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.

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.