We left the Grand Canyon on Wednesday and headed south for my cousin Bill’s in Gilbert, near Phoenix. We arrived around 8:30 PM, so it was a long day. (Rog had forgotten to reset his watch when we crossed over from Utah, so we had gotten up at 6:30 AM. That worked out well because it got us going before the crowds in the GC.) By the time we got to Phoenix, I think we had driven about 1,800 miles.
On the way down, we saw miles and miles of open land again, but it was interesting as we traveled from 7,000 ft. elevation to 1,100 ft. We went through a number of distinct climates and matching ecosystems. One of the changes was the appearance of the cacti, which appeared in a few scattered specimens, but quickly increased in number. We stopped to photograph a few in the late afternoon light.
Lets see, 14 hours or so, 3 pix of cacti, 3 meals and 1800 miles…youse guys were MOVING! Heheheh. Must have been in a hurry to see some spring ball!