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It was family movie night and we watched Flora & Ulysses. It is a fun story about a squirrel with superpowers. 🍿

Disney Flora and Ulysses movie poster featuring a CGI squirrel in a heroic pose on a white background
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Desert Botanical Garden

Wanting to experience even more desert plant life we visited the Desert Botanical Garden today and it was incredible. Everywhere you looked there were great displays. It was a great day to walk around and take in the great scenery and learn more about various cactus and plants.

Dense garden bed of prickly pear and cholla cacti with saguaro and ocotillo rising behind them under a clear blue sky. *A dense field of various cactus.* Cluster of barrel cacti with vivid red spines covering their ribbed green bodies, set among desert scrub and soil. *I loved the red needles on these cactus.* Tall saguaro cactus flanked by a bushy cholla cactus on the left and purple prickly pear cactus on the right, with a palo verde tree and blue sky behind. *Saguaro cactus with Cholla cactus in the foreground.* Visitors walk a paved path past towering Cardon cactus and other desert plants beside an adobe-style building under a clear blue sky. *At first we thought these giants were Saguaro but they are actually [Cardon cactus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachycereus_pringlei) that grow even bigger. They are less resilient to cold so they do not grow native in Arizona.* Crested saguaro cactus with a large fan-shaped cristate growth on top, surrounded by desert shrubs under a clear blue sky. *Very rare [Crested Saguaro](https://www.nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/why_crested.htm) cactus.* Three tall yellow-green Chihuly blown-glass tower sculptures rise from a desert garden with small cacti and stone retaining walls. *These [Chihuly](https://www.chihuly.com) glass sculptures were incredible.*
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Music Instrument Museum

We visited the Music Instrument Museum today. This place was absolutely incredible. You could spend an entire day here pretty easily. They had an amazing breadth of musical instruments and musician specific content. You got a wireless headphone that you wore and as you approached various displays you would start hearing the sound, automatically.

We could have used more time to explore. They also did very good with COVID-19 precautions. They sold only timed tickets and only allowed a limited number of people. Everyone wore masks all the time. It felt very safe. This is the only indoor thing we have done here in Arizona.

Teenage girl in yellow shorts and sandals leaning on the large MIM letters sign outside, surrounded by desert landscaping and trees. *Mazie posing in front of the Music Instrument Museum.* Museum gallery displaying a giant double bass as centerpiece, surrounded by diverse instruments on green walls, with a masked visitor browsing *Giant string instrument.* Johnny Cash museum display with black suit, acoustic guitar, Grammy award, vinyl records, and a video screen showing Cash performing *They many of these artist displays and the sound would just start in your headphones as you approached.* Gold Steinway and Sons cast iron piano harp suspended as a display beside a black Steinway grand piano in a museum gallery. *The video that went with this about how a Steinway piano is created was amazing.* Ukrainian folk display with traditional embroidered costume, violins, banduras, a decorated accordion, and a duda bagpipe made from an animal skin. *There were displays for various countries and their specific music. They had a well populated section on Ukraine.* Family of four wearing masks and audio guide headsets posing for a selfie in a guitar gallery *Family selfie in front of a variety of guitars.*
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I’m trying to mint an NFT on Zora.co and am shocked by the variability in the network fee. I’ve checked multiple times and the price has ranged 500% in one day. The gwei price moves a lot each day, but closer to 200% difference.

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Observation about the Phoenix area — everything is a 30 minute drive away. No matter where you are or where you are going. It is such a sprawling area.

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Arizona Chimney Cakes

We tried Trdelník for the first time with a visit to Arizona Chimney Cakes. Tammy came across this unique offering and it was compared to churros which is a big family favorite of ours. Tammy got the Berliner and the rest of us got the Nana. The Nutella was too tempting to pass up. We all liked them but thought if we went again we might get the traditional ones because the bread itself was really good and it would be much easier to eat.

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After our hike at the Lost Dutchman and the delightful drive on Arizona State Route 88 we stopped at Tortilla Flat, proudly stated population 6. It is very much a tourist trap, but it was fun to see and goof around with the kids for a bit. We got there just moments before they closed up shop, just in time to get some water and head back to Mesa.

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Arizona State Route 88 goes right along Canyon Lake on the way to Tortilla Flat. It even has two fun single-lane bridges that you have to negotiate with other cars. The rock and water is striking with the right sunlight.

Canyon Lake Arizona at sunset with red sandstone cliffs glowing orange reflected in calm dark water below a pale sky Canyon Lake in Arizona at sunset with red canyon walls glowing orange reflected in calm blue-green water
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We took the incredibly scenic Arizona State Route 88 to visit Tortilla Flat after our hike at Lost Dutchman State Park. The sun was on it’s way down and the light and mountains were lit up so great. As we rounded one of the corners this particular section of mountain caught our eye and we had to grab a photo.

Rugged rocky mountains glowing golden in late afternoon sun along Arizona State Route 88, with saguaro cacti dotting the desert valley below.
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Lost Dutchman State Park

We visited Lost Dutchman State Park and hiked the Treasure Loop Trail. There is a story hear about a lost mine that brings some intrigue to the Superstition Mountains. There are even some documentaries about it. We did a good 2.5 mile hike with 480 feet of elevation. It was a warmer day, Sunny at 80 °F which seemed to hit Tyler and I the most.

GPS route map of Treasure Loop Trail at Lost Dutchman State Park showing a 2.5-mile loop colored green to orange by elevation gain.

We hiked the trail up and took a bit of a break for photos before heading back down the loop. The landscape was very pretty the entire way.