Morning Discovery

We woke up early this morning and rather than hang around the house, head to the farmer's market or do chores we took off and went to Saguaro National Monument. We loaded up the car and grabbed easy breakfast snacks. It was before 7 am when we drove into Saguaro.

There are several favorite spots in Saguaro and today we decided to take the kids to Freeman Loop (a short 1 mile trail down into a wash where an old homestead used to be). The kids took off down the trail, Eva as anxious to be down and hike as the rest of us. Elias was hoping to see lots of lizards; Eva wanting to touch every plant, cactus and rock on the trail.

It rained last night, making this morning humid and buggy. The trail crosses a hill and gradually goes down into a wash. We saw numerous types of butterflies, lots of lizards, a king snake and spiders. The birds were singing and the flies were buzzing. Elias blew kisses at all his cactus friends and chased after lizards. Eva would walk a bit and then sit down to grab handfuls of rocks. Some of the barrel cactus were blooming and we looked at the fish hook shape of the needles. Elias skiped along talking about the desert and naming the plants. Eva walked about half the loop and then wanted to be carried. There is a plugged well down near the ravine and we stopped for a drink and some observation time, then it was up the hill to the car. Overall, it was a nice peaceful walk.