Bloom where you're planted

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

PHOENIX, AZ — Today we got a real sense of the size of this city – or of the greater Phoenix area, I should say, which comprises Phoenix proper plus Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Green Creek and Apache Junction and probably several other communities that aren’t marked on the map I’ve got! There are about four million people in this area all told, and we read that it’s the fifth largest “city” in the US.

This morning we picked up a few groceries. Our afternoon excursion was into Phoenix proper to see the Desert Botanical Garden. The GPS routed us in via the freeway, which made for a direct trip but not a very scenic one. I will say that, even on the freeway, there is some beautification effort, in that overpasses are decorated with various patterns in the concrete, and even in the gravel on the sides of the ramps, they have made designs of stylized aloe plants or, on one of them, a giant roadrunner laid out in coloured gravel.

Our timing to see the Botanical Garden couldn’t have been better. Wonderful arrays of cacti in flower were on display, as well as wildflowers in colourful profusion and various trees in blossom as well. Laid out throughout the different pathways were placards explaining special characteristics of different plants.

It was amazing to see what incredible variety there was in the plant life, and how these plants had adapted to the dry and changeable desert conditions. Shallow roots, spongy, expandable stems and animal-proof spikes were just some of the ways cacti survive. Some sprout in the shadow of larger trees for shelter, eventually surpassing them and even killing parts of them at maturity by monopolizing the water supply.

We wandered through loop trails dedicated to desert wildflowers, the Sonoran Desert, and one explaining how native people used desert plants to make their homes, nourish themselves, prepare medicines and make furniture and baskets. There was a butterfly pavilion, a hummingbird garden and one for bees. The wildlife we saw wasn’t the flying variety — we saw a snake slithering into the underbrush, a prairie dog, a rabbit, a lizard and several different birds, some of which had made holes in the saguaro cacti for their homes.

It was close to suppertime when our visit ended, so we decided to ask the GPS to guide us to a Pizza Hut in the vicinity. We followed its instructions carefully, but when it announced that we had reached the Pizza Hut on our right, there was no such place! Just an office building. So, figuring that particular restaurant must have gone out of business, we punched in another Pizza Hut less than a mile further, and the same thing happened again!

Val had remembered seeing one this morning when we had been out shopping, so we headed back toward our campground, this time choosing a route through city streets instead of using the congested freeway. We got to see a lot of neighbourhoods and more RV parks and RV sales places than we believed possible. Finally, we found the place, and enjoyed a hearty supper.