Sunday, March 30, 2008

Arizona Adventures

Have you been to In and Out??? B man (ds) wants to eat there everyday we are here. I do love the fresh french fries. We will go there for lunch again tomorrow.

Have you seen the desert in bloom??? I admit it! Scenery is pretty here~the blossoms and plants are intriguing to me. I've photographed several. I think this cactus is the Scarlett Hedgehog Cactus. Thanks Dave Boizelle

Have you eaten Cerreta's Chocolates??? While visiting the candy factory in Glendale, we indulged in the samples and brought son-in-law a chocolate covered red pepper. It was hot, but he ate the whole thing! Our giveaway (previous post) includes some Cerreta's Chocolates, if you haven't commented do so very soon!!!

Have you been to Tortilla Flats??? pop. 6 We drove through the gorgeous Sonoran Desert~~whew yellow, green, light green, purple and orange! Our only food indulgence was Prickly Pear Ice Cream! There is $80,000 one dollars bills attached to the walls of the two buildings up there. Upon returning back to the valley we were treated to a lovely evening barbeque - poolside in Mesa at relatives-thank you D and S, with more relatives from Albuquerque - yeah L and C.

Take Care. ~D Spack~

5 comments:

Jenn said...

I usually don't post, I just lurk, but if you aren't familiar with In-n-Out you need to try their burgers 'animal style', my favorite. http://www.in-n-out.com/secretmenu.asp
My DH has been getting Protein Style lately & really likes it. I live in Southern California & we eat there at least once a week (if not more). Other than fabric it's my only other weakness.

Anonymous said...

I think I've probably tried to get you to go to In n Out before without luck. Probably I'm not as presuasive as "T." Therefore, you have; I haven't. And I told you so again. . . Arizona would have been a nice place to teach (purty cacti, nice eateries, yummy chocolates, etc., etc., etc:)

Nanette Merrill said...

We have a knock-off In and Out Burger here in American Fork called Chadders. Not quiet the same but the fries are good.

I have been through Arizona but not really stayed for any length of time. It looks like you're having fun. Thats nice.

Dave Boizelle said...

Diane, The flowers on the cactus do resemble the Engelmann Hedgehog but the skin texture and spines do not. I will keep searching to see if it is another variation on the Hedgehog cactus family. I have included a link to a fieldguide site that provides a great set of photos and descriptions of desert plant life.

http://www.arizonensis.org/sonoran/fieldguide/

Dave Boizelle said...

Diane,

The best I can tell, this plant is a Scarlett Hedgehog Cactus. It closely resembles other varieties of Engelmann Hedgehog cactus. It is native to the greater Southwest. I also include the species name below if you want to look it up. I also include another refernece link that could be helpful.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ECCO5&photoID=ecco5_001_ahp.jpg

Echinocereus coccineus Engelm.