With four kids, their parents and a dog as our guests, and at least one of them talking my ear off, not to mention how out of shape I am and how much I huffed and puffed…. I don’t have any pictures of hiking the Meadow and Mount Lemmon Loop trail this morning, though I recommend it and would go back again to spend more time with the flowers along the way.

Dinner in Cooler Climes

Afterwards, just me and my date stayed at altitude (it was a heat advisory, triple digits down in Tucson) for a Swiss-inspired lunch on a nice little porch at the Iron Door. Our bar seats at the railing were right under a hummingbird feeder, and those little guys were fearless in the face of human guests!

We mostly saw what appeared to be the broad-tailed hummingbird.

Occasionally a really big bully of a hummingbird would flit in. I didn’t catch him on camera, but he must have been Rivoli’s hummingbird, notably much larger than most other hummingbirds.

I think I also saw a Steller’s Jay in the tree across the way … it seemed much too big for a Phainopepla, and with a much more attitudinal crest.

Desert Nights

We also caught the sunset with our hiking friends at the Sonoran Desert Museum’s Cool Summer Nights, which I would also definitely do again!