The saguaros had mostly all bloomed and now their seed-containing red fruit were visible at the tops. Saguaros are indigenous only in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and northern Mexico and there are literally millions of them. In Saguaro National Park (East and West units) alone, there are over 2 million! From the National Park Service: The Red Hills Visitor Center is rich with information about the many facets our beautiful desert, including saguaros. This is the top portion of the previous cactus so you can better see the red saguaro fruit which contains the seeds. This is what the inside of a saguaro cactus looks like. You can see these remnants of living cacti in the desert and they are also a popular material to make arts and crafts with. I'm not sure just what the composition is, but if you felt it you'd be convinced that you were touching wood. This specimen was inside the visitor center. When I saw this heat safety sign, it was a reminder to maintain a healthy respect for our Arizona heat. So I checked the current temperature and suggested to Chas and Russell that it might be time to mount up and ride the remaining 30 or so miles home. And as I sit here inside our air conditioned house composing this post, the current Tucson temperature is a "balmy" 109!
@Sandi T I absolutely love the Saguaro info - definitely a sight I would like to see in person one day.
Looks like you REALLY needed those adjustable levers, @Mrs Visor! I'm sure that position will be significantly better than what you've been dealing with.
They are truly a sight to behold, @Mrs Visor. They are majestic and I've always sort of seen them as the sentinels of the desert. The oldest among them are massive and each saguaro--especially the older ones--are very individual in terms of their arms and arm shape. Check out this kind which you see here and there but not very often. They are referred to as crested saguaros.
Another commute for me on the Blade today, the new levers have made a real difference in heavier traffic. Swapped the garage order around when I got back so the Street Triple can come tomorrow .
Loving the Corvette Sandi, one of the best looking American cars ever made in my view - and in the best colour
I worked from home today so no commute; put the headlight protectors onto the Blade after work. Powerbronze Light Tint - I like them. (Ignore the fact that the bike needs a good clean ).
Looking good, @Mrs Visor. I have a PowerBronze on my Speed Triple. Mine's in the Dark Smoke. I've been well pleased with it and would get another PowerBronze product in the future.
Agree - I have the screen on my Street Triple in Dark Smoke and now these headlight protectors in Light Tint and both seem like quality products. The screen on the Blade is MRA, fitted by a previous owner.
Honda 400/4 returned yesterday after 18months at honda classics restoration, now I just want some dry road's to get the running in over with
Went for a spin on the Ducati this morning and the mirrors were just not staying were you put them. This is a problem that’s gradually become such that something had to be done. They sit out from the fairing on the end of a short stalk which goes into the mirror housing where there’s a ball and socket arrangement allowing the mirror to swivel. As can be seen in the photo. A fairly common problem by all accounts and the different remedies range from self tapping screws to clear mastic sealant, have even seen thread lock suggested. Having sorted the swivel fairing mount I was looking at the mirror and stalk when I thought I would see just how far the mirror would swivel and rotate. I ended up rotating it 180°, effectively turning the stalk upside down, and that seems to stiffen up the joint a goodly amount, so well pleased as Mr Millyard would say.
This afternoon I rode our the local Harley dealership on my Street Glide to continue to acclimatize to our Arizona summer heat. It was par for the course for this time of the year in southern Arizona--VERY quiet. But at least I found a shady place to park so my bike stayed cool(er) while I chatted with a few friends inside. I had also planned to ride from there to our local Triumph dealership but once I got back on my bike I decided that might not be the best course of action and headed home instead. Fortunately I only live 12 miles from Tucson H-D or I might have had heat stroke! Well, actually, it wasn't really all that bad. This is the service area side of the building. I like to park here when it's sunny and hot if there's not a lot of activity going on. And today there was precious little activity, that's for sure. This is looking down the breezeway that leads to the main entrance. I thought I'd seen something indicating that there would be some special event stuff going on since it's July 4th -- Independence Day weekend. Nope. But I did wind up chatting with two H-D staff that I know quite well and we talked scuba diving which was fun.