Sunset over the Sonoran Desert

We hiked up this little hill to see the sunset after spending a day at the Desert Museum.

What a beautiful end to a beautiful day!

Happy Valentines Day

Hope your day is filled with love!

Cacti

See that bird sitting on the ledge? It sure does look like one to me! Maybe even an eagle! Just to make sure, I dig the telephoto lens out of my backpack, stick it on my camera and shoot away.

But it turned out to be a cholla cactus.

This is a fishhook cactus. I wouldn't want to be caught with one of those things!

And a few saguaro cacti.

They make the Sonoran desert such a pretty place.

Pichaco Peak

Outside of Tucson, just off Interstate 10, is a little mountain called Pichaco Peak. When Jeff was younger and living in Tucson, he would climb to the top of Pichaco Peak.

So he wanted to take us up there too.

Back then he made it up to the top of the smallest peak. Now there are two trails, one to the top of the largest peak, and one that stops at the saddle.

We didn't have time to hike all the way top the top, so we did the shorter trail.

It was a great hike, with views across the valley out over the Sonoran Desert. Beautiful!

Insde The Great House

We had fun exploring outside, but there were things inside the museum to see too. We couldn't go inside the Great House itself. It was too fragile to be letting in the general public. So we looked at exhibits about what life would be inside the Great House.

Life then was harsh. No running to the store for milk or eggs.

And you had to make everything you used.

How cool is that! Dug out of the ground after being buried for all those years, and it's still intact!

More of Casa Grande

Casa Grande Ruins

In the middle of the desert between Tucson and Phoenix is the Casa Grande National Monument, which preserves the remains of an ancient Hohokam farming village and the Great House, or Casa Grande as it was called by early Spanish explorers.


The national monument consists of the ruins of several structures surrounded by a wall constructed by the Hohokam, who farmed the Gila valley in the early 1200's.

Four stories high and 60 feet long, the Great House is made of caliche and has managed to survive the extreme weather conditions for about seven centuries. The roof was added in 1932 to help preserve it.

Its walls face the four cardinal points of the compass and a circular hole in the upper west wall aligns with the setting Sun at the summer solstice.

Other openings align with the Sun and moon at specific times.

Perhaps the builders of the Great House would gather inside to ponder the heavens. Knowing the changing positions of the celestial objects also meant knowing times for planting, harvest and celebration.