We arrived in Tucson and headed out to explore Saguaro National Park. We found a short hike not he way into the park to get familiar with the local flora and fauna. It was cold, so no real animals were around. I INSISTED when we got out of the car the I was fine without my jacket. I quickly changed my mind and made Mom give up hear sweatshirt.
We learned about all the different cactus in the area. We really loved the Teddy Bear Cholla. 
I’d hate to bump into this at night!
We learned about the cactus wren and how it makes it’s home in the saguaros. This is one of the nests after the cactus died. It was really like a scab in the tree. 
We earned out Jr. Ranger badges and also saw a kid who walked backwards into a cactus! Boy was he in pain and full of pokey things. 
We explored the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. It was more of a botanical and animal place but they still called it a museum. 
I loved all he states as always. 
My favorite place was the hummingbird aviary. 
There were SO many different kinds of cactus! 
The roadrunners were super cute! 
The cougar was upset that some people were banging on his window and he lunged and scared them all away. We went back later after he was calmed back down and said hello. 
We say petroglymps in the eastern side of Saguaro National Park. It was near how both sides of the park were so different.
The next day we went to the International Wildlife Museum. We knew the word museum meant nothing would be alive. They boasted hundreds of animals. We were optimistic. 
We started with a great introduction to Theodore Roosevelt and then rooms learning about taxidermy. Everything was stuffed and mounted. Some were really neat like the birds of paradise. 
Other were frighteningly realistic.
Then came the hall of heads. There were hundreds of mounted animal heads!!! It was terrifying! The room was HUGE! 
We survived the room and then the mountain of goats and sheep. 
It was a bit weird that one room had laser Christmas lights and was all decorated. How strange. It was a lot of fun but a bit on the creepy side. 