The Desert is a Very Special Place.

It is far from what we imagined it would be.  We pictured sand, wind and heat, nothingness to be exact. It has all of those and so much more, it's a vast array of plants and animals that have adapted to those harsh elements.

Fact: Deserts are second only to tropical rain forests in the variety of plants and animals that live there.

We've been out exploring more in the area. We drove to Lake Pleasant Regional Park.

Lake Pleasant

Teeny tiny Hummingbird nest

Sunrise

Scorpion weed

or Blue Phacelia

or Wild Heliotrope

With a skeleton of a Cholla or Teddy bear cactus in the background.

We have moved to the suburb of Phoenix, Goodyear, but we'll be out exploring the desert more before we head north.

Saguaro cactus - on left

Cholla teddy bear cactus - on right