2/11 McDowell Regional Park, Maricopa County, AZ

 This is, unfortunately, a very popular campground, so it is hard to get a reservation.  After the State of New Mexico cancelled my February reservations, I was lucky to get four days in a prime site here.  I had a lot of work to do, so not much time to sightsee, but I did enjoy the four days I had here.  

One thing I like about this campground is that the sites are so far apart that you have a really nice since of privacy and of being isolated in the desert.  The other thing I like is the yipping of coyotes as they get ready to go out for their evening hunt.  

There is no real order to these photos, but it will give you an idea of why so many people like this place.  You can see in this first photo how there is someone across the road from me, but not for a long way on either side.  

This is a covered play area for kids.  It is mostly climbing structures, but I imagine when the temps get into the 120s, a cover is really nice.

I feel very comfortable camping way out in the desert with a nice breeze blowing during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Much nicer than a cramped, commercial campground near the city.

Love my huge camping site.  Nice gravel with no dust clouds.

The colors change just before the sun sets.

2/2 Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

If you are ever traveling and in the Tucson area, this is a great place to spend the day.  It is mostly open air, so was open for limited numbers of visitors in spite of COVID-19.  I did have to buy a timed ticket in advance, but once in could stay all day. The only thing slightly disappointing was that there were no docents or bird demonstrations.  Here is the website in case you are ever in this area:  https://www.desertmuseum.org/

Sorry, but I missed taking a photo of the entrance, but there is lots of parking, even for big RVs.  This is the back of the visitor center/gift shop building. 

This is a much less manicured botanical garden than the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, but while they have added a lot of cactus and other plants, the intent is to show the desert in as natural way as possible.  So, there are less specimen plants and a few weeds here and there, but that is natural. 

This is an organ pipe cactus.  Organ Pipe National Park is about 200 miles west of here, by the way, but you do not see many organ pipe cacti in this part of Arizona.

There is a hummingbird building and I took well over a dozen photos, however, hummingbirds move fast, so this is the only one which was not horribly blurred! 

There is a separate bird house, and I did get a fairly good photo of the Gambel's Quail and a grouse.

I spent about four hours here, walking around and having lunch, plus buying a few souvenirs.  Near the cafe in the back, there is a small shop that sells beautiful desert scenery screen-printed t-shirts, so I get one or two each trip.  

This is not really a zoo, but they do have some desert animals.  This is one or two female big-horn sheep.  There is also a male, so maybe some babies someday???

Hardly anything in bloom right now, but many desert plants will be in bloom from March to June. 

Mexican grey wolves are endangered, but they have one here.  I was surprised at how big he was.

Last shot until next trip!

 

 

2/1 Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson, AZ

 This is a well-known county campground in Tucson Mountain Park, just west of Tucson.  It is just south of and borders the western chunk of Saguaro National Park.  The only problem for those of us with big vehicles is that you cannot get to the campground by going over the pass separating Tucson from this area.  But no problem, the northern and southern approaches are a bit boring, but at least mostly flat. 

The campground used to be first-come, first-served, but I am happy that it now allows reservations.  This means you don't have to race to be here first thing in the morning in order to get a camping spot!  

It is a pretty area and the campground is within a couple of miles of the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, a not-to-be-missed mostly open-air botanical gardens with a few desert animals thrown in.  One other disadvantage is that the campground is very old and so spots tend to be small and often a little tricky to get into because of narrow roads and poor design.  Also, they all have only electric service.  There is a very nice dump station and water-fill area, however.  

Anyway, for $20 per night, the campground is a bargain and very popular with everyone--tent or RV.  

Pretty drive in, with snow in the mountains from the recent rains.  

Lots of hiking trails and great views, whether in the national park or the county park. 

This sign indicates you have left the national park and entered the county park.

Some of the photos were taken just before sunset, hence the gold tint to everything. 

And finally, my campsite. 

1/26 Usery Mountain Regional Park in Rain & Snow

 This is one of nicest of the Maricopa County regional parks, but I had only five days here and most of it was cold and rainy, and one day was even cold and snowy, so I did not have much time to walk around and enjoy it.  However, I have been here before, so that is OK.  I had work to do, so was happy to stay inside where it was warm.  

Even though I got a late reservation, this spot was not too bad.  Only problem was backing in and then turning, so as to not hit the cement picnic table while still lining up for the electric and water connections.  It took me several tries, however.  Nice and sunny this first day, but the clouds are gathering. 

 

This tree is a palo verde.  The name literally means "green stick."  When it is very dry, desert plants have to conserve water, and leaves allow a lot of water to evaporate, so this tree has almost no leaves, especially in winter.  But the bark has green chlorophyll and still uses the sun to produce food for the tree.   

This is a creosote bush.  It has very tiny leaves and if you pour water on it, it will smell like burning rubber.

One good thing about this campground is that sites are very nicely spread apart, so you have a feeling of privacy.  

The mountain in the distance is known as slash mountain, for an obvious reason. The slash is really a rock ledge that interrupts the slope of the mountain.

This is a huge cholla bush.  Some people call it a "jumping cholla" because the hanging buds catch on anything that passes by or steps on them.  If you take a dog for a walk in the desert, watch out for this bush and buds on the ground because you will be pulling thorns out constantly.  Some people take needle-nose pliers when they go for walks. 

Nice bunch of saguaro behind my campsite.  Any saguaro with arms is at least 100 years old.  Some of these are between 150 and 200 years old.

Some sort of barrel cactus, but with red thorns.

This is an ocotillo.  It will have bright red flowers on the tip of every branch later in the spring. You can see either an old flower or a bud on a couple of branches.  It also has very tiny leaves. 

The next few photos are taken a day or two later.  After it had rained for several hours, it started to snow--hard!  In fact, you should be able to see Slash Mountain in the distance, but it is obscured with snow! 

Amazing!  And these were big flakes, but most melted as they landed.

It took several hours to melt, but I was happy to be inside where I had two little electric heaters and my furnace running!