Tucson To-Do’s

The special climate, attractions, and landscape of Tucson, Arizona make it very unique place to visit. With some of my family acting as guides we got to see a lot of what the area has to offer. We visited the one and only Sonora Desert Museum, Saguaro National Park, and the historical San Xavier del Bac church.

My great Aunt Maria and Uncle Jim have live in Tucson most of their lives, though my Aunt Maria still has her tide-water Virginia accent. Her boys even have a hint the accent it in their speech, and they grew up in the desert! Maria and Jim were our wonderful hosts as we got to see this area through a local’s point of view and they told us wonderful stories about life in the Tucson desert.

My Aunt and Uncle took us to the Saguaro National Park, which is one of the largest protected areas for the iconic saguaro cactus. In all our travels we had yet to see a park like this. Just outside of bustling Tucson the tranquil desert park displayed some of the most amazing saguaro cactus.

We learned that the tall, green, spiky plants grow very slowly and the ones within the park are some of the oldest.  The image of the straight-standing creature with multiple long green arms stretching towards the sky is one that is so deeply associated with the West.  All the scene needed was a rolling tumbleweed, oh wait there it goes, slowly across the desert.

Amazingly when a saguaro cactus dies, the green spiky outer layer begins to fall away revealing a stick-like hollow structure that has grown to support the giant cactus. It is almost like a sculpture and I could hardly believe it was natural. Like the living plant, the saguaro skeleton is protected by law due to its rarity.

After posing with a giant cactus or two Jim took us to see San Xavier del Bac church. The church was built in the 1780’s and is the oldest European structure in Arizona. The large cathedral was adorned with incredible artworks honoring various Spanish saints.

The next day, Jim and Maria’s oldest son Jimmy took us to the Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum. There is just nothing like this incredible facility that is really a zoo, botanical garden, and museum all about the desert.

There were displays about the history of the area such as the dinosaurs that lived here and the meteorites that had fallen nearby. We were shown breathtaking stones that had been mined in the area. Outside along the ground’s paths plants were labeled as the trees, cactus, and flowers guided us through the animal exhibits.

Most wonderful of all where the animals habits! Owls where on display with trainers so we could get an up-close view. Being up close to this incredibly strong and beautiful animal cannot be taken for granted.

The creatures that crawl at the bottom of the dessert were risen to eye level so that they could easily be seen and the lower half of the area was glassed-in so that we could see tunnels and pathways that the different animals were using. Also, we got a chance to catch a glimpse of snakes and field mice asleep happily in there dens, without us disturbing them.

This was by far one of the best set-up zoos I have ever been to because it allowed visitors to truly experience the animals firsthand without over-exposing the creatures for our entertainment.

Living in the desert only a few hours from the chilled mountain top of Mt. Lemon has given Jim and Maria a lot of stories that they regaled us with as we took these trips.

Like the armadillo that the boys raised in the backyard! Or Uncle Jim’s stories about fishing scorpions out of the pool before we would go swimming as kids there. My favorite story, though, is after the family returned from a stay on the mountain in the backyard lodgings on the side of the pool was a mountain lion!

Car trips offer a great opportunity for learning about each other! With family to lead us through this exciting town we made some amazing memories. Nothing in the country can compare to the experience of exploring the dessert museum, or standing beneath a one-hundred-year-old towering cactus. A trip to Tucson should be on everyone’s to do list.