Arizona: Things

And now we return you to your regularly scheduled programming...

Thats my way of saying I got a new camera and can return to posting all the pictures my little heart desires!

I spent the weekend in Arizona attending my SILs graduation from the University of Arizona in Tucson. I took around 300 pictures while I was there and to break up the posts and not have one monster post I have decided to sort them into "people, places, and things". This is the "things" category because I am on a campus computer and it is difficult to rotate the pictures like so many of the people and places need to be rotated, lest the sky and ground reverse themselves. So here are the "thing" pictures, and they are completely out of order, nearly reverse actually, because thats the easiest way to upload them.

This little lizard was hiding in the weeds near a turtle pond.

There were also some ducks hanging out their, and no fear of humans so I took some cute pictures!

The ducks liked hanging out with Mr. Turtle...

Ok, so actually their were a LOT of turtles. I decided to not go to crazy and only have posted this one picture.

One of the weirdest types of cactus was this one that looked bush like. It had so many spikes that they looked like fur from a distance, but up close it looked deadly!

Random yellow flowerly things with tropical looking leaves? Yes. I am a botonist with that description...

A lot of the cactuses were in bloom while we were there, and the way they bloom is so curious. This particular cactus is done blooming, but you can see the strange places where the blooms were.

Prickly pear cactus in full bloom.

The blooms on the tall cactuses from a distance... its so weird how these big, spikey, tough looking plants start popping cute little delicate white flowers out the top!

Another tree blooms yellow.

This flowering bush was across the street from our hotel. I love this picture, and these flowers smelled vaguelly of cotton candy or something else really sugary.

Another cactus after its flower expires...

A big prickly pear cactus- there is one flower on it towards the back.

And here are some even stranger flowers, though I guess they more fit what I think a cactus should have...

More flowers from our hotel landscaping. Very pretty!

These ones look like they have big pink flowers with tiny white flowers in each one!

Pine trees up in the mountains

I am sure these big leafy deciduous trees were a real luxury. The were located in a very man-made park, around artificial ponds.

The bark of a palm tree, also not native to the area.

The fronds of a palm tree.

My favorite picture from the rose garden we visited.

And last but not least, the first picture I took in Arizona, of a pretty orange and red flower outside of Target. I am glad we were there when everything was in bloom. The ILs said it was much more colorful than usual and I really appreciated that!