The Desert of Arizona and New Mexico

Ahh!!!  Blue skies with wisps of white clouds.  Finally, warm weather.

The desert's rock formations are interesting and varied.  Some mountains seem to rise straight up from the desert plains.  Some rocks look like they have been stacked by some unseen giant.

The native plants and cactus of the desert must be the most durable in the world.  The tall saguaro, the stick-like octillo and the green and purple prickly pear are very common on the rocky hillsides or desert plains.

The creosotebush is an evergreen shrub found mostly on dry plains and mesas.  The stems and leaves of this plant smell like the wood preservative creosote.  The barrel cactus have ribs on the side where the spines almost criss-cross.

We saw a yucca plant, an agave plant and a pincushion cactus on a nature path.

The yucca plants (with the tall, dried blooms) and prickly pear cactus stand in front of rocky mountains and blue skies.  All of the features of the desert in one picture.

We enjoyed the Rockhound State Park near Deming, NM.  Wished we knew more about identifying rocks although we did find some jasper along the trail we hiked.

One of the man-made sights along the highways are decorated overpasses.  This one included some Native American art and geese.

There are many ranches in the southwest.  We saw these huge stacks of hay near large ranges for cattle.

A product of the southwest - chiles.  The bulk of New Mexico chiles are grown in and around Hatch, in southern New Mexico, which we drove through on our way to Elephant Butte.