Road Trip, Day Two - Tucson / Las Cruces / El Paso

The second day of our trip started early at the Hacienda del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.  I woke up before five and was excited for the sun to come up so I could take more photos.  Then, I realized I could try to get some sunrise photos.  It was too early for pictures but I was too excited to go back to sleep.

So, I did a little early morning knitting.  I love the windows in our room!

There was a cozy chair next to this one.  It was perfect!

This time of the morning is magical.  The light quickly changes

 and the wildlife slowly starts making noises as it wakes for the day.

The doves seem to enjoy sitting on top of huge Saguaro cactus.

I just wonder how they could without being hurt by the large thorns!

The sunrise was beautiful and the moon was still out.  So pretty!

We saw a small red bird feasting on fruit at the top of this cactus...

His beak was covered in juicy fruit and seeds.

This cactus had fruit on it that looked like little pineapples.

I've never seen blossoms on this type of cactus....until now.

This cactus is in a pot in one of the courtyards.

It looks like it has a soft white coating and the little needles look so delicate.

I love the bright red blossoms (?).

The Desert Bird of Paradise were in full bloom all over town.

Here are some at the Hacienda del Sol.

Such gorgeous, intense color!  I love these!

Pink Cactus!  There are lots of these across the desert.

I wonder if they're always pink or just at this time of year.

I've seen these before but I can't remember what the plant is called.

I love the soft, furry, little seeds.  So cute!

More pink!

Pop of red!

Saguaro Cactus are amazing!  Whenever we travel into Arizona,

it's exciting when we start seeing them.  They look like they're waving, "hello"!

 They have such a tough skin on the outside.

The rows of thorns are interesting.

I never realized they had fruit on the top until this trip when we saw that bird feasting on it.

The desert is filled with so much beauty and so many interesting things.

Two more cactus blossom photos!

Yellow!

After our early morning photo walk, we packed up and headed out on the road.

Next stop...Lac Cruces, New Mexico at the historic Old Mesilla.

It was hot and we were hungry.  So, I didn't take a lot of photos.

Here's one of the few I took...an old church at the north end of the Mesilla. 

We had hoped to eat at a restaurant we ate at years ago that was fabulous!
But, we walked into where we thought it was and no one came to help us.
So, we ate at La Posta.  There were lots of things to look at inside.
This is in the room we ate in.  There was an aviary in the center room of the building.
It smelled awful!  Luckily, it didn't smell in the restaurant.  And, we were so hungry that we just needed to eat and didn't know where to else to go to get food quick enough.
The food was ok and fueled us up again but I wouldn't recommend this restaurant.

There are a few shops in the same building.  One has lots of pretty jewelry.
We each bought a cute bracelet there.  We love all the colors and the pretty wood clasps.
My daughter's is has a larger clasp and mine is smaller.
With all the different colors, they'll go with lots of things.

The restroom was gorgeous!

The door was huge, beautiful, and looked old...

On our way back to the car, we stopped in a couple shops.
One had some beautiful Old Gringo western boots (my favorite brand).
I fell in love!  I just wish I could afford them!

Aren't they gorgeous?!

A little more boot love!

Then, we were off to El Paso for our next stay.
My daughter was on a mission there to hit the western boot outlet stores and SHOP!
She's very happy as she found two beautiful pairs of boots and got quite a deal.
I just wish there was an Old Gringo outlet!!!

Ok....enough blogging for now.  Time hit the road again!