I decided to take Nicco on an adventure today. There is a shuttle that runs up and down Sabino Canyon, about 20 miles from our house. We packed snacks, water, and airplanes to ride up the canyon on this H-O-T day.
Nicco is a smart kid, waiting for the shuttle in the shade, drinking his water.
Looking out over the canyon at one of the stops.
This is the "Winking Face Mask." You kind of have to use your imagination to see the winking face, but it isn't as much of a stretch as some of the "sculptures" I saw in China. On one of our tours in China, our guide asked us what one particular sculpture looked like. It looked like a rock to me. He said that it was a rabbit, one of 12 sculptures representing the Chinese zodiac symbols. I thought that if the rabbit was standing on its back legs and had its ears and front paws and face tucked in, and you squinted real hard, you might make out a rabbit. This winking face is not quite that difficult to see.
Here we are at the top. Our driver took this picture. He was a pleasant guy originally from Boston, with a pretty heavy "southern" (as he called it) accent. It was hard for him to say "saguaro" with the Boston "r." It sounded like "Sawawo." Funny.
This is a prickly pear cactus, with one lone prickly pear. I am going to attempt prickly pear jelly next year.
Cholla cactus. These guys are nasty.
The famous saguaro. Nicco clearly has learned to stay away from the cacti. The blooms of the saguaro, or "cactus trees" as they are known in my house, are the state flower of Arizona. The saguaro can live well over 200 years, they grow roughly 1-2 inches a year, and they don't get their limbs until they are about 70 years old. When they are full of water, they can weigh up to 5000 pounds.
Here he is admiring a cactus in Grandma and Grandpa's yard. They don't get as big in Bailey as they do in Tucson! It was always a contest to see who would find the first cactus on our little hikes. Maybe the Bailey cactus hunts are the reason Nicco points out all the cacti he sees on our excursions.
Nicco is a smart kid, waiting for the shuttle in the shade, drinking his water.
Looking out over the canyon at one of the stops.
This is the "Winking Face Mask." You kind of have to use your imagination to see the winking face, but it isn't as much of a stretch as some of the "sculptures" I saw in China. On one of our tours in China, our guide asked us what one particular sculpture looked like. It looked like a rock to me. He said that it was a rabbit, one of 12 sculptures representing the Chinese zodiac symbols. I thought that if the rabbit was standing on its back legs and had its ears and front paws and face tucked in, and you squinted real hard, you might make out a rabbit. This winking face is not quite that difficult to see.
Here we are at the top. Our driver took this picture. He was a pleasant guy originally from Boston, with a pretty heavy "southern" (as he called it) accent. It was hard for him to say "saguaro" with the Boston "r." It sounded like "Sawawo." Funny.
This is a prickly pear cactus, with one lone prickly pear. I am going to attempt prickly pear jelly next year.
Cholla cactus. These guys are nasty.
The famous saguaro. Nicco clearly has learned to stay away from the cacti. The blooms of the saguaro, or "cactus trees" as they are known in my house, are the state flower of Arizona. The saguaro can live well over 200 years, they grow roughly 1-2 inches a year, and they don't get their limbs until they are about 70 years old. When they are full of water, they can weigh up to 5000 pounds.
Here he is admiring a cactus in Grandma and Grandpa's yard. They don't get as big in Bailey as they do in Tucson! It was always a contest to see who would find the first cactus on our little hikes. Maybe the Bailey cactus hunts are the reason Nicco points out all the cacti he sees on our excursions. 
1 comment:
that looks like a fun little excursion. Those giant cacti are cool!
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