On The Way Home...

While Rocky Point is stunning in its own way, it is interesting to observe the transition from ocean coastline (well, Sea of Cortex, anyway) to the medium elevation desert of Tucson.  And while water laps against spectacular sand beaches, the beaches pretty much go for miles - the lack of rain in this part of the world (6-8 inches) doesn't support a lot of plant life and the Mexican desert is pretty desolate .  Oh, the picture above is a "group shot" I took of the 3 of us from our balcony - it took about a dozen attempts to get the flash balanced with the twilight glow.  I wasn't completely happy, but compared to the rest...

After the first hour of driving we get to Sonoyta, Mexico, sitting on the border across from Lukeville, AZ.  Given what I said above about the sparce desert vegitation, it seemed that as soon as we crossed the border, all of a sudden the desert was green with creosote bushes and wildflowers.  We didn't tarry long south of the border, but just north of it is Organ Pipe National Monument, and we usually always stop for a bathroom break and perusal of the bookstore.  There is a very short nature loop walk near the visitor center, and for some reason, always inspires me to take some 3-D stereo pairs.  First up was of Min taking a pic of Carolyn in front of an organ pipe cactus and brittlebush behind the VC.  It is usually difficult to take stereo of people, because it usually takes a second or two for the pair of frames and motion between the pair can mess up the effect.  But my subjects paused for a few seconds while I took multiple frames as I moved laterally.  I took 4 pics total, and the first 2 came out great - good stereo effect of the two, as well as some of the plants. 

As with all my stereo pairs, they are presented in "cross-eyed" viewing mode - cross your eyes slightly to look at the right picture with your left eye and vice-versa.  You should detect 3 images, the center one showing depth.

Next up was a blooming pincushion that was spotted along the walking path.  Other than brittlebush and a few poppies, the dry winter didn't result in a lot of flowers.  The small mammilaria cacti are just about the first to bloom, and these were the only cactus buds we saw.  The closeup view at right is from the same image pair, but not downsized so that fine detail in the flower can be seen.  The planes of detail make the stereo pair quite interesting, and of course, the flower colors are quite spectacular.

Much of the return drive to Tucson, and over half the driving time, is across the Tohono O' odham Nation.  Nearing its eastern edge is pretty familiar to me - Kitt Peak and the Kitt Peak National Observatory.  After seeing the view from the east (the Tucson side) for so many decades, it is always a head turning experience to see it from the west.  So much so that I had Melinda stop the car for me to take a few pictures of the western vista of the Observatory (shown at left).  As we continued driving past the Observatory, the view from the moving car inspired another attempt at a stereo pair.  Through the open window of the moving car, I caught more views of trees adjacent to the road than of telescope domes, but was able to get 2 frames that showed good stereo effect. 

After the uneventful return trip home, the cats were glad to see us, even though they were well cared for by our sitter Jason.  It was difficult to go back to work after a nice weekend at the beach, but our pics are proof that the reality wasn't a dream...