Road Trip: I'm Road Tripping Again!!!

By noon I had the South Mountains of Phoenix in the rear view mirror, and I am once again Road Tripping. I only made it as far as Tuscon, AZ, but I did get to a National Park and eat at a Road Food recommendation. So while I am still working out the kinks of being on the road again, I had a pretty successful first day.

About an hour and a half outside of Phoenix, I took the turn off for Saguaro National Park (NP). And 30 minutes later I was a the visitor for the western portion of the park. I don't know why I have never been here before. It would have been a simple day trip or camping weekend.

This desert park is not much different from the Phoenix surroundings. Lots of cacti, including the namesake Saguaro (pronounced Swarro). The saguaro is the cactus most people think of when they think of cacti.

The cactus grows straight up for 75 years before it ever starts growing the arms that make it iconic. They live to be about 200 years, before rotting out.

With such a late start, I took the scenic drive, and did a short hike to see some 800 year old petroglyphs. It's great to be back in a place that is so removed from civilization that you can hear nothing but nature. All and all, Saguaro NP was pretty cool, but I wouldn't go planning a vacation around it...go to the Grand Canyon instead.

I followed that up with a stop for dinner a Pico De Gallo taqueria in South Tuscon. Signs indicate they make the best pico de gallo in America. I didn't really know what p d g was, but in their version there were huge chunks of watermelon, papaya, pineapple coconut and jicama sprinkled generously with a unique chilly powder. Loved the first 3, but I could have done without the coconut and I disliked the jicama. I followed that with two carne asada tacos, and the star was the homemade corn tortillas.