OzarksPhotosTravels

We stopped by hoping there would be plants in bloom. We were too early. We did get a few images and they are below.

Today we visited one of the historical sites near Tucson, Arizona. The Mission San Xavier Del Bac. Below is a plaque detailing more information about the Mission.

It is quite a large building and has a big courtyard behind the Mission.

The entry is very ornate.

Inside the entry are a few exhibits.

These are some vestments similar to those worn by some of the Fathers.

From the nave looking into the sanctuary. A docent was describing some of the details.

Below is a view of part of the sanctuary.

A closer view of the sanctuary.

Here are the other two sides of the sanctuary. The first features a statue of Jesus.

The second has a statue of Mary.

This is of the ceiling of the sanctuary.

We hope this gives a good representation of the Mission. It is very ornate. Should you find yourself in the Tucson area it is well worth a visit.

We had no plans for yesterday and took it easy until after lunch. Then we decided the weather was nice, so why not drive up to Mt. Lemmon. It was only about 43 miles away, how tough could that be. A brochure we had picked up was interesting. It did not tell you how tough a drive it would be.

Turned out to be kind of tough. Lots of traffic and lots of switchbacks made for slow going, but we made it. For more information about it go to VisitMountLemmon.com.

Unlike so many mountain roads the scenic viewpoints were plentiful. Both going up and coming back down. When we got up there we discovered why so much traffic. Half the kids in Tucson were there. We met the other half coming down as we were driving up. 🤠. I was really ready for my afternoon Starbucks when we got back.

Below are images from our trip.

This one was taken about a third of the way up the mountain looking down on Tucson.

Below are two images from a couple of the viewpoints.

The final image is of our Roadtrek at Mt. Lemmon showing some snow in the background.

We hope you enjoyed a brief review of our trip up the mountain. Should you decide to make this journey allot at least five hours as many of the curves have to be taken at 30 MPH or less

Last night after a nice day we were treated to a beautiful sky. This occurred shortly after the sun had set and was below the horizon. Below you can see a progression of photographs as the sky turned truly colorful.

Yesterday afternoon Marilyn and I were again at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. We had the pleasure along with a couple hundred other people attending the free flight bird exhibition. It featured a Gray Hawk and a family of Harris Hawk’s. The birds put on a terrific performance and it was amazing to see how unafraid of people they were. The docent had warned people to not raise anything above eye level and the warning was well heeded by everyone. This warning proved to be very factual as there were times when birds would skim by barely over the attendees heads.

Below are four images of a gray Hawk.

Below are several images of Harris Hawk’s. The docents explained that Harris hawks live in a group or family. By doing this it increases their efficiency at hunting.

These hawks were beautiful and it was very interesting and exciting to view them in flight and taking perches.

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum has many interesting exhibits it is well worth a visit. Put it on your bucket list!

Recently while we were near Apache Junction, Arizona at the Lost Dutchman State Park camp ground we heard about what was supposed to be a very nice drive to visit the store at Tortilla Flat, Arizona. It is located a few miles beyond Canyon Lake. While the drive was on a good road it was very curvy and had some pretty steep hills. It also had some wonderful views of canyons and gorgeous mountains, unfortunately it seems as though all the powerlines ran along the same route so the photo opportunities were nonexistent. We do have some dash cam footage and we hope to get it edited in a few days. I will post it in a new post when it is finished.

Below are a few images of the lake and some of its visitors.

The lake is surrounded by several very tall bluffs.

It also has a variety of avian visitors.

after spending a bit of time at the lake we continued on up the Apache Trail Scenic byway to the small settlement of Tortilla Flat. It primarily consists of a lot of old time memorabilia scattered everywhere and a small strip of stores. A bar/restaurant, a store selling touristy things and one or two others. We did not stay long as there was not much of interest to us. Below are a couple of images from there.

That’s all for now, hopefully you will enjoy the video once I get it completed,

Larry

We were in Phoenix today and enjoyed meeting up with my nephew from Pennsylvania and his friend. Had lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Made our usual after 2 o’clock visit to a Starbucks and Marilyn toured the IKEA store. After this we visited another Starbucks to finish off the day and then drove up to the Superstition mountain and checked in to the Lost Dutchman campground.

As it was late and almost dark we only got a few images before calling it a day and having a wonderful dinner.

Superstition mountain.

Just a few of the cacti.

and then the sun set and it was pretty dark.