I felt as if I had to do something special in addition to the holiday shopping. That's not the only reason, but on the spur of the moment, my partner and I decided to visit the Saguaro National Park in Arizona where the Saguaro cactus is growing concentratedly.We hit the road at 5am on the very Thanksgiving day. Seven-hour driving on the way to the park was not bad because we came across the stunning sunrise which was the best I've ever seen in my entire life.
The Saguaro National Park is located near Tucson, Arizona and it consists of two areas, Saguaro West and Saguaro East. Both of them are approx. 30 min from the center of Tucson, and also from our hotel - we booked a room at Sheraton the day before the departure and there seemed to be some empty rooms. This may not be a popular place to go during Thanks giving holiday - 
On the first day, we visited the East park. The first thing we usually do at the national parks is to drop by the visitor center and ask park rangers of the best place to have lunch and the best trail we stroll. However, once looking at the park map, we realized there is nothing to ask. Cactus Forest Drive in East park is the only loop path we can drive, and it's about 1 and a half hours course. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves watching Cactus and even taking a nap for a short while.
The next day, after exploring a shopping mall to see Arizonian people striving to holiday shop and to look for bargains for ourselves, we visited West Park. Although the area of the West park is less than half of the East, there were many things to see including Desert Museum which is famed for its massive live exhibition. With its uneven landform around the West park, the spectacular cactus fields overwhelmed us. I will undoubtedly recommend the West park if some of my friends go there without enough time to spend and have to choose one. We stayed there until sunset. Again, it's the best sunset I've even seen!!! Though it's almost the end of November and the beginning of winter, it was just like a perfect paradise-like summer weather in San Diego.
4 comments:
Rico
That bottom shot is amazing. Did you know that Interstate 8 was named "Most Boring Freeway In The West". Lots of desert.
Thank you, ryan!
I'm glad to hear your compliment. The real color was much more vivid red & pink :)
I didn't know that I-8 was named in such a pity way, but I think it can't be helped... There is nothing to see other than deserts.
But for me, driving on I-8 was not boring. On the way back home at night, I saw lots of people having fun with buggies and motocrosses and it was sort of beautiful scene with lights. Also the stars in the dark sky were unbelievable.
Hi...Arico
Your snapshots are really awesome. I hope I would be there next year.^^
Hi judy!
Thank you for your comment!! You will be able to visit there from your place next year :)
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