TUCSON & MORE FRIGGIN' DRAMA

     We had a great visit to CT for the holidays.  Christmas was at Acacia and Adam's and the New Year was with our friends Marie and Tom.  We were fortunate to have a lot of time with family and were able to see almost all of our friends.  Funny thing was that CT was actually warmer than Tucson until our last day when the temperatures in CT dropped to almost 5 degrees.
The "Family Fin."
Hazel, Joyce, Bill, Matt, Acacia &Adam, Bryce, Nancy and Amy (Matt's fiance)
     Upon our arrival back in Arizona we were welcomed with a rare rain storm which continued for almost 3 days.  By the time the storm left I think AZ received over 1 inch of liquid.  For CT this is a "drop in the bucket" but for AZ this is bordering on a major flood event.  On the last day of the storm we decided to take a side road back to the campground.  The road is a roller coaster in dry weather with stomach-flipping steep drops into almost a hundred washes over a 4 mile drive.  We were lucky that the washes were only swamped with a few inches of water so we had a blast splashing through the deluge.  We felt like little kids in a mud puddle.
Mission San Xavier del Bac
Tucson, AZ
     We love Tucson!  It has everything a city could offer, including incredible mountain biking and fantastic nearby wilderness.  We have been to fun festivals, interesting museums, excellent restaurants, and superb sightseeing.  The Catalina Mountains which hover over the city create an awesome backdrop.  The other evening the sunset turned the sky pink resulting in the snow capped mountain range becoming a pink, jagged spectacle.
The Catalina Mountains viewed from Tucson at sunset.
     Although we have been loving hanging out in our campground we did manage to hit some of Tucson's highlights.  Our travels included the Saguaro National Park, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Biosphere 2, DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, the 4th Avenue Festival, and Sabino Canyon National Recreation Area.
DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun. 
DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun
     The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park are at the pinnacle of Tucson's attractions.  The Desert Museum sends visitors on beautiful trails which highlight all of the Sonora Desert's unique features.  It seems as if you are walking in a desert garden with desert animals spread along the trail in a zoo-like setting.  Our favorite thing was the raptor show which featured falcons, hawks and owls flying at eye level across the visitors observation area.  Several times I had to duck to avoid being struck by a raptor in flight.  One hawk started its descent from a least a mile away, picked up lightening fast speed, and crossed less than 2 feet in front of my face.  Wicked cool!
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Javalina
These things live on the desert and can get very ferocious.
Their teeth are large, sharp and formidable.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
     While we were in Tucson we were treated to a visit from some of our oldest friends-Dick & Gaila. This time we were able to spend 3-4 days with them and had a blast.  We shared a few meals, a few happy hours, and some great music at our campground.  I took Dick out on his first mountain bike ride and even entertained him with another "face-plant."  Also, we toured Biosphere 2 with them. Biosphere 2 (of course, earth is biosphere 1) is the place were a group of scientists lived for 2 years, enclosed in the biosphere and relied solely on the food and oxygen produced in the biosphere, without any outside supplies or aid. On the day of our trip we actually experienced a snow storm with a 1 inch accumulation at the biosphere.
Biosphere 2
Gaila, Dick & Nancy at Biosphere 2.
A snow covered yucca plant at the entrance to Biosphere 2.
When it snows in the Tucson area people drive for
miles to witness the event.  A few days ago the Sheriff's Office
had to close a road to the top of Mt. Lemmon as it was jammed with snow gawkers. 
     Finally, we went to a "gourmet" Mexican restaurant.  Since we had never heard of "gourmet" Mexican food, we had to partake.  This was not your taco and burrito place so we needed an interpreter to figure out the menu.  My meal was fantastic, but Nancy's meal was nothing special. Now that we have sampled "gourmet" Mexican cooking, we can shift our Mexican cuisine back to "Moe's."
Sabino Canyon National Recreation Area
Tucson, AZ
This one of the few places in the Tucson with a consistent flow of water.
     I am thinking of renaming this blog and calling it The Lament of Drama Queens!  It seems that we go from one weird disaster to another.  Anybody who reads this blog must wonder how 2 seemingly normal (?!) people can consistently get into so much trouble.  The latest event occurred on our last day in Tucson before heading to Connecticut for the holidays.  As we were scurrying around to finalize preparation of the rig for storage, we locked all the windows and headed out to fill the propane tank. While we were filling the rig with propane, Nancy stayed inside and I went outside to watch the fill-up.  This turned out to be fortuitous as when I closed the door the lock broke in the locked position. This left Nancy locked inside and me locked outside.  Fortunately, with Nancy inside she was able to unlock a window so I could use the rear ladder to climb into the rig in order to drive it to the storage facility.  Since I could not repair the lock nor get the door opened, we spent the rest of the day climbing in and out of the rig's windows using ladders.  The good news was that we were able to get the lock repaired on our first day back to Tucson, but not before having to go through our set-up procedure using the ladder to window method entrance and egress.
Nancy entering the rig through the passenger window.
Notice the orange suction cup which allowed us to slide the window back & forth.
Our rear ladder exit.
This is good "fire drill" practice.
     Next we are heading to join approximately 100,000 other RVer's who descend on the tiny town of Quartzsite, AZ (population 3,700) every January for a huge RV show, and a Rock and Gem Festival. Yippee, more rocks!  (Don't get me started...)

     You may open the link below to see the route we travelled in 2015:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zLQQ1JSxt_JA.kPd-RkPl4eE4&usp=sharing

     
     Below is the map of states we have visited in our rig since the start of our RV adventure:
   
Quote of the day:
     Found on a beer label for Wasatch Brewery, UT—Devastator Double Bock Lager:  “If you’re going to sin, sin big.  With 8% alc/vol and a creamy richness, this brew has developed a serious cult following.  Imagine that – a cult following in Utah?!  FOOD PAIRINGS: FRONT OF COW, BACK OF COW, RATTLESNAKE.  wasatchbeers. com  UTAH’S SECOND FAVORITE VICE!”     

CHEERS!

Comments

  1. Okay, George, we've decided that you're leading the convoy when we all go RV'ing somewhere together. With you two in the lead, we may not be safe, but we'll have a heck of a good time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting post. You need to get those faux pas out of your life before you find yourself sitting along the Alaska Highway miles from any service:)

    ReplyDelete

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