Too hot! Nice Sunsets

We have been experience way above normal temps - was 108 yesterday, and only down to 72 at night.  This is about 15 degrees above the normal.  Has been to 113 last week, no relief in sight.  Still no rain, but high winds in the afternoon are the norm.  The winds are so strong that dust storms (looks like a dust tornado) kick up and swirl around.  Good thing we have a/c - yesterday I was only outside for a whopping 1/2 hour.  Just too darn hot.  Have had the pleasure of driving in a habood - that's the term for a sandstorm - saw only about 500 yards in front of me due to lousy visibility.  And of course, there is increase activity as to rattlesnakes (two more killed in the park) and lots of scorpions are around.  Have to be very very careful - no flip-flops and definitely you look down at where you are going.  No surprises.  Can't wait to get out of this heat!

We are beginning our countdown to travel north, watching and updating every day about the 4 wild fires raging in Arizona.  One of them, the Sunflower, is about 35 miles from where we want to make our first stop when we head out.  As of this morning, the reports is that this fire is 95% contained.  Good thing. The really cool thing about the fires is it is creating the prettiest sunsets - the smoke just lingers in the air and what you are really looking at - not clouds - but smoke. They say that in Phoenix proper you can smell the smoke too.  Glad we are this far south!  These sunsets with the colors reminds us of Santa Fe's skies at night.

We think we will leave the 1st of June, we have made many lists of things to get done - like dentist appointments, doctor visits to refill prescriptions, purchasing non-perishable stuff like TP, paper towels, soaps, etc.  Still have lots to do.  We have been sitting tight for 5 months and will be really weird to be in the truck pulling the 5ver again.  And even more weird and sad - we won't have Chip to sing to us.  We think Grace might take over where Chip left off - we had her to the vet for her checkup and she sang to us for the first ten minutes.  Speaking of Grace - she is beginning to do some things that Chip did, like sit at the door and be there waiting when we get back, follows me everywhere - if I get up to go potty during the night - she is sitting on the edge of the bed watching to see where I go.  We do miss Chip.  Our baby.

Tubac Presidio SHP and Tumacacori NHP

Since people have expressed an interest in visiting us this coming winter, we are starting to branch out and look at possible places to take them to.  A National Historical Park Tumacacori, is located about 40 miles south of Tucson.  Sunday we drove the hour and 20 minute drive to Tumacacori, which is a mission established by Jesuit monks back in 1690's.  Father Kino's 1691 landmark visit to an O'odham village transformed the lives and culture of these native Indians.  He established many missions in the course of his life among the Indians between Mexico and California.  After the monks were expelled back to Spain, Franciscan monks came and took over the teachings and helping with the day to day existence of the native people.  Was very impressed with this national park, described very well, displays very explicit in what it was being depicted.  The mission (church) is no longer active, and with only private donations does the restoration continue.  A little sad that it isn't more restored. Definitely will bring folks here, lots of historical significance to this mission.

From there we drove the 4 miles back towards Tucson and stopped at Tubac which is a very trendy artsy town, catering to everyone who wants some piece of Mexico.  Established in 1752 as a presidio (fortress or garrison) by the Spanish, largely to support and protect Mission Tumacacori, Tubac was one of the many stops along the Camino Real (Royal Road) which lead from Mexico to California.  Tubac's most famous Spanish resident was Juan Bautista de Anza who eventually lead an expedition and found San Francisco. Apaches attacked the town repeatedly and by the 1840's the town residents were forced to flee.  By 1880 copper was discovered in the area and town again saw a booming life.   Shops galore, places to eat, very pleasant and very accessible place to get around.  Tubac Presidio State Historical Park has the distinction of being Arizona's first state park. The state has done a great job in describing how the people lived and farmed, how the children went to a one-room schoolhouse which was in use until the late 1940's, how the impact of the monks in the area changed the people's lives.

As we were reading about the one room schoolhouse, one sign told of the different styles of desks used.  Some were made in Cincinnati Ohio!  Seems no matter where we go, we find some reference to Ohio.  Factoid:  did you know that "Arizona" is not an old Indian based name - it is Basque (Spanish) which means - the good oak tree.  Huh.

Rose Canyon Lake

While getting acclimated to this increasing hot weather, we decided to head back up into Mount Lemmon for a last hurrah before we begin to get ready for our summer trip to Montana.  I had visited Rose Canyon Lake with my sister back about 2 weeks ago, was a lovely 72 degrees at the top of the mountain while a balmy 99 at the bottom in Tucson.  When Dave and I went up to the top back in January, many of the campgrounds were closed due to snow and having the water pipes freeze.  Most of the campgrounds were now open, opening from April 15 to October 15 each year.  Sine Rose Canyon Lake would be closed again when we get back late this fall, this was an opportunity we wanted to take.

We started the day early, leaving the base of Tucson in 95 degrees at 9am.  We steadily climbed in the car on the Skyway Scenic Drive up to the top of the mountain to a small village called Summerhaven, 22 miles later but in the time we climbed to the top - it was equivalent to driving from Mexico to Alberta crossing the United States in altitude.  In 2005 there was a fire that wiped out all the homes and small businesses in the town and you can still see the effects of the fire and even smell the fire after all this time.  Still, was a beautiful day and we began our treks by climbing even higher to the very top of the mountain where Arizona State University has it's observatory.  Two weeks ago when I brought my sister up to the top, there was still snow along the roadway but it had all melted.  We passed areas on the upper road that had shown signs of wash out due to the melt.  We took in the sights and then drove back down to 9100 feet altitude to Summerhaven and hiked a little of the Marshall Gulch trail - the top picture above.  Very pretty, very rugged.  After an hour or so we decided to go to Rose Canyon Lake and hike around the lake for awhile.  The temperature was 74, absolutely lovely.  Hiked to the other side where the dam is and then hiked back.  Sad part about this day, we won't be able to bring guests here during the winter months because this area is closed off due to snow.  By comparing this lake to Bear Lake in the Rocky Mountain National Park, Bear Lake by far was the best.  However, this little lake is serene, peaceful and you could hear the birds chirping, wind rusting the trees - just lovely. By the time we got back down the mountain and headed for home, the temp was 104.  What we have found is that we are becoming acclimated to the heat and 105 doesn't seem so bad, and 90 at night is a nice night!  Wow - are we Arizonians or what?

Now we begin the countdown to packing up the RV and heading north for the summer.  We aren't sure when we are leaving - there are 5 major fires burning north west and north east of Phoenix and we wanted to stop about 2 hours north east in a town called PineTop in an area called the Mongolian Rim of the White Mountains but aren't sure if that's feasible.  Most of the campgrounds are full, either by people who have left their homes and waiting out the fires, or, by firefighters who are camping there while they fight the fires.  We don't want to travel too far the first night out in case we forgot something, can head back and pick it up.