We drove to Casa Grande, AZ to pick up a radio (more on that tomorrow) and noticed the famous Arizona State Cactus, the Saguaro, was in full bloom. It was interesting how there was absolutely no saguaro until we were below about 3000 feet above sea level. That was near Bumble Bee Road, exit 248 on Interstate 17. We knew there were some nice specimens where we were headed but completely forgot to look at them until we were on our way home. We exited the Interstate highway at some obscure spot and tried to capture a good picture of the blooms.
This is the first time we have seen the Saguaro [sa-wa'-ro] cacti in bloom (April thru June). Saguaros are found exclusively in the Sonoran Desert (Southern Arizona and western Sonora, Mexico).
Even though the Saguaro were thick along Interstate 17 north of Phoenix, it was almost impossible to find a shot that didn't have a power line intruding.
The perfect shot was so often thwarted by power lines that we started laughing and concluded that the power was responsible for the best blooming. The blooms open at night (bats help cross-pollinate) and close mid-afternoon.
Storms in the desert are rare (unless you count sandstorms), but when they occur you can see them coming for miles.
Not a drop fell on us from the storm clouds surrounding Krazy K RV Park in Camp Verde, AZ, but they put on an amazing show.
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