Oh, and I am glad of that.
It’s never a dull moment here in the desert.
Yesterday… Sweet, sweet man and I went on an adventure with friends.
We went here and found some beautiful rocks.
Look at these beauties!
After Rock Hounding we decided to go explore South Mountain.
What a fabulous idea!
We drove to the top and this is what we saw.
Here’s a better view.
Of course I have to go exploring… notice I do not have boots on! Not smart!
But I found saguaros in bloom! Click on them to see slide show.
They are blooming everywhere now. The saguaros are late bloomers compared to all the other cacti.
We saw this bench and had to go find out what we could see from there.
More of that incredible view!
But then…
What was that… out of the corner of my eye??
No… it’s not a turtle. It’s a male chuckwalla.
And look at his bright orange tail.
He didn’t want to show it off for a picture.
The picture below was his buddy… he jumped out from a rock.
You can read about Chuckwallas here.
Never a dull moment here in the desert…
Hope you had a fun day as well.
Until Next Time ~Nancy
Great to see the “hats” on saguaro. Racks are gorgeous. Don’t know where South Mountain is. Love the challah. Tail absolutely looks like a carrot. Thanks for sharing the wonderful day. Wish I where there.😥😥
I know you miss the desert. Oh, but I can’t wait to see you soon!
The saguaros are such a treat to see when in bloom. A Chuckwalla? Never heard or seen one before. How unique and your rock collection is very impressive. Looks like a fun day.
Ingrid… YOU were on my mind all day. Each Saguaro I saw in bloom… I thought of you! Pretty many of these Saguaros were in bloom. Anthem is getting close.
Yes… we never saw a Chuckwalla before. But he was a dandy! The rocks were the icing on the cake for our fun day out. They were fun to find!
Hope all is well with you. I am off to get caught up on you! Off to read your blog! 🙂 🙂
You are a rock star on this trip, Nancy! That view of Phoenix is fabulous. Breath-taking. The chuckwalla’s tail is quite splendid, too. Thanks for the great show, beautiful. 😉
Mr. Mark!! Thank You For Stopping By! The door is always open!
Wasn’t his tail cool and seeing the whole valley was FABULOUS!
We saw chuckwallas when we were hiking in the Grand Canyon! Love those flowering cacti.
Sue… I have wanted to mention this to you for a long time.
You are so busy with your adventures, your blog, your social media, your family and friends. BUT… you always find time to read other blogs and comment on them. Your kindness is very much appreciated not only by me but many others. You are exactly A “community blogger”… aka friend! 🙂 THANK YOU!
That my friend made my day! I love the conversation I must say. It has become a bit of a balancing act and now I only comment with those who want conversation. I detest talking to walls. 🙂
Here, here! Have a splendid day and weekend!
Great set of photos. I love the desert!
Thank You So Much Tim!
“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery 🙂
Beautiful rocks! And I’ve never heard of chuckwallas!
Aren’t those rocks beauties! They were quite a find! Thanks for enjoying them. Oh, and we never knew what a chuckwalla was as well. After I took those pictures… I had to google research!
Hi Nancy,
Those saguaros in bloom look gorgeous and so do those lovely rocks.
Clare
Thank You My New Friend Clare! The rocks are beauties. And the saguaros… so lovely they are in bloom.
I can’t wait to see what you come across next! 😉
Wow – what a day of exploring you had. Beautiful shots. I’ve certainly enjoying picking up sea shells but have never seen rock like you found – love the green ones and the striped one in the middle on the bottom. What will you do with them? I’ve never seen a chuckwalla so your photos are interesting to say the least. 🙂
We collect rocks and incorporate into our desert gardens. As for the smaller ones… sweet, sweet man will tumble them in a machine so they become polished. Then I have learned to wire wrap some as pendants. I will be doing a post on that soon. Thank You So Much for the visit! I really do appreciate it! 🙂
Wow, those rocks are stunning indeed. I want to go hunt for some now! And the way that chuckwalla is designed to blend with the varied rock faces is incredible.
He was sooooooo cool! So glad he stuck around for a bit for his portrait!
And soon I will be wire wrapping one of those rocks or they will be incorporated into our desert gardens!
Thank for coming by, my friend!
Great images. I haven’t seen a chuckwalla in a long time.
Thank You Tom… !! I appreciate your comments.
Oh, and you are the first to know what he is. I had to come home and do google research on him.
I want some of these pretty rocks for my garden…just beautiful
Aren’t those cool???!!! Yes, some will be headed for the Frog Garden. Those green ones pop out here in the desert.
ohoooo .. that’s it … i love them .. pics making me feel as if why m i not there .. the beauty & peace that place would have had … it must be incredibly majestic. .. 🙂
It was! Thank You for taking the time to enjoy my postings! 🙂
just love your trips .. 🙂
Sweet, sweet man and I have so much fun together!
wish … 🙂
Wow! What a rock find! I like the green toned ones, very different. John would not have enjoyed seeing all those rocks:) I just love rock collecting.
Wonderful views! The bench is perfectly placed. Of course, the blooming saguaro were a wonderful reward. Maybe someday we’ll visit them while blooming. You hit the jackpot with all them having at least one bloom:)
That is the strangest chuckwalla. Love the carrot tail!
There were thousands of rocks in the dry wash area of the river! THOUSANDS! We just took a few but found such pretty ones. I am so glad you enjoyed them!
And to think… Saguaros and chuckwallas all in one visit! JACKPOT! HA HA HA Thank You for visiting! we shall have lots to talk about when we meet for coffee one day! 🙂
Love the desert photos and the rocks! I can’t help but think of the movie “The Long, Long Trailer” whenever I collect rocks on a trip!
Oh boy… Like Minds!! That was just discussed with our friends when we were gathering these rocks. We want to have an outdoor movie night and watch that again! So funny you mentioned that! Thank for popping over. I am glad you enjoyed the rocks! 🙂
Sigh…don’t know when we will get out there and my being sick ain’t helping it! I wanna explore like you!
Have you taken that hot Buttered Rum like I, Nurse Nancy advised??
So… here is what Ingrid and I were thinking. ~~A blog girl get together.~~
We want you there!! Most likely in the FALL. So start thinking about it. By then you will have had enough hot buttered rums… and will be all better! 🙂 Then we all can go exploring! 🙂 🙂
Sounds wonderful and potentially mischievous …hehehe. I’m working hard on getting better, Nurse Nancy 🙂
😉
Hey wait a minute! I need the recipe!
Ah…. ummmm…. errr. Please Google it. YIKES!
😛
We hiked around on South Mountain often when we lived in Phoenix. Thanks so much for posting the saguaro in bloom, one of my favorites. I haven’t seen a chuckwalla in a long time. How fun to see your photos…wonderful! 🙂
This was a first for us at South Mountain. We saw all the hiking trails and there were many!
If you are in the area in the fall it would be fun for all of us to get together and have a blog girl get together. We could go exploring… South Mountain perhaps. It would be fun for many of us to get together. Thanks for stopping by. I am so glad you got to see the saguaros in bloom from your visit here. Have a wonderful weekend… can’t wait to see what Nature brings to you next! 🙂
We are planning to be in the Phoenix area sometime next winter so I say a girl meet-up is in order. Right now Mother Nature is not being kind, with rain, snow and dense fog surrounding us. We are trapped in Bishop for the next few days, but it is not a bad place to be trapped. 🙂
Oh… sounds like a fun day to make a small pot of soup. Take care and be safe.
That’s exactly what I did! 🙂
Great pictures….love the Saguaro….we have a ton of them up here in our area and they are all in bloom. Can’t believe you found such beautiful rocks along the Gila River…not much water in it by us. Great post and great shots of Phoenix.
Thank You Kirt! There were hundreds upon thousands of these rocks along the bank. Seeing the saguaro in bloom is spectacular, I agree!!
Usually I would say “more rocks, please,” but really, with saguaros in bloom, there is no competition. I love the saguaros and I’ve never been down there when they are in bloom. (boo hoo) So thanks for letting me see them virtually. . . and you can always post a few more, you know!
Thank You for taking the time to visit and comment! I plan on posting a few more saguaro pics! So stay tuned! Glad you liked the rocks too!
That orange tail lizard was quite the spectacular one. Great day you had. Thanks for sharing.
I have been told from relatives… they will never eat a carrot again! HA HA HA HA
🙂
Amazing creatures those chuckwallas – have never heard of them before and those orange tails are memorable! Are those rocks from the area? They are so colourful.
Hi! That lizard was amazing! His tail was something to see. Yes, the rocks were from an area south of Phoenix. They were a find!
Hope all is well with you. I bet you have been hiking quite a bit and/or riding that handsome horse of yours. Take care and thank you for stopping by. 🙂