Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of my trip to Arizona! Today was the first day we actually got to go around and visit different places all day, which was great. I couldn't have imagined a better day to get started on learning about this beautiful place!

To start out the day, we got up nice and early, got breakfast, and hit the road by 8:15. The first place we went was the Living Desert Museum. It was an absolutely incredible place. Picture a zoo, but instead of the paths being concrete and knowing exactly where every exhibit is, you actually feel like you are part of the zoo. The entire place is set up as if you are in the desert and as you walk around, you run into different types of animals you could encounter in the desert. They are still in enclosures so it's still safe! Some of the animals we saw were incredible though. The first we came across was a mountain lion. I was expecting it to be much bigger than it was, so I was pretty surprised when I saw it! It was extremely cute and I took a couple pictures of it, including a selfie.

We saw some Mexican wolves which were beautiful, some prairie dogs, lots of snakes and these pig-looking things called Javalina's. The coolest part though, was this bird show we went to. It was all about raptors, otherwise known as birds of prey. The trainers would call the birds one at a time and fly them to different spots around where we were standing. We saw a raven, a great horned owl, and a couple of falcons. The most amazing one we saw, though, was the red-tailed hawk. The trainer let it fly away, and when I say fly away it literally flew a couple miles away and flew about a couple hundred feet into the sky. Then from where we were, the trainer signalled to the bird and it came flying back immediately! It was back to us in about 10 seconds. It was the most incredible thing I'd ever seen and I got a good video of it too! After we left the zoo we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then it was on to the next location!

The second place we went to today was the Arizona State Museum. I actually found this place fascinating! It was all about the different Native American tribes that lived in Arizona/Mexico. We learned all about how they lived, their different cultures, we got to see different things they made and learn different traditions each of the tribes. It also had a lot of different artifacts, like pottery, clothing, jewellery, baskets and there were some beautiful Navaho blankets there too!

 It's just incredible to look at what these people did without any of the tools that we have nowadays. We think we're resourceful with all our tools and technology, but the Native Americans learned how to do everything we do by living off the land and using what resources they could find. It's amazing to think about. After going through the exhibit we went to the gift shop, where they were selling actual handmade jewellery made by the Zuni and the Navaho people. I ended up buying a beautiful pair of earrings made by the Zuni and it had actual mother-of-pearl in them. I can't believe that they're handmade.

We had some free time after the Arizona State Museum, so we went back to the hotel and just hung out. Then we went out to dinner at this amazing pizza place called Magpie's. I have to say, that was some of the best service I have ever received. First of all, instead of bringing out bread at the beginning like every other restaurant, they brought us popcorn!! Then the owner of the restaurant came and talked to us and was friendly and he brought us samples of the frozen yogurt that was being sold next door. On top of all that, the pizza was delicious. Then we came back to our hotel and spent more time in the jacuzzi! It was another amazing day here in Arizona! Tomorrow is going to be great as well. We're going to the Sabino Canyon and then to the Mission San Xavier del Bac, which is a church. I've heard amazing things about both, so I'm really excited! I'll let you all know how they are tomorrow!