Tucson Botanical Gardens

Our quick trip into Tucson for Sprinter service turned into two days when they had to get parts shipped in. Rather than waiting at the dealership, we had the courtesy car take us 3 miles down the road to the area of the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

We had a quick breakfast and then entered the Gardens. What a cool, quiet gem of a place in a very busy, noisy, hot area of the city. We totally enjoyed our tour of the Gardens made even better by their origami sculptures made by Kevin Box. Most of these cast aluminum and stainless steel sculptures are made using the lost wax process from actual folded paper models.

Our favorite part of the garden was the cactus garden. They have varieties that thrive in the Tucson area as well as many from the Baja — we hadn’t seen a cardone or a boojum tree since our visit to the Baja in 2004. The Gardens also has a butterfly house. It was delightful to sit in it watching the butterflies and moths. All are foreign to the area — mostly African.

When it was time to return to the service center, we decided to walk the three miles back rather than call for a ride. The level walk back was not difficult but the noise from the traffic was almost too much to take. Unfortunately, because of the north-south water canals, there were no through side roads to get us off the main drag. Good exercise however.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)