March 16-17, 2024 Road Trip and Friends

On Saturday, March 16th, we decided we needed a break and a road trip.  So we started by checking out some Daysend sites and finding some other beautiful areas.

Love the building in the background and the saguaros in front:

"The saguaro is a columnar cactus that grows notable branches, usually referred to as arms. Over 50 arms may grow on one plant, with one specimen having 78 arms. Saguaros grow from 3–16 m (10–52 ft) tall, and up to 75 cm (30 in) in diameter. They are slow growing, but routinely live 150 to 200 years. They are the largest cactus in the United States.

The Saguaro is endemic to the Sonoran Desert and is found primarily in western Sonora in Mexico, and in southern and portions of western Arizona in the US. There are only 30 known wild saguaros found in southeastern California. Elevation is a limiting factor to its environment, as the saguaro is sensitive to extended frost or cold temperatures. No confirmed specimens of wild saguaros have been found anywhere in Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Utah, nor in the high deserts of northern Arizona. The northern limits of their range are the Hualapai Mountains in Arizona. They are the northernmost columnar cacti in the Americas."

This is West Pinal County Park.  There are about 24 campsites among the saguaros - Beautiful:

"Saguaros have a relatively long lifespan, often exceeding 150 years. They may grow their first side arm around 75–100 years of age, but some never grow any arms. Arms are developed to increase the plant's reproductive capacity, as more apices lead to more flowers and fruit. A saguaro can absorb and store considerable amounts of rainwater, visibly expanding in the process, while slowly using the stored water as needed. This characteristic enables the saguaro to survive during periods of drought. It is a keystone species, and provides food and habitat to a large number of species."

I wonder how old these saguaros are?

Check out the ribs:

Saguaros are a very slow growing cactus. A 10 year old plant might only be 1.5 inches tall. Saguaro can grow to be between 40-60 feet tall (12-18m). When rain is plentiful and the saguaro is fully hydrated it can weigh between 3200-4800 pounds.

Interesting formations:

Check out the baby arm on the top:

"Saguaros may take between 20 and 50 years to reach a height of 1 m (3 ft 3 in). Individual stomatal guard cells and medulla cells can live and function for as long as 150 years, possibly the longest living of all cells, except possibly nerve cells in some tortoises.

Inside the saguaro, many "ribs" of wood form something like a skeleton, with the individual ribs being as long as the cactus itself and up to a few centimeters in diameter. The rib wood itself is also relatively dense, with dry ribs having a solid density around 430 kg/m³ (27 lb/cu ft), which made the ribs useful to indigenous peoples as a building material. While the ribs of dead plants are not protected by the Arizona native plant law, the Arizona Department of Agriculture has released a memo discussing when written permission is needed before harvesting them because of the importance of the decomposition of cactus remains in maintaining desert soil fertility.

The composition of the ribs is similar to that of hardwoods."

More information on Saguaros can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro

https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Saguaro%20Cactus.php

https://www.nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/saguaro.htm

Now.. if you read any of the above, I have to tell you the bad news.  Those western shows that were portrayed to be in Texas and northern Arizona and had Saguaros in the scenery...,well, that is false.  They do not grow there.  (Yep, I kept looking for them when we first came out west..  LOL!)

We continued our journey, checked out a few more places and ended up in the Casa Grande Mountain Park.

Another beautiful place with lots of Saguaros:

Looks like they are waving:

WOW!

This building was on a rocky road beyond the parking lot.  Not sure what it was.  There was an amphitheater to the right of this building but sadly it is in disrepair.

Couple houses on the hill with very steep driveways.  Glad it does not snow here.

The views must be incredible.

This was once the vault toilets.  Sad.

Another beautiful park.

We decided then to go to the county fair for lunch.  Of course, we had to see the animals.

CAMELS!!

He was yodeling loudly:

He just wanted to be petted - AWWWW!

What a cutie!

Baby goats - My cat is bigger than this little one.

She was the star of the barn - loves her little goats.

We walked around for a bit, had something to eat and then headed home.  What a great day!

On Sunday, March 17th, we met our friends, Larry and Cheryl, for lunch and then stopped by their place.  It was good to see them and get caught up.  Sadly I did not take a picture..

We will be here until Saturday so stay tuned and enjoy today.