On our second morning in Phoenix, we made it out of the motel at about 9:00 am (after a nice breakfast of cold Cafe Istanbul leftovers), heading for Boyce Thompson Arboretum (which is about forty-five minutes east of Phoenix). The road to the Arboretum goes through some low mountains, and there were tall pink Penstemons on both sides of the road. Beautiful!
Here are some photos, in no particular order, from BTA.
Here’s the one and only new plant I brought home from Phoenix. It is Haworthia herbacea. I love it!
After several lovely hours at the Arboretum, we drove back to Phoenix, and had a lovely late lunch at a little diner right next to the motel called Jim’s Coney Island Cafe. I had a really good tuna melt (which I am always on the lookout for – I LOVE a good tuna melt). Mom had a bacon cheeseburger, which she said was great.
We relaxed in the room for a little while, and then Janelle came to the motel and picked me up. We went out to have dinner and drinks. It was great to see her. We went to a place called Crave. The food was really good. The garlic fries were amazing! I had a beer, and Janelle ordered the sangria, not realizing it was a whole carafe of it. It was delicious, and she was nice enough to share! 
That’s me, drinking out of the carafe, and me and Janelle at Crave. The photos are phone pictures, and it was dark, so they aren’t great.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Day two, we got up at a reasonable hour, had a little breakfast, and were off to Desert Botanical Garden for a lovely bird, desert plant and cactus experience. DBG is a really large, well-laid-out botanical garden. It’s a beautiful place.
I was happy to see that the Chihuly stuff at the entrance is still there. It looks perfect. Here is a nice cactus-scape, and a picture of two tourists.
It’s pretty hard to take a bad photo here. However, somehow I managed. The blur in the third photo is an Anna’s Hummingbird.
We ate lunch at the garden cafe, and while we were eating, there was quite a show on the trashcan. All kinds of birds were checking out the trash and the trays on top. First, a Curve-Billed Thrasher and a Gambel’s Quail. Second, a European Starling and a Curve-Billed Thrasher. Third, a Cactus Wren.
Also making an appearance was a curious Greater Roadrunner. He didn’t stay long, but I did get ONE good photo of him.
Here’s a Curve-Billed Thrasher who is protecting his prized cactus fruit with his life, and a Verdin, clinging to some Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) flowers.
Some more lovely flowers (the first one is a fancy lavender, the second is a scorpion-weed).
After the gardens, we went to the Phoenix Zoo. So many great animals! Below are some Watusi Cows, a strange and colorful stork, and some cute African River Otters:
Sleeping warthogs (awwww…), an Egyptian Goose (why does he remind me of a little old balding man?!), and a pelican whose reflection I liked:
A Black Vulture who looked like he was whistling, and Mr. and Mrs. Northern Shoveler:
…and a Ring-Necked Duck (new to my bird list, and not in captivity):
Last but not least, we have some photos from the ‘On A Stick’ department.
Where do the sticks GO when it lays down?!
After the zoo, we went back to the motel room, and sat for a while. Ahhhh. For dinner, we went to Cafe Istanbul, which is a favorite. It was great. That was pretty much the end of our day.
Thanks for visiting and commenting!