organ.

 This roadrunner was not difficult to catch on camera...

We later were caught in a very long and tiresome traffic jam while traveling through the pass in El Paso, Texas, so by the time we reached the Guadelupe Pass, it was dusk and too dark to photograph the beautiful rock outcrops.  And by the time we reached Carlsbad Caverns, it was totally dark.

 All the campgrounds and hotels (even in the town of Carlsbad) were full--not with visitors to the caverns, but with oil field workers.  Apparently, the time to visit the caverns is on the weekends when the oil workers go home.  We had to drive an additional 75 miles to find a place to stay for the night.  And this morning we've decided not to back-track to the caverns.  They will have to wait for another trip.

At this point, we are seven weeks and two days into our cross country adventure and ready to head for home.  This photo of the map brings us up-to-date...

 And, like the roadrunner, we are headed to the region we know best...

P.S.  The car should be facing east for home.