Hummingbirds and Cactus

Hello.  The main meat of today's post is of our visit to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.   I am going to first show pictures I took on our ride from Verde Valley RV to Valley Vista RV in Benson, AZ.

Lots and lots of cotton fields as we were leaving Coolidge, AZ. 

 One thing we've noticed about cities in Arizona, Nevada, and maybe Utah, is the artwork along the highway overpasses.  Here are two examples.  Sorry about the lighting through the truck window.

 The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  I took a lot of pictures, there were also a lot of things I didn't take pictures of.  It is a MUST SEE place for everyone.  One of the top 10 museums in America according to Trip Advisor.  This car was at the entrance.  It was Studebaker Nash.  It belonged to a man who used it in the 50's to bring critters to schools.  Critters like snakes, spiders, birds.  He even had a cougar at one time.  This huge rock, and several others, were at the entrance. 

 The first exhibit was a small aquarium.  It had fish displayed that were native to rivers and lakes in Arizona, and some species that were endangered.  I don't think these are native, but they were cool.

 Especially these worm-like creatures that had their tails anchored in the ground and their heads up looking for food.  The eel in the next picture is called a snowflake eel.  I think he's rather good looking.

 This is my poor attempt at getting an interesting view of the Teddy Bear Cholla cactus.  I was taking it from ground level.  The next pic is the same plant from Bridget level.

 Oh, the butterflies!  Richard has a much nicer picture than I have,  he has a much nicer camera.  They were all over, especially in this garder specifically planted for butterflies.  This was right next to the building I really wanted to see. 

 The HUMMINGBIRD aviary!  I've been in butterfly ones, but this is my first hummingbird exclusive one.  It was hard to get pics.  So many flying around.  They would fly very close.

 The really nice part of this park is this is how it looks when you walk around.  All the cages and buildings were kind of hidden, so you walk through the desert to go from one place to another.  Very well done. 

 I did go to the regular aviary, and I was kind of disappointed.  Nothing interesting in there.  I saw 3 types of birds, and they were just like the ones I see regularly around here.  I was hoping for a road runner, actually.  I asked the lady at the gift shop how often she sees them.  She said "All the time!  But come to think of it, I haven't seen any since October 4."  So I took a pic of a tiny feather.

A otter below

 I like this picture best, so I enlarged it for your viewing pleasure.

 Richard was fascinated by the Palo Verde plant.  Or is it a tree?  Anyway, the bark is green.  This was it can get food through photosynthesis when it is very dry out. 

 Look-a rock collection.  Outside of this building was a spot where they had scattered small pieces of precious stones for people to pick up.  One per person!  I had a hard time choosing.  lol.

 This is the first time I've ever seen a sun block dispenser in a bathroom.  It was only about 70 when we were there, very comfortable.

 My lunch.  I had to choose the most expensive item on the menu due to my diet.  Well, I could have a salad, but who wants just a plain salad when you can have real meat?  Arugula with pickled onions.  Sweet potatoes.  And another potato or something that I can't remember the name.  YUM! 

 And back I went to the hummingbirds.  The one on the left has a red beak.  The one on the right is greenish.

 I believe this is the same hummingbird in the three pictures.  When he came out into the sun, he just glowed! 

 Need better camera when I come back.

 Here is a statue of a wild animal in Arizona that is similar to a hog or pig.  It is called a Javelina.  We saw a few of them sleeping in the shade.  Good-bye museum, hope to see you in January again.