Printable View
And an "action shot" captured by Megan in April 2005.
An early digital camera with not current rez -- but if you look closely you can see a fish "being thrown" at the famous Seattle Pike Market fish stall.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...h_CIMG1469.jpg
Pike Market -- 2005
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...ional-Park.jpg
People who don't really know Tucson tend to think of it as a desert town, surrounded by majestic saguaro cactus like those in this photo (which was taken in Saguaro National Park, right on the edge of the city). They're certainly not wrong. The Sonoran Desert does indeed surround the place, a unique ecosystem that spreads out in every direction, but the desert isn't the only major feature of the terrain. Tucson also has it's very own mountain, 9,100 foot Mount Lemmon, one of southern Arizona's famous "sky islands."
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...na-Highway.jpg
A paved road takes you all the way to the top:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...unt-Lemmon.jpg
offering amazing views along the way. It's been said that the 30 mile drive from the base of Mount Lemmon to the top goes through so many different climate zones, it's the equivalent of a drive from the Mexican border all the way to Canada. Once you get high enough on the mountain, you enter a pine forest, and if you drive up in winter, you might even find snow. In some seasons, they actually have enough of the white stuff to justify the presence of an actual ski lift!
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...n-Ski-Lift.jpg
The San Xavier del Bac Mission, Saguaro National Park, Mount Lemmon, and more are all featured in Scenic Side Trip #7: the Tucson Circuit
Rick
Read more about Rick's book here and see a map for all of the routes he wrote about.
Thank you for the photos of Tucson. Many years ago, I lived on the NW side -- my old haunting grounds are now under the I-10 Twin Peaks interchange. That wasn't far from the western section of Saguaro NP (but it was a monument back then, it deserves Park status).
Donna
Donna:
You're most welcome. I've lived and traveled in a lot of different places, but I'll always have the Arizona desert in my blood. It's the only place that truly feels like home.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...ds/Saguaro.jpg
Rick
And I have driven just shy of a million miles throughout much of the USA and Canada and Las Vegas is my adopted (and forever) home. No matter where in the world I travel, I am always at rest once I reach the Mojave Desert.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._073905247.jpg
Super bloom in April 2019 -- Red Rock Canyon
That is one gorgeous photo! Nicely done.
Rick
Thanks, but a tad over-exposed and slightly out-of-focus, but I agree the subject almost overcomes all of my shortcomings.
Mark
Here is an example from the undisputed champ photographer in our family. My brother Dan.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...eding-time.jpg
November 26th at the Santa Cruz Wharf for a anchovy feeding frenzy (photo by Dan Sedenquist)
A different sort of feeding frenzy, on the slopes of the San Francisco Peaks outside Flagstaff:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...isco-Peaks.jpg
Rick
What is the insect in the middle of the frame? Size is right for a horsefly, but with red wings?
Mark