Saturday, February 18, 2012

Sidewalk fairs, saguaros and Medjool date shakes


Today in Yuma they closed a street off for their Mardi Gras, complete with pie throwing contests and pony rides.  The little girls were dressed in their finest.  Look a the braids on this little darling.



This afternoon, we drove to Ajo, a little town in the desert west of Tucson.  We saw our first saguaros in the afternoon light.  Aren't they the most amazing things?


On our way we stopped at Dateland and  we each got date shakes--a first for both of us.  We had them for lunch and by dinnertime we still weren’t hungry.  These are not to be missed, they’re creamy delicious dateness.  But I think one every few years will be enough!

I was interested to learn that the Medjool date was originally grown in Morocco exclusively for royalty.  In 1927 when disease was destroying their trees, Morocco sent 11 offshoots to the USA.  All Medjool dates grown in the world today are descended from those 11 offshoots.

3 comments:

  1. That is a fabulous photo of the Saguaros.
    Gosh I haven't had a date shake for years, not really on my diet but I love them.
    Tank goodness there is a lull in the rain for a few days of rain...
    Hope all is well and your having a good trip so far.

    cheers, parsnip

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  2. I love your two pictures, but especially of that little girl with her colourful braids! That date shaking sounded like a wonderful experience! I almost tasted them thanks to the way you described them!

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