We were up at 6 AM and left the fairgrounds a little before 7 AM to drive to The Sonoran Desert Museum west of Tucson, Arizona. That meant we missed the hitch-up breakfast, which is the last official activity of the Escapade. We also missed the SmartWeigh operation, an activity run by the Escapees to determine individual wheel weights for RVs, toads, and toters. We were not going to have our coach/toad weighed, but it would have been nice to get some photographs of the operation.
We drove separately from Lou and Val Petkus and were running a little ahead of schedule so we stopped at a McDonald’s about seven miles from the museum for coffee. We met up with Lou and Val and another couple from the SKP Photographers BOF in the parking lot. We needed 12 people to get the discounted group admission price so we all paid full price and went in.
The museum is spread over 21 acres at a mean elevation of ~2,800 feet. Most of the museum is outdoors and is a magnificent collection of Sonoran Desert flora and fauna that was worth the price of admission. We did not mind paying the asking price for this museum, however, as it is undoubtedly an expensive operation to run.
One of the highlights of our museum visit was the raptor demonstrations at 10 AM and 2 PM. We went to both and took a lot of photos. We were surprised how many people were there to see both demonstrations, especially children, as it was Friday (work/school day). Perhaps the area schools were on spring break. We had lunch in the cafe and it was very good. Reviews for the restaurant were excellent but it had white linen tablecloths, so we took a pass on that.
We left around 4:30 PM and drove up to Gates Pass where we parked and took photos of the mountains and sunset. The light was fading as we pulled out but we made it down the mountain road before darkness fell. It was way past dark by the time we got back to the coach; a long but very productive and satisfying day.
Sunset from Gates Pass west of Tucson, AZ.
Following is a gallery of some selected photos from our visit to the Sonoran Desert Museum. Some of the photos were taken by Linda. Photos were taken with Sony alpha 100 DSLR and Canon 50D DSLR. The photos are presented without captions.
