Last night we entered Arizona at Parker where Parker Dam is located.  This is a big recreational area but the actual town of Parker is really small.   We have definitely been in the desert the last two days.  Yesterday it was 105 in Parker and I know it was at least that today as we traveled east through more desert.  It is actually not bad as long as the car is moving since we sit up high and have a breeze blowing through the car.  It is only when you stop the car that the heat really becomes a factor.  The same thing happens though if you are in a modern car - stop it and get out and it is H-O-T.

The further east we traveled into Arizona, the more vegetation we saw.  At first it was only scattered low bushes like the ones in this photo, then a few taller palo verde and mesquite trees began to mix in along with a variety of cholla cactus.  Cholla cactus look like jointed sticks and the jointed portions break off easily if brushed up against and then the spines attach themselves to you.  Don't ever walk out in the desert where there are cholla cactus in sandals or tennis shoes.  You will regret it!  That is not to mention the rattlesnakes and scorpions, etc.  Best to just keep moving in your old car!  This photo also shows two of the neatest desert plants - the tall saguaro on the left is hundreds of years old and the funny taller plant toward the right is an ocotillo. The saguaro will only reach a height of about one inch in its first 10 years and will only begin to produce side arms after about 75-100 years.  They can reach a height of up to 45 feet, have up to 25 arms and live over 200 years.  Ocotillos, which look like an arrangement of spiny dead sticks for much of the year, become covered with small green leaves after a rain and the tops develop bright crimson flowers that look like flames.  I have seen fences made out of ocotillo stalks that looked dead but took root and bloomed.  It is really quite a sight.

    
Just before we started our climb out of the desert up to Prescott, AZ, the clouds were beginning to form over the mountains and the sight was just beautiful.  The desert may seem stark to most people, but if you have ever lived in the desert as I have, you find that it has a special beauty all it's own.  I lived in Tucson for several years and I miss the splendor of spring in the desert with all the cactus in blooms of red and yellow and white and the ground carpeted in wildflowers.  Of course, summer comes and it all dries up and turns brown, but you know with only a little rain it will flourish again. When we reached Prescott up in the mountains, the temperature was 87 and it was lightly raining.  As we climbed the mountains, you could see the same clouds in the picture above become darker and see the lightning strikes.  The power of nature in the desert is awe-inspiring.