Tracks Around Tucson

Last stop -- Three sunny days in Tucson area at the Casino Del Sol -- We enjoyed our spot in the casino's ampitheater parking area, shared with three or four other rvers. It was a nice place to hang out a little while to see some sites. One of our stops was the mission in the desert -- San Xavier Mission-- an awesome place to see. Built in the late 1700s by Franciscan priests out in the middle of the desert, it is still a functioning church and school for the Indians living on the reservation. As we walked through the courtyard we noticed the animals were very comfortable visiting with St. Francis of Assisi (patron saint of animals). In the first photo above you see a snoozing mutt all comfy with him and here is a friendly roadrunner -- Both at home and at ease with us.


The ornate stonework and artwork inside the church is very unusual and striking. A major, eight-year restoration just brought many of these works back to life.

On another day we took off to find the Desert Museum, just a few miles outside Tucson. This huge privately funded facility is home to many animals, all housed in their own specific habitat. It was larger than we imagined and we 'll have to come back to see more another time. Some of our favorite parts were the Life Underground exhibit where you walked through a tunnel with views under the earth of the animals in their homes, the raptor presentation of a family of Harris hawks and the mountain life exhibit with the black bears and mountain lion. The Pima mountain lion lives in the higher elevations of the southwest. This sneeky creature was difficult to spot at first but then I spied him peeking at me from his little home.

Can you find him in the photo above???

Then some of us came around the bend to find him staring at us through his picture window.

Isn't he beautiful?!!