Superior, Arizona: Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Ever look back on something you did or said about a topic and realize all you really did was show your lack of education or ignorance on that topic?

Well, it happens to me -- too often -- you'd think I'd learn to keep my mouth shut or at least temper my remarks. You'd think that but you'd be wrong.

Today was another such example of having to stretch my little mind in order to understand a topic I thought I understood. In the past few months I have made comments describing the desert terrain we traveled through that day something to the effect of "nothing there but scrub bush, cactus and sand". Beautiful in it's own way but not a lot there or so I thought.

Today Mary Lynn and I decided to head out into the desert east of where we are located towards Florence and Globe, two towns that have survived if not thrived since the days of traveling by stagecoach.

Taking the Harley we followed a beautiful, newly re-surfaced highway into the Superstition Mountains, eventually entering the Tonto National Forest. Just before reaching Superior, Arizona we stopped at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum which is dedicated to preserving Arizona's natural beauty. In fact, the botanical gardens there have plants from arid regions all over the world.

Founded 80 years ago by William Boyce Thompson (at the time the third richest man in America due to his silver mining interests) it houses botanical gardens full of plants, butterflies, hummingbirds and migratory birds.

The variety of shapes and sizes of cactus is truly unbelievable. There were hundreds of different species from all over the world. You should see how many different varieties of the Agave plant there are in that garden; no wonder there are so many different Tequilas produced.

MLA and I spent hours wandering through the different exhibits which are spread over 320 acres. I'm sure we only saw about 25% of the exhibits and I know we'll go back.

Back to my original point about showing my ignorance (lack of education, if you will) regarding the desert botanical environment. The time we spent there today underscored a truth I have known for some time: the more you learn about a topic the more you realize how little you know.

You'd think I'd be able to remember this simple truism. Maybe one day...

In any case, we had a terrific day of riding the Harley, exploring the incredible variety of plant and wildlife the desert has to offer and we capped it off by attending a Mexican Dinner when we returned to the RV park at the end of the day.

Hopefully I'll continue to explore topics I think I already understand or know about... hopefully!

See Ya!