Crickethead

Soon after we landed in Phoenix, we ate outside in a Mexican restaurant in Tempe. Food was..meh but to be surrounded by fountains and bougainvillea and colorful birds made up for it

Until I get back, editing will have to wait. we have seen a lot of beauty. Steve has taken even better photos of wildlife that I will share when I return. For now, we are staying in the desert outside of Tucson in a beautiful inn run by a woman from Bali and her American husband. Lots of Balinese batiks and wood carvings and gardens. I am editing this now a week later. It was my favorite place we stayed despite the rutted sandy road we needed to take to get to it.

Here is a fun fact: Arizona is the only lower 48 state that does not observe daylight savings time so it is 3 hours different than Michigan's. I switched my watch several times. First when I thought there was a 2 hour difference but was wondering why we were going to be an hour late and there was no reason given. A flight attendant gave us the correct time. Switch again but then they announced the wrong time. Switch again. Then back to the right time. But not all of Arizona goes by this: the Navaho Nation which is the upper sixth of the state and includes pieces of 2 other states. We crossed it later in the week. Not only can you not drink alcohol here but you can not transport it (wine bottle rolling around in back)

I made Steve stop at the first stand of flowering ocotillo. I haven't seen it in bloom before. Usually it looks like dead brown thorny spikes. Lots of ocotillo. Some lady even have me eat the blossoms. Sweet tasting and a favorite of hummingbirds

Strawberry hedgehog cactus

our bed

3 teenage javelinas came regularly to the patio for hand outs. Presumably related to hippos; not pigs

some wood carvings for sale

Steve's cousin and her husband made the trip to our place in the wilderness. We hadn't seen them in almost 39 years. She was the daughter of Steve's favorite aunt. The aunt did a lot for Steve when he was younger