{"id":3409,"date":"2025-01-26T01:11:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T01:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wendywidgets.com\/ATasteOfTravel\/?page_id=3409"},"modified":"2025-03-21T19:20:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T19:20:28","slug":"tucson-az","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wendywidgets.com\/ATasteOfTravel\/tucson-az\/","title":{"rendered":"Tucson, AZ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

In and Around Tucson, Arizona
\nDecember 2024<\/h2>\n

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Interesting facts about saguaro cactus<\/em>:<\/p>\n

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  1. Saguaro cactus routinely live 150 to 200 yrs. The oldest ever recorded lived about 300 yrs.<\/li>\n
  2. They are the largest cactus in the U.S. with an average height of 40 feet and the tallest measuring over 78 feet.<\/li>\n
  3. They are very slow-growing, from 1 to 1.<\/strong>5 inches in the first eight years of life.<\/li>\n
  4. Branches normally begin to appear when a saguaro reaches 50 to 70 years. In areas of lower precipitation, it may take up to 100 years before arms appear.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Tucson is a great place to visit, even more so for my husband and I since we have a daughter living there! There are a lot of great hiking trails, where you are likely see the majestic saguaro cactus that are native to the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. Though we didn’t go this trip, my favorite hiking spot is Madera Canyon, which is at a higher elevation than Tucson and is therefore cooler and has shade, creeks and waterfalls.<\/p>\n

    The photos on this page are all from our visit during New Year’s week 2024. Besides spending time in Tucson, we went on an overnight trip southeast to visit Bisbee, Tombstone and Lowell.<\/p>\n

    Some suggestions of places we’ve enjoyed on previous trips (and not shown here) include the beautiful scenic drive up Mt. Lemmon where we did some camping, and which I highly recommend. I would also suggest a trip to the Sonora Desert Museum which includes live animals, gardens and hiking trails. We even went to Tucson one year during the heat of August just so we could experience a monsoon!<\/p>\n\t

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    Downtown Tucson<\/p>\n\t

    It was fun to walk around downtown Tucson, see all the murals, and pop into a shop here and there. And of course indulging in a macaron or two was a nice treat! Definitely click on any photo to browse through the gallery and read the captions.<\/p>\n