My dear friend, Elaine, suggested we visit this place, and we are happy we did. While it doesn’t seem to have the funds to be as exotic as I suspect it once was, it was interesting and beautiful.
This particular catus is edible. That’s a piece of information I happen to know, not something I read there. My, well, no longer secret is that I am a survivalist. We have a fine supply of survivalist items and some food storage (how much can you fit into an RV? Quite a bit if you get it from Patriot Supply or 4Patriots). So this is one of the edible items on my playing cards.
Pencil Cholla is another common desert cactus. Can you eat it? I don’t know. DON’T TRY Unless you do know:
And this giant, a yucca. These are also edible:
Things were not in bloom, so I have few pictures of the plant life. I did find this plaque about one of the dormant plants. It did not seem to resemble the picture at the moment:
I left this picture large so it can be read more easily. I love that Native Americans used so many plants from all over North America to treat sickness and for food. Obviously, those things can be used in the same manner today.
This is how this plant looks as the beans begin to form, and the next picture shows when it is in bloom. Beautiful:
There was also some wildlife that I found interesting. And although I understand the need for zoos and love visiting them, I also experience some sadness that these animals are not free. Still, here is an example of birds:
A Burrowing Owl:
American Kestral:
An Eagle:
And the Greater Roadrunner. He doesn’t look much like the Wile E. Coyote foe…LOL
They had some Javalina. The J is pronounced with an H sound:
The Puma, aka Mountain Lion:
This animal brings a memory of when our child was small, perhaps 3 or 4 years old. A lover of dinosaurs, we went to Dinosaur National Park in Colorado on the Western Slope. We took several hikes, and on one of them, I kept hearing something moving along with us, slowly and very quietly in the tall grass to our right. When we came to the end of the trail and turned to head back, I heard it move behind us. I told my husband to pick our child up on his shoulders, which he did, and we walked a bit quickly – but did not run – down the path. At six foot three, I knew our child was safe on their father’s shoulders. I am certain we were being stalked by a puma/mountain lion.
They had some elk and mule deer that I’ve seen in the wild, so I didn’t take any photos of them. We did enjoy the day, though.
Next up: Kerri can’t swim, but she did this…
On Hummingbirds Wings 