Sabino Canyon

Hi all,
 Well we're on the move again. We left Tuesday morning heading for Gila Bend, AZ. It was a short 135 miles and once we got out of Tucson wasn't to bad.
 We are at a nothing fancy campground behind a gas station. Wendy had read some good reviews as a good cheap place to stay for a couple days. While here we plan to drive to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
 Our plans after that are up in the air, we have just been to busy to make em.)
 Monday Wendy and I headed off to do a nearby hike in Sabino Canyon.  Dorlen and Darlene had other plans so we were by ourselves.

Sabino Canyon was only 8 miles from our home. This is one of the most scenic places in Tucson. It once was a popular swimming hole for pony soldiers in the 1800's. In the 1930's the CCC built a 3.8 mile road and into the Santa Catalina Mountains.

      Very different to us they operate a shuttle tram daily. It cost $8.00 and there are 9 stops along the road.

 We opted to take the tram up to the end of the road and then hike back on the Phoneline Trail.
 I was thinking piece of cake, riding up and hike the descending trail back. Wrong-- first you needed to hike about 1/2 mile up then it followed a long mountainside trail that went up and down and finally hit the switchbacks down at the end. Once down you were still left about a good mile to get back. Total distance was 5-1/2 miles.

Tucson

 We were taken back as this place was really busy. They had four double trams going pretty constant. When we unloaded there were 2 trams letting people off. Well it didn't turn out to bad as some people were hiking further up the canyon and some were walking down the road. Once out on the trail we had chose it thinned out pretty good.

 Monday night we treated Dorlen and Darlene to dinner to thank them for their gracious hospitality. We had a great time in Tucson.
 Oh and getting the RV out was as figured tricky. Dorlen had talked to his neighbor who had what looked to be a large turnabout to use. Well going in the entrance didn't work as there was a tree branch in the way. We routed to the exit and still brushed the branch more than I would have liked. Oh well, I'll just have to rub a little wax on her she should be ok.

Catalina and Oracle State Parks

Hi all,
Saturday was our 39th anniversary. We started the day out going to a swap market in Tucson with Dorlen and Darlene. We got there at 10:00 and many stands were just setting up. Dorlen said the sale isn't near as popular as it once was, way less stands although easier parking and no crowd to fight through was appreciated. Dorlen  got a nice score on some old golf clubs that he is making yard ornaments out of. We both bought some peppers and not much else.
 They then drove us to the Mission San Xavier del Bac, the oldest mission in the United States. We watched a video showing some of the delicate repairs made to the structure and art work inside. This is still an active mission and services were being held today.

Darlene & Dorlen

 Dorlen and Darlene have been very great showing us around town. We drove past the Pima Air and Space museum that may be worth another day trip. They showed us properties owned by Paul McCartney and Arnold Schwarzenegger. They believe Arnold just bought it so his name on the property would make money on a sale.

 Back home I helped Dorlen get his Tin Lizzy out. A 1926 Model T he took us out for a fun ride. Quite the thing seeing how these old things ran and imagining a road trip in one.

 Overall a neat way to spend the day.

 Sunday Wendy and I gave D&D a break and headed to a couple nearby state parks.
Catalina State Park is just 20 miles north of Tucson.  This 5,500 acre park sits at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Numerous hiking trails amongst thousands of saguaros and other desert life.
 It also has 120 campsites and a equestrian area for those with horses.
 The place was really packed today, we circled the lot twice to find parking at the main trailhead. Not planning on this being a big hike day we took a 1 mile nature trail. It was a nice hike and the views just beautiful.

Next up was Oracle State Park, about 20 miles further up the road. Oracle is a 4,000 acre park that has felt recent cutbacks. It only operates as a day use only park on weekends from Oct. through Apr.

 It acts as a wildlife refuge and a Center for Environmental Education. When we arrived they were holding a informational discussion of the reintroduction of big horn sheep in the Catalina Mountain range. This began in 2013 and it has become a hot topic lately as they have killed three mountain lions that they believed responsible for killing many of the released sheep.
 The park has hiking trails and a old ranch house from the former landowners.
 

Change of plans

 Hi again,
I'll get right to what we been up to. We changed our plans a bit so we had a extra day here to do something. Something turned out to be a drive to Patagonia Lake State Park. This park is located south of Tucson almost by the Mexican border.

 It is located at a 265 acre man made lake and features a 111 site campground. The area is also popular for birding and wildlife viewing.

  It was a pretty drive down on scenic Hwy. 83 passing through impressive rolling hills.

 We toured the park thinking if this would be a place we want to work camp. We thought the park not as clean as Roper Lake was and the location a bit more out there. Staying here I would have to go buy a boat and Wendy may not like that.
 So Thursday was moving day and the plan had been to head to Casa Grande, well plans are sometimes just made to be broken.
 Wendy's sister Patsy has neighbors in Pardeeville, WI that have a place in Tucson and they would be happy to have us stay on the land for a few days.

 Dorlen and Darlene whom we have known for years are two of the nicest people anyone could meet. They have a beautiful house on five acres with saguaros and other cacti about. The setting is quite rustic and the road in a little rough. Now getting the RV in was a bit of a trick requiring the removal of a fencepost but we got her in. Getting her out may be another story???.

 Their place is located just past the east side of Saguaro National Park, so while they went on a golf outing Friday we took a 3-1/2 mile walk through the park. We then got a soak in their hot tub (yeah we got it rough) and joined them for dinner with friends later.

They have some plans to take us touring tomorrow which will be nice.

Saguaros n More

Hi again,
 Monday started out with Wendy having a phone interview on the job in South Dakota. More just formalities of being a paid worker. It was with Lance our supervisor from last year. Things seem to be laid out well with what Wendy wants as hours and same days off and what he expects.
 So done with that we headed out and off to Tucson. Our multiple destinations all located close by one another on the west side of Tucson.
 First was the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, this museum is ranked one of the top 10 museums in the world. It differs from most museums as its contents are outdoors and alive.
 It is like going to the zoo and a botanical garden together. It is home to over 1,200 species of plants and 56,000 individual specimens from the Sonora Desert region.

 The zoo is blended in all this featuring a hummingbird aviary,  the local coati, and javelina.

coyote

javelina

  Second destination was The Saguaro National Park. This was located just a few miles beyond the museum. Actually the park is comprised of two areas, the Tucson Mountain District(TMD) on the west side of Tucson and the Rincon Mountain District(RMD) on the east. The RMD was established in 1933 to protect a remarkable stand of saguaro cacti. The TMD was established in the 60s to also save a stand of saguaro. As they are over an hours drive apart we figured we would do the RMD  another day.

We began in the visitor center where we watched a short video on the importance of protecting the giant cacti. Wendy was happy logging another stamp in her book.

 There are numerous hiking trails and a unpaved 5 mile scenic drive. We took the scenic drive jumping out numerous times for pics. Saguaros are unbelievable, just thinking how long they have been here growing to these great heights. The arms begin to grow at about 60 years old.

petroglyphs

 Third destination( I know I know- crazy) was Old Tucson, a movie studio and theme park. A famous movie set for many westerns. Well we didn't get to that - maybe another day. I'm getting tired .

Bisbee and Tombstone

Hi all,
Things are starting to remind me of the old hurry'n go vacations of old. Thank goodness Saturday was a rare AZ rain day. But we did manage to go to the clubhouse on Sat. night and dance to some old rock' n roll.
 Sunday we took off for a drive (50 mi.) to Bisbee, AZ. An old mining town that now is a artsy town where everyone says old hippies live. It houses many thrift type shops with some artsy stores. Of course a good coffee shop along the way makes a good mood for just browsing about.

 The town is located in a very pretty setting in the mountains. The old buildings and streets make things very picturesque.

 First we took in the Mining Museum which was okay.  They also have mine tours which we passed on this time. We pretty much just wandered around peaking in various shops. We then stopped at the Old Bisbee Brewery for a sample which was good.

 But no time to linger we got more places to go. So off to Tombstone AZ.

 This was high on the list of things we wanted to check out. We toured the Tombstone courthouse and refreshed ourselves on the Shootout at the OK Corral. As you can imagine this town is a big tourist draw. They have many restaurants and the tee shirt shops along the old boardwalk. They also have many people dressed in old west garb and horse drawn wagon rides to give you that wild west feel.

 We took in the reenactment of the shootout. A bit corny but not to bad. We had stopped by Big Nose Kate's Saloon a couple times but after finding no seating we grabbed dinner at The Longhorn Restaurant. I had a patty melt and Wendy had a pulled pork that we both thought were good. I know we should of had the Tombstone pizza.)

 No trip to Tombstone is complete without a walk through Boot Hill Cemetery.

We got back home at about seven pretty bushed. Monday we have planned a trip to Tucson-gogogo.