Tucson, Arizona - II

February 1 - March 1, 2009


Voyager RV Resort, Tucson, Arizona



In looking back over my latest blogs, I see I never mentioned my grandson, Zander's FIRST birthday on December 20, 2008. I promise Zander, I will never again let holidays, visits from your Aunt Sarah, or holiday parties make me forget to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!




We're spending some of Saturday cleaning and watching the Buick Invitational on the Golf Channel. They are playing at Torrey Pines in La Jolla (remember La Hoya!!). It so fun watching TV or reading a book and have a place mentioned where you have been. We truly are "seeing the country".










We took a morning trip to Sabino Canyon also located in the foothills of the Coronado National Forest. There was a 3.8 mile narrated tram ride through the canyon, crossing 9 stone bridges over Sabino Creek. It begins at an altitude of 2,800 feet and rises to 3,300 feet at its end.








The craggy, distinctive summit of Thimble Peak (shown in these two pictures), elevation 5,323 feet, is a well-known landmark to those who've been to Tucson. Its distinctive summit can be seen from many places in the city.






You could ride the tram back or get off at any one of the stops to hike back down. We chose to hike down from the last stop. I want you all to know, if you don't already, walking downhill can cause just as much muscle pain as walking uphill. We had some great sights and made it down to the ranger station, feeling a little older that when we got off the tram.
















This is the white sycamore, indigenous to Arizona. The guide on the tram ride said it looked the same as the white birch from the northeast. Evidently he has never been to the northeast. Except for the white bark they don't look anything alike!!






At the end of the trail, Ken got this great picture of a female and male Gambel Quail, native to the desert regions of the southwestern U.S.



We took so many pictures along the trail, Ken worked on putting a slide show together. This is a first...we hope it works. You will see pictures of Sabino Creek and a great number of cacti: the saguaro, prickly pear, soaptree yucca, and teddy bear cholla, just to name a few. (See, I'm learning a lot on this trip too!)

I'm glad I had my hat, a gift to me from my cousin Jan. The hats were made in tribute to my cousin, Barbara Monroe, an RN and associate professor at the University of Arizona who was murdered in October of 2002. The hat says "UFF DA", a favorite family saying. I wear it with pride and in memory of Barbara. This is one of the placques outside the School of Nursing in Tucson.










A couple of notes:


1. I'm finding in our travels here in the southwestern part of the country that there is no such thing as "keep right except to pass". People tend to drive in whatever lane they feel like which can, at times, create some bottlenecks.

2. We have not had to tolerate any bugs when we sit outside since we left Oregon State this summer. It might be a seasonal thing, but it sure is nice not having to swat mosquitos while enjoying my wine.

3. We have gone through a few "border patrol inspections" while traveling both the highways and backroads. You pass a lot of their vehicles too. I'm always afraid that some "illegal" will crawl into one of the kayaks to make his or her way into the country!!!

4. The sun appears to be much closer to the earth here in the southwest. If it's shining in your window you know it; and, you have to have sunglasses and a hat when you go outside.

Ken took off one day to visit the Pima Air & Space Museum. (My thought: if you've seen one air museum, you've seen them all. I'm sure he had more fun without me following behind saying "is it time to go home yet?)



Here's Air Force One used for John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Quite different from the one used today.

Well, so much for getting away from the cold and weather of New England. I woke up this morning to watch the snow melt. Tucson? Snow? What is this thing about global warming? Where do we go from here without getting on a boat or a wagon train to Mexico?



We took a daytrip to see Ruby, a famous Arizona ghost town located near the Mexican border, about 75 miles from Tucson. After checking it out online and making sure I knew where we were going (Ruby doesn't show up on the Garmin GPS that we use in the car) we took off. About 8 miles from Ruby the road turned to mud; but, no problem, we had 4-wheel drive yet we could go no more than about 10 mph. We finally arrived at Ruby only to find it was gated and chained and closed (open only Thursday - Sunday). This is a ghost town! No one lives there! There is nothing to take! Why would it be closed???????




To leave we had to decide whether to retrace our trip there or to go the much shorter route to the highway and back to Tucson. It meant another 12 miles of mountain, muddy roads, but, what the heck, this was an adventure...we'll go the other way. Well, it WAS an adventure. There were a couple of areas of red, slimy mud that didn't give a whole lot of traction, even in 4-wheel drive...one of those being at a point where the drop off on the right was what you have nightmares about. I have to say I'm glad I was driving as I was unable to look down on the passenger side to see how far down we could go should we get off the road. By the time we hit the highway, we looked like one of the many off-road vehicles you see in the area...covered with mud. We did, though, see some pretty country.





Thanks Greg, for all your help with the slideshows!!

We're publishing again before we're through here in Tucson...just so much to do!