A lesson in Cacti

Above, the Saguaro cactus. It's bloom is the state flower of Arizona. These only grow in Arizona. They can live to be hundreds of years old and weigh thousands of pounds. It can take up to 15 years for them to grow their first "arm." The fruit from these is naturally sweet and can make syrup and jelly without any sugar, but nobody wants to climb up and get it (it blooms on top).

Sonoran Destert Museum

We took Grandmother to the desert museum too. It is a combination museum, zoo, botanical garden and 1/2 mile desert hike all in one. We got a little sunburned! Yes, Cacti do bloom and yes, people are allergic to them.

Grandmother's Visit

Grandmother C. has been with us this week and we've done some cool things. We went to Tombstone, AZ and learned all about the shootout at the O.K. Corrall. Boothill cemetery is there too. This is where Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday are buried.

Easter (a few weeks late)

We did manage to find a close church to go to on Easter and then we decided to drive up to Oracle, AZ to see the Biosphere II. This was built for a project to see if we could create a new ecosystem (in space for example) and keep it self sustaining. Six people lived in the biosphere for 2 years, but it wasn't a complete success. It turned out that organisms in the soil were using up the oxygen too quickly and they had to end up pumping oxygen in to even out the atmosphere. It's kinda grown up now but still pretty neat to see the science behind it.

Funny side note ... we didn't take into account that restaurants in the middle of nowhere would be closed for Easter so we ended up eating Circle-K hot dogs for Easter dinner.