![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/san-jose-house-3.jpg\" "\\"san")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe house manager did offer to track down a toaster oven so we could cut the frozen pizzas up and maybe toast them a piece at a time. \u00a0But that was just too depressing to face. \u00a0Luckily, she also recommended a pizza place down the street. \u00a0Which is how we ended up at Johnny Ringo’s<\/a> Bar for pizza. \u00a0Or rather the Depot Steakhouse. \u00a0Because we couldn’t stay in the bar with the kids but the Depot was part of the same building and shared a dining area and was willing to let us order Johnny Ringo’s pizza. \u00a0Or Mexican food. \u00a0Because apparently the entire building was for alcohol, pizza, steaks, or Mexican food. \u00a0All in one restaurant. \u00a0Small towns are convenient like that. \u00a0Even better, Johnny Ringo’s had amazing fresh-made pizza with the unique twist of stuffing the toppings under the cheese. \u00a0Yum!<\/p>\n So technically I did<\/em> have a Tombstone pizza in Tombstone because it was pizza made in Tombstone and eaten in Tombstone and I’m gonna check that off my list. \u00a0Check. \u00a0Plus, since historic houses don’t have coffee pots either, Pretty and I got to go out for our caffeine the next morning. \u00a0We stopped in at the OK Cafe<\/a> for coffee and breakfast, nibbling our eggs and biscuits among the locals dressed in 1880’s attire in preparation for working the tourist shows in town. \u00a0Which was cool–kinda like a backstage seat to a performance.<\/p>\n Then we cruised around town, admiring the adobe houses and the creative use of cacti in landscaping. \u00a0Which is when we saw them!! \u00a0I couldn’t believe it. \u00a0We have Bobwhite quail where I live and they are tiny and cute and just fine for a quail. \u00a0But Arizona has Gambel’s quail—-the quail you’ve seen in every illustrated alphabet ever. \u00a0See:<\/p>\n \n Quail families scurried across the road and through the mesquite, long lines of chicks corralled by both the male and female sporting those adorable head curls.<\/p>\n \n The rest of Tombstone was loaded with touristy and tacky souvenir shops. \u00a0And since I had finished “The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral and How It Changed the American West” by Jeff Guinn I wasn’t as awed by the heroic representations of the Earps. \u00a0Seems like a lot of the drama actually revolved around the politicians and business owners of Tombstone battling over property rights and profits with the miners and cattle ranchers living outside of the town. \u00a0Most citizens and patrons of Tombstone were just little people caught up in the fight over Big Money. \u00a0Same ol’ story, just different times.<\/p>\n Still, some of the historic sites were well-preserved. \u00a0The Birdcage Theatre was worth visiting, with intact murals from the 1800’s, the original staircase to the back rooms for “socializing,” and plenty of bullet holes left in the plaster walls.<\/p>\n And Boothill Graveyard was worth a stroll. \u00a0A bunch of the graves are fictitious, with entertaining epitaphs, but there are notables buried there including Billy Clanton and the McLaurys killed in the O.K. Corral shootout. \u00a0Even better, the hillside graveyard gives a person a real feel for the territory of Tombstone. \u00a0The arid landscape and mountains rising in the distance are probably the most authentic part of Tombstone. \u00a0The true rugged wilderness of the Old West.<\/p>\n Of course, things were about to get a lot more rugged. \u00a0We kept heading west and as we drove through Tucson, the cactus-studded hills of Saguaro National Park<\/a> rose around us. \u00a0Entire forests of the famous saguaro popped up alongside roads and behind neighborhoods. \u00a0Standing at the Red Hills Visitor Center and driving the Scenic Bajada Loop, I was surprised at the variety of brush and vegetation that existed in the desert. \u00a0The Chihuahuan desert around Carlsbad Caverns generally receives only summer rainfall but the Sonoran desert around Saguaro National Park receives spring and summer rainfall resulting in more vegetation diversity<\/a>. \u00a0This despite the fact that the Sonoran desert is hotter than the Chihuahuan desert with more days over 100\u00b0.<\/p>\n But it was out on the hiking trails in that 114\u00b0\u00a0heat that we found what we came to see up close. \u00a0The majestic saguaro cactus. \u00a0All shapes and sizes. \u00a0Acres and acres of them.<\/p>\n The size of the cactus may be impressive but, in truth, it is the age<\/a> that should be so awe-inspiring. \u00a0The saguaro needs to be at least 35 years old to produce flowers. \u00a0The arms or branches don’t appear until the cactus is 50-70 years old. \u00a0Adult saguaros are generally 125 years old but are believed to live up to 200 years total. \u00a0Hiking through the saguaros is passing sentinels that began their lives generations before you began yours. \u00a0The Old, Old, Old West.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n \n We did notice the difference in temperature at Saguaro National Park. \u00a0This heat was more than the dry dusty air we’d experienced so far. \u00a0There was no breeze at all, unless you count the heat waves you could feel wafting off the sun-baked soil. \u00a0A deep breath was a bit like sucking in that surprisingly hot air that comes out of the oven when you crack it to check on your baked goods. \u00a0We kicked up tiny puffs of dirt as we walked, covering our feet in powder, but other than that the air seemed empty of any debris or even scent. \u00a0Just heat. <\/strong><\/p>\n Even more bizarre was the fact that we didn’t even sweat when we were hiking the trails. \u00a0Only when we re-entered our air-conditioned car did sweat bead up instantly along our arms and faces. \u00a0What we discovered was that, of course, we were<\/em> sweating on the trails. \u00a0It was just so hot that the sweat evaporated quicker than we could sense it. \u00a0Therein lies the danger of dry heat. \u00a0It’s really easy to dehydrate when you don’t even notice how much body fluid you’re losing. \u00a0Saguaro National Park was the first park where I insisted that we carry backpacks of water and drink it even when we didn’t feel thirsty. \u00a0But the hikes and the scenery were worth the extra baggage. \u00a0The saguaro cactus. \u00a0Only found in the Sonora desert. \u00a0The largest cactus in the United States. \u00a0The universal symbol of cactus. \u00a0Worth it!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong> On a side note, we didn’t see many animals at the park. \u00a0Mostly birds and lizards. \u00a0But that might be changing. \u00a0Remember the tale of the Bighorn sheep from Carlsbad? \u00a0Well, some Bighorn sheep were spotted in the spring of 2016 in Saguaro West<\/a>. \u00a0The first Bighorn sheep seen in the park since the 1950’s. \u00a0Maybe by the time my kids make it back out west with their kids, the Bighorn sheep will have made it back as well. \u00a0Fingers crossed.<\/p>\n We spent that night in downtown Phoenix. \u00a0We made our way to a funky urban coffee shop, Lux Central,<\/a> fueled up on iced coffee, and then cruised the palm tree-lined streets of the city. \u00a0It was clean and sleek with the lines for the Valley Metro Rail bisecting the wide streets. \u00a0It was also empty—apparently the city doesn’t include a lot of downtown housing so once the businesses closed for the day, the sidewalks were empty. \u00a0Providing affordable housing amidst expensive corporate high rises is a problem for a lot of cities but it certainly made for easy exploring of areas that are probably traffic-congested during the day.<\/p>\n The next day we headed for California, which is as west as it gets in the United States. \u00a0We trekked through the driest desert in North America, the Mojave, at Joshua Tree National Park<\/a>. \u00a0We wandered among a different type of cactus at the Cholla gardens….<\/p>\n where we discovered a new critter, the jackrabbit. \u00a0We didn’t capture this pic of those amazing ears, but we followed a similar one as he hopped among the trail.<\/p>\n This park is, of course, known for the Joshua Tree and their spiky branches filled the landscape.<\/p>\n But it was the rounded rock formations that were unlike anything we’d seen in other deserts. \u00a0These outcroppings of monzogranite<\/a> pop up everywhere and were perfect for climbing and scrambling over.<\/p>\n The rock climbing was so irresistible that I even captured a shot of the ever-elusive and camera-shy trip photographer, \u00a0Pretty, at Skull Rock.<\/p>\n Together the rocks and Joshua trees in the northwest section of the park made an odd-shaped environment right out of Dr. Seuss Book.<\/p>\n We finished with a hike along High View Nature Trail on the west side of the park. \u00a0The name didn’t lie as we zigzagged up to the top of the ridge for incredible views of Yucca Valley and San Gorgonio Mountain.<\/p>\n The trail was well-marked once we were on it but the trailhead was hard to find—-off a side road in Black Rock Campground. \u00a0Don’t forget water on this one as it has some steep sections. \u00a0As an added bonus, though, there were kangaroo rats everywhere, dashing in and out of the scrub. \u00a0Something about a long fluffy tail makes a mouse quite a bit cuter.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n