Introduced a friend to Boyce Thompson on Saturday. The drive down from Flagstaff was uneventful--I left Flag at 5:15am to be able to spend the day at BT. I arrived just as it was opening. I missed the RenFair traffic backup. The weather was beautiful, but being from the north, the afternoon heat got to me (above 85!) so we went to Miami for lunch and a break. That's a very interesting drive through the rocks. Can anyone tell me what all the cars are parked at the tunnel for? Is it a climbing area?

The flowers and cacti were beautiful, the cardinals were entertaining and I got to see a female Cooper's hawk. I was hoping for some clouds to pop up to make for an interesting sunset in the desert, but it didn't happen this time.

I'm adding to the distance, cause I went around the big loop twice-once before my friend arrived and once with her.