Desert Museum
November 2, 2006
We got a call this morning early from Jessica; she and Kathy talked about a lesson she is doing with the theme of “hello” If you have any ideas let her or us know so we can pass them along. She is doing the lesson with K-5 grades.
The sun is warm and the misty mountains become clearer as the sun gets higher in the sky. Karen and Herb brought us out to Desert Museum; their friends had given us free passes. Now this was not the museum you might think; it is a renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden. There were interpretive displays of living animals and plants native to the Sonora Desert region. There were hundreds og animals and more than hundreds of plants on display. We walked the miles of trails and pathways with something special to see at every turn. We started our day watching trainers with birds. A roadrunner, raven, ferruginous hawk and a barn owl came with in feet of us so we got a really good look at these magnificent birds. The Hummingbird Aviary has many of these little native hummingbirds flying free and we were able to walk among them, sit and watch them and hear them whisk past our heads. The Aviary has larger birds that we walked among: cardinals, whistleing duck, Inca doves and many others; the sign said there were over 40 species in the avian sanctuary. In Cat Canyon we saw an ocelot and a bobcat. Bighorn sheep napped on the rocks, rock squirrels scampered about and we enjoyed the desert grasslands, mountain woodlands, cactus gardens and pollination gardens filled with butterflies. In the Underground we even walked through a limestone cave. What a great experience. Kathy stopped at each tracking station to get an animal stamp for her book: coyote, beaver, frog and more. The only one she missed was the 40-ton Sonorasaurus. We paused part way and enjoyed lunch at the Ocotillo Café. We were all ready for some rest and relaxation come 5pm. Back at our parking spot we did just that!
This evening we played Mexican Train Dominoes with everyone at Steve and Jud’s home. It was dark; stars twinkled and the moon lit our way back to our spot after our evening with old friends and new.
We got a call this morning early from Jessica; she and Kathy talked about a lesson she is doing with the theme of “hello” If you have any ideas let her or us know so we can pass them along. She is doing the lesson with K-5 grades.The sun is warm and the misty mountains become clearer as the sun gets higher in the sky. Karen and Herb brought us out to Desert Museum; their friends had given us free passes. Now this was not the museum you might think; it is a renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden. There were interpretive displays of living animals and plants native to the Sonora Desert region. There were hundreds og animals and more than hundreds of plants on display. We walked the miles of trails and pathways with something special to see at every turn. We started our day watching trainers with birds. A roadrunner, raven, ferruginous hawk and a barn owl came with in feet of us so we got a really good look at these magnificent birds. The Hummingbird Aviary has many of these little native hummingbirds flying free and we were able to walk among them, sit and watch them and hear them whisk past our heads. The Aviary has larger birds that we walked among: cardinals, whistleing duck, Inca doves and many others; the sign said there were over 40 species in the avian sanctuary. In Cat Canyon we saw an ocelot and a bobcat. Bighorn sheep napped on the rocks, rock squirrels scampered about and we enjoyed the desert grasslands, mountain woodlands, cactus gardens and pollination gardens filled with butterflies. In the Underground we even walked through a limestone cave. What a great experience. Kathy stopped at each tracking station to get an animal stamp for her book: coyote, beaver, frog and more. The only one she missed was the 40-ton Sonorasaurus. We paused part way and enjoyed lunch at the Ocotillo Café. We were all ready for some rest and relaxation come 5pm. Back at our parking spot we did just that!
This evening we played Mexican Train Dominoes with everyone at Steve and Jud’s home. It was dark; stars twinkled and the moon lit our way back to our spot after our evening with old friends and new.
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