Also while in the Phoenix area Jim and I met up with a roommate of mine from years ago in Toledo, Barb, and her boyfriend, Ed. It was a terrific blast from the past and a very nice time. Let's not wait the same number of decades to do that again Barb!
The next morning we have to leave for Tucson and it rained all night, then continues most of the day. We hook up the trailer and Jim has to drive in the heaviest rain we've had the entire three months we've been on the road. This is the desert folks! What happened to blue skies and warm temps?!? There were none to be found. But it's fine, they'll take all the rain they can get.
We love Tucson and love Catalina State Park. This 5,500 acre park sits in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains and has trails that criss cross the area. Several enter the Coronado National Forest and you can hike to Mt. Lemmon at 9,159 ft. elevation. The desert was lush following the rain and pools were full and flowing. I have never been a big desert person but it was gorgeous, so I guess I would modify the title of the blog to: rain, rain, bring it on. We will be back.
And last but certainly not least, I have to mention the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson. This is a conservation and research center, zoo, desert garden and museum all in one. You could spend hours here and we did. It's rated one of the top 5 museums in the country on TripAdvisor. We got an up close view of several raptors including a Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Barn Owl and Harris Hawk, each one completely adapted for how they hunt and the prey they eat.