Spring Break

My sister Wanda visited me for spring break so we decided to see as much of the area as we could in the week.  I think we did pretty good but there were some things we had to leave for next time.

For our first day we decided to go to the Yuma Lettuce Festival so we started early so we could see as much as possible. 

 

The parking was a little crazy but we caught the shuttle train to the Festival grounds.

 

Once there we took part in the Leapin' Lettuce, Cantaloupe Clap, Broccoli Bump, Tangelo Tiptoe and Medjool march.  A few fun activitities to get things started.

 

We then went on the agricultural tour provided by the festival to educate people about some of the crops and growing practices in Yuma.  Yuma is known as "the sunniest place on earth" and its warm temperatures year round allow it to produce crops without interruption.   As long as it is irrigated the rich soil which was mainly deposited there by the Colorado River is exceptionally fertile.  Water for irrigation comes primarily from the Colorado River.

 

The Colorado River

 

175 different crops are produced in the Yuma area some of which include citrus, cotton, alfalfa, grains, dates, cauliflower, broccoli, to name a few and of course lettuce of all sorts.

Yuma is the winter vegetable capital  of North America. 

 

 

Many fields grow a variety of lettuce types and harvest them together for blended salads.  Now you know where your spring mix salads come from.

 

This is a field of red leaf lettuce

 

Each field is  lazer leveled and graded using  GPS technology to make the most of the irrigation system.

 

Lettuce harvester

 

 

Workers harvesting a field. 

Each bus that brings the workers to the fields is equipped with portable toilets and sanitizing facilities.

 

 

 Most of the vegetables are packed for  shipping on the field  and then taken to a facility to flash cool them before they begin their journey to where ever they are being sent. 

 

Yuma is the largest producer of Medjool Dates.

 

 

Desert Durum Wheat is produced  and 100% of it is exported to Italy for the making of premium pasta.

 

 

 

After our agricultural tour we looked around the festival grounds noticing some popular companies in the vegetable industry.

 

 

We hand a bit of fun with the fruit/vegetable artist until he threatened Wanda.  Not before he made her a rose out of a turnip though!

 

 

Ray Duey .   He carved all the fruit and vegetables that are in that display.

 

 

 

 

 

We also saw some ice carvers working their magic even on a very hot day.

 

 

We got to see some great dancing as well and  hear some great music.

 

 

 

Good company, good food and good entertainment what more could you ask.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arizona Desert Museum

March 11

 

We went to see the Arizona Desert Museum which is slightly south west of Tuscon  Arizona.  While we were there we saw many varieties of cacti which are native to the area as well as large and small animals found in the area as well.

 

 

 

 

A cougar having a rest.  He was behind glass so we were all pretty relaxed.

 

 

A rattle snake and yes I was very glad that he was behind glass as well.

 

 

We were able to watch the "raptor free flight" where the birds are released and allowed to hunt in their native surroundings.

 

 

Barn Owl

 

 

 

Harris's Hawk

These birds live and hunt in family groups of 3-7 and are one of the only two social raptor species in the world.

 

After witnessing the free flight we were off to see if we could find the Javelinas who resemble the pig family.  They too are very social animals and often form herds.  They can weigh from 40 - 88 pounds (20 - 40 kg).

 

 

 

Can you spot the two javelinas, one standing and the other laying beside the saguaro cactus to  the left of the picture?

 

 

Our last stop was a visit to the humming bird section where we got to see a nesting humming bird as well as several other humming birds.

 

We spotted this bird heading into this saguaro cactus.  The birds pick holes in the cactus and build their nests inside the cactus. 

 

 

Notice the green ground cover...spring comes to the desert too.

 

 

 

Meteor Crater

March 12

We are headed north today toward Flagstaff Arizona and are reminded that we are at a much higher elevation where the weather can be much cooler.  After passing remnants of the previous weekends snow storm we were pleasantly surprised by the warm temperatures at Meteor Crater.

 

The crater was much larger than I expected measuring 1 mile (1.6 kms) across and 550 feet (167 m) deep.  The depth is equivalent to a 60 story building.

 

 

It has been scientifically proven that the crate was indeed caused by  a large meteor impacting the earth approximately 50,000 years ago.  Most of the meteor burned up in the atmosphere and the remaining meteor shattered on impact spewing fragments over the surrounding countryside  Some of the fragments were recovered and the largest is displayed in the visitor center.

 

 

The crater so closely resembles  the craters on the moon that NASA uses it for training purposes..

 

Hmm  I wonder?

 

Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

March 13

Painted Desert

 

Today Wanda and I went to the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest.  I initially was confused as to why the two were linked on all the literature that we saw for one or the other but our visit clarified it for us.   The two are separated only by Interstate 40 and the painted desert is a result of erosion of the petrified forest.  The beautiful pastel shades of the desert that you see is a result of the erosion of the petrified logs and the deposits that entrap them.

 

 

 

 

Painted Desert

 

Route 66

 

Part of the road that leads through the Park is the old Route 66 or as it is sometimes called ``The Mother Road``.   Route 66,  the first road to stretch from Chicago to Los Angeles was established in November 11 1926 and stretched some 2448 miles (3940 km). 

 

Petrified Forest

 

The petrified forest is one of the largest deposits of petrified wood in the world.  Petrified wood was formed when the large conifer trees fell and streams washed them into adjacent flood plains.  A mixture of silt, mud and volcanic ash buried the logs.  The sediment cut off oxygen and slowed the logs decay.  Silica-laded ground water seeped through the logs and replaced the original wood tissue with silica.  Eventually the silica crystalized into quartz. 

 

 

Erosion is gradually uncovering the petrified trees, revealing some very colorful samples of petrified trees.

 

 

 Many logs were destroyed to attain the amethyst crystals in them. 

 

The wood in the park is now protected but much damage was done before the protection was put in place.  You can now buy petrified wood that has been found outside the park and is for sale by local vendors.

 

Agate Bridge

 

This "bridge" was formed when flood waters washed away the rock and sediment under the petrified log forming a gully.  The petrified log being much harder than the softer sandstone around it remained.  In 1911 people fearing its collapse reinforced it with pillars that were replaced in 1917  by the concrete that you see today.  As is with park policy today it would have been left to take nature's course and no further efforts will be made to reinforce it.

 

Petrified Log

 

The size of some of the fallen trees help you to imagine the large Triassic trees that survived during the time that dinosaurs roamed the earth.

 

Notice the amazing colours in this log.