Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Tuesday we decided to go to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument located south of Tucson on the Mexican border.  We traveled through the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation to get there, about a 2 hour drive south into the heart of the Sonoran Desert.  But - an amazing thing happened about 1/2 hour into our drive on Indian Route 15.  We were stopped by State Highway Patrol and told to move off the road.  That was done by hand signals through the windshield at us.  Okay, we did - but why?  Then - bam!  A humongous tractor rig pulling something enormous flashed by us.  Talk about stunned.  And, this thing was also being pushed by an eighteen wheeler truck.  We got our senses and started up again.  And then - bam!  same thing happened.  Now we understood the 'peace' sign the patrol offer gave us - he meant there are two of these things.  By the time we realized the second one was coming by I whipped out my camera and tried to get pictures.  After we got back home and Dave took a look at it - this thing was 18 feet tall, weighed over 165 TONS!!!! and was obviously heading north into Phoenix or somewhere but the size and weight - it could not travel by the normal roads.  We think this thing had at least 48 tires on the rig! We figured it came in through Puerta Penasco shipyard which is about 15 miles beyond the US border into Mexico.  By the way, the Sonoran Desert is one of 4 deserts in the United States - the others are, Mojave in California, Chihuahuan in southern New Mexico, and the Great Basin which is all of Nevada, much of  Utah, parts of Oregon, Idaho, and the northern part of Arizona.  The Sonoran desert is unique because the winters are mostly frost-free and there are two significant rainfall periods - one in winter and one in July/August.  If you want to see alot of flowers and such - this isn't the place.  However, you will get to see the Organ Pipe Cactus which is only found in this southern most part of Arizona but is very wide spread in Mexico.  The picture above left shows the daddy of them all - this organ pipe cactus has a crest forming inside.  They don't know why this has happened - but it is quite impressive to see. Another milestone which would happen sooner or later - we ran over a rattlesnake on the way to the Ajo Mountain drive - and when we circled back later, the snake was gone - we think the buzzards got it.  Sorry rattle guy.  Lots of different cacti and lots blooming, and we heard alot of birds, but didn't see any other wildlife. We saw saguaro, prickly pear, my favorite - the teddybear cholla (choy-ah) which is shown below,

palo verde trees, creosote bushes (even smells like it), gold poppies in bloom, saw Gila (Hee-lah) woodpeckers, roadrunners - those boogers are fast, saw kangaroo rats, but didn't get to see the Quitobaquito (kee-toe-bah-kee-toe- LOVE TO SAY THIS!) fish in ponds which lives here and no other place on earth.  We were looking for tortoise, javelinas (wild pigs), Gila monsters, bighorn sheep, diamondback rattlers (thank goodness not), and coyotes but never saw them.  They say early evening is the best time to see these animals/reptiles.   Would we come back here or bring guests here?  No, for the amount of time it took to drive here and then add in the 2 hour Ajo Mountain drive we did which was within the park, we could be better served by visiting a botanical garden in Tucson or Phoenix.  We did learn alot and were surprised that we actually can start to pick out types of bushes and trees and flowers.  I guess we are becoming more Arizonian than we thought.

Visit with the Family

Last Sunday Jill, Erez, Lia, Emi, and Zoe came to visit us in our 'new' home.  And of course, the day was very hot - 107 - but that didn't stop us from having a nice time.  We showed them the sights to see at our park, they looked in every nook and cranny in our home to get a flavor of how we live, then walked them over to the pool area and the library/work out room.  We realized that the 3 girls had never seen the equipment you typically see in a gym - barbells, weights, stairstepper, treadmill, etc.  Was fun teaching them how each machine works.  Jill said afterward that since they were interested in using the machines that maybe she ought to look into a 'kid friendly' gym where they would get fun plus exercise.  After having some munchies and taking a photo op, we went to a pizza place in Casa Grande that we found and is pretty good.  The girls all enjoyed their pizza and even said that it has been a long time since they have actually gone to a pizza place, only getting carry out/delivery to the house.  Fun day!  The picture above is Dave and myself with the 3 girls.  Grace (our cat) had just jumped off Zoe's lap.

Sabino Canyon

What a fun, amazing day we had yesterday. We decided to go to Sabino Canyon, at the foothills of the Catalina Mountains (the most southerly range of the Rocky Mountains) to go hiking. We had been there two other times and about 8 years ago when we were here - in March - the creek was dry, Dave's knee was hurting, so we didn't do much. Drove up on the tram and walked around for a few minutes, then got back on the tram and went back down. Yesterday was different. Took the tram all the way to the top and walked back down - about 4.8 miles. In one of the pictures here you can see the road that the tram travels on and the tram just heading towards us. As we were hiking we could hear voices above us on the rim. Could not find these hikers but their voices sure carried. Many hiking trails above, we weren't that venturous! The tram stops at 12 different locations where you can get off or re board. The tram's roadway crosses the creek 8 times, with the water flowing underneath. When we were here back in 2005, the water was so high it was over the little bridges and you had to walk through the water to get to the other side. There had been heavy rains about a month before we had visited and the roadway above stop 7 was closed due to flash flooding that destroyed the road and caused landslides. We could see where the areas were rebuilt - seems to be an ongoing problem with the flash floods. There are bathroom facilities at 8 of the stops so it makes it a nice comfortable day. Picnic benches are along the creek, since no cars are allowed, you have to bring in and carry out all foodstuffs. The tram is a pretty good deal for those that can't walk alot but want to enjoy the scenery. The tram comes by every half hour. Beautiful scenery! I really enjoyed our walk but today - we are paying for it - my left foot is swollen (had surgery a couple of years ago on it) and Dave's knee is sore. But just look at these pictures! Will take visitors here to see and experience. Have to know - this past Saturday Mount Lemmon (at the top of this mountain range) had snow and the creek we walked along - was flowing due to the melt of this snow. Talk about cold! Even though there were alot of people doing the same thing we did, we were alone listening to the wilderness for most of the time. Big, big canyon. And of course - we have to watch for rattlesnakes, gila (lizards), and mountain lions. As long as we were around people and stayed on marked paths, not a problem.

Tohono Chul

We spent a quiet week, healing from the hurt of losing Chip, kinda lost when figuring out what to do. We can now safely talk about Chip without crying. And we noticed that Grace has started to act differently - coming out of her depression also. And she is doing some of the things that Chip used to do - sleep right by my leg at night, becoming more vocal, even was sitting by the door and crying when we came home one day. Will we get another kitten? Yes, but not until this fall when we come back from our travels this summer. Want to be able to be near our vet for any issues and also to make sure the new baby is update with shots, etc.

We drove into Tucson and visited Tohono Chul Gardens. Named as one of the World's Greatest Botanical Gardens and is ranked as one of the top 22 secret gardens in the US and Canada. The park was started in 1968 when a couple purchased 12 acres of desert landscape north west of Tucson at the base of the Catalina Mountains. Today it is 37 acres of various gardens and educational buildings. Quite impressive. The ancient tribe, Tohono O'odham, lived in this area for many centuries and in fact there is an reservation in south western Arizona where over 25,000 members still live. Some day we will drive there and visit - there are a number of national monuments and Organ Pipe National Park is located there. But for now - Tohono means desert and we think chul means gardens. We had been to this park about 8 years ago, during Thanksgiving break when we had flown in to Phoenix to visit with Jill and family. But, it was evening, dark, cold, and the event going on was Christmas lighting and caroling. The visit we had was very very different, sunny, lots and lots of flowers in bloom, trees with their foliage, lots of little creatures roaming around - even told us to beware of rattlers - they were on the loose. Gardens were laid out for hummingbirds, gardens for flowers blooming at various times, one for no-watering, etc. And of course - took lots of pictures. Most of the pictures were for our use - when we start landscaping our place here in Picacho this coming fall. Was able to pick up some reference books on gardens that require little or no watering which is a must here at Picacho. And get a flavor of desert life and plants.

Farewell Chip

This past Friday we made the difficult decision and had Chip put to sleep. He was a brave fighter, never once telling us how much in pain he was. He lived with us for all his 14 years and we always looked forward to coming home and him greeting us at the door. So many nuances he had - full of fun, very dedicated to us, never once waivering in his affection. He knew all our faults and secrets, never once telling anyone what fools we were sometimes. Unfortunately, Dave was not home for a good part of Friday and I stayed home helping Chip through his last day. I had contacted Dave to tell him that Chip's time had come and that when he got home, he had time to spend with Chip, holding him, petting, talking to him, loving him, until we had to make the drive to Tucson to the vet. Needless to say, these pictures cannot express our sadness and pain as we said good bye to the most intelligent, loving, kind animal Dave and I have had the pleasure of living with. And to make it more painful, Chip was Dave's first pet - Chip picked out Dave and when the two made eye contact, I immediately told Dave that he was the one. Chip came to us from the Cleveland Animal Protective Shelter, having made the decision to get another black and white (tuxedo) cat a few days after we had put Carl to sleep. I wasn't ready but Dave insisted - and I am so lucky he did insist. What a wonderful cat - partner, friend, playmate, troublemaker, he was. Chip helped me with my sewing, made sure Grace stayed out of trouble, was our guard dog - hissed at people who should not come in, helped me with cooking. Just a wonderful cat. Didn't like riding in the truck, but once we got to a campground and settled in, he was fine. Often sat in the back and watched the world go by. And of course - finding the best spot to get the most of the sunshine, getting the spot before Grace found it. He loved his hammock - spending all kinds of hours sleeping or watching the birds out the window, or just hanging there. Thank you Dennis for getting Chip the hammock. And Chip was a man's man - if Dave was doing something around the house and had his tools out, Chip was right there helping him. Never waivered from giving Dave his two sense - use that tool, or can I try that? Let me see, let me help. What a guy, as Dave always said. Sometimes we couldn't find Chip - he had managed to get inside whatever space or nook or cabinet that Dave had been working on - just checking it out. And Chip's favorite place to lay - on Dave's slippers. Something about the leather, or the smell, or something - always on Dave's slippers.

He had a rough beginning, we didn't know that at 4 weeks old (yes! he was that young!) he had been neutered two days before we brought him home. He crashed within 3 days, I took off the next couple of days from work, taking Chip into the vet for interveneous feedings and antibiotics, and by 4 days of this regiment, he was coming around. Tough little kid. Obviously with him and his medical issues so young - he hated any and all vets. Growled when we took him in for shots. For the last couple of years we had been dealing with his decline, and Chip was a trouper. I looked back on the blog and noted that April 2010 while we were at Sapelo Island camping in Georgia, Chip had gotten sick and the managers of the campground found us a vet. That diagnosis was stress but now we know that wasn't it - he had a tumor and it was beginning to cause him problems. As we look back now - he had this growth for some time - Chip constantly was licking his stomach. But today - both Dave and I say - we were blessed to have two more years of Chip in our life, we were so lucky. Since this past Tuesday we knew his days were short, and my sister put it correctly - we were in hospice care for Chip. Rest in peace, Chip, we are so happy you aren't in pain anymore. We will meet up someday. We will always love you. Have fun and give 'em hell in your next life!