Vegas, Baby!

Today we leave ‘Zona and head off to Vegas, Baby! The plane trip is short, just enough time to catch up on my Craps game. Thankfully I didn’t forget my little how to book – I can never remember the right play on the come line – the MOST important play in craps, after odds on the pass line.

The clouds rolled in yesterday and so did cooler temperatures, but that was fine because we spent the afternoon in the high desert (okay, not too high, but high enough at around 3000 ft.) Rosanna was our guide for our Sonora Desert Adventure, and she was quite knowledgable. The lecture she gave us on the rattlesnakes, gila monsters, javelinas and scorpions, not to mention the horned toads (actually lizards) that shoot freaking blood out of their eyes when threatened, was enough to ensure I would NOT be getting out of the jeep. But I did, and we didn’t see any wild animals. (I have to admit, I would’ve liked to have caught a glimpse at least.)

What we did see were miles of Saguaro – these cacti are amazing. A mature Saguaro weighs about 10 tons and can grow about 50 ft with a lifespan of around 150 years. Amazingly, they are soft inside, have a wood core, but don’t fall over in heavy winds. They are graceful giants and they are everywhere around here. There are some wonderful Native American legends about the Saguaro – like they are reincarnated soldiers (the name Saguaro means sentinal, I think) and the arms represent wives. If an arm bends downward, it means the wife was unfaithful. Another legend says that all the arms represent family members, and the downturned arms represent someone in the family who was sick or passed on. I hope to have lots of pictures to show you when I get back.

[Edited to add pictures]

We also saw lots of wildflowers – desert lavendar, tobacco, Mexican poppies – and cacti – cholla (these “teddy bear” cacti are lethal! They’re pricklies get in you, apparently, and don’t let go. They’ll shoot out a root system and grow out of your ass. Literally. We had to check our shoes everytime we got in the jeep to make sure we didn’t have any brambles stuck in our shoes.), agave, barrel cactus, prickly pear (the javelina eat these – you see these desimated plants and you know they’ve been around), yucca – it was a wonderful tour. We were the only ones too, so we had extra special attention.

[Edited to add pictures]

Rosanna told lots of stories about the Wild Southwest, including stories of Pearl Hart – the only woman known to rob a stagecoach and also the person responsible for the last stagecoach robbery in Arizona. And Charlie (Charlotte) Parkhurst, the best stagecoach driver ever, who worked for Wells Fargo and was only found to be a woman AFTER she died. Apparently she only had one eye and was a genius with a whip. Definitely interesting stuff. Add to that Rosanna’s gigantuan tweezers which she used to pluck cactus needles out of my ass (yes, I made the mistake of backing up – the funny thing was that we were still at the hotel when I did it!) and her pearl handled knife and you get quite a character. She used to pilot helicopters on tours in the Grand Canyon. Loved the red nail polish and lipstick too!

Barely any knitting has been done – I did move onto ball three of Pinwheel. And barely any reading. I’m forty pages into Jonathan Strange – and I like it. But I have four stories to read for my LAST CLASS(!) on Thursday and that needs to get done. We’re getting home pretty early Thursday morning, but I’d like to sleep instead of work before class that night. Ugh.

Can’t wait to see Margo and the girls! Vegas here we come….