Tucson Revisited

Tucson, AZ   Feb. 28th Voyager RV Park and Golf    Site 5-160 Standard site    Highs: 60's -low 70's  Lows: high 20's to 40's

We left our tight site in Yuma at Foothill Village on Tuesday with the help of our RVing friend, George, who came over to give us an extra set of eyes at the back of the rig to pull out of our tight spot between a VERY close palm tree and the electrical box. Eldy did a masterful job of pulling out without having to back up and jockey the rig back and forth to get out. There was a big oleander hedge right in front of him but he didn't even graze it!  Sometimes an extra set of eyes is all you need. Thank you, George!

We had a nice but windy four hour drive from Yuma to Tucson and once we got here, we saw that an even bigger wind/snow event was headed our way. No problem! We are a well insulated RV and we got our three propane tanks filled so no worries.

Yesterday we wanted to go see the prolific wildflower bloom at Picacho Peak State Park that we saw from the roadside on our way here. Guess it's kind of a rare thing as Arizona doesn't usually get much rain or enough to trigger the expansive wildflower bloom but every few years. During a rainier than normal year such as this year, the wildflowers burst into bloom and WOW! Carpets of yellow and orange poppies everywhere! It was a little less than an hour's drive from our RV park in Tucson and was well worth the drive.

Picacho Peak State Park

We walked all around the park and took note of future hikes. Sparky went up a short hike called the Children's Cave and passed a grandma and her grandson on the way down. She heard someone suggest that the grandson help his grandma down the trail at a rocky part. She circled around the short walk to a little fenced off cave and on the way back down, she encountered the same grandma who had slid on the loose rock, fallen, and badly injured herself. She was bleeding from her head and arm, injured her ankle and possibly broke her ring finger which was swelling so fast it was turning blue. She was lucid and had called 911, but Sparky called the state park office to try and get a ranger out sooner for faster attention. Sparky felt bad for the young grandson, as he was so scared and upset he cried that his grandma got hurt. Another mom with her daughter and Sparky stayed with the lady till help came. Hope she is ok.....It just made Sparky realize that even if you think you can manage a hike with the bare minimum, you need to be ALWAYS prepared for yourself and others--hiking poles, first aid in a backpack, and enough water. Once help arrived, we left and decided that since a winter storm was coming that night, we would take the scenic drive up Mount Lemmon that we love so much so off we went to revisit that. 

Sparky tries to make a little snowman

They had had several snowfalls but the scenic drive was open. We started at the bottom of the valley at 63 degrees, and by the time we got to the top at over 9,000 feet, the temperature had dropped to 33 degrees. Beautiful vistas along the way, always spectacular whether it's a cloudy day or a sunny one.

The flowing water from the melting snow at the top had iced into mini frozen waterfalls on the rocks at lower elevations.

There are many pullouts and vistas along the way. One is called the Seven Cataracts. When the water is flowing you can see SEVEN waterfalls although they are quite far away. When you try to take a photo of all seven, the best you can do is about three of them. 

Sparky thought the Seven Cataracts was a weird choice of labeling (cataracts are related only to the eyes?) until she looked up the meaning of cataracts in nature:  AHA!

cataract--a large waterfall; violent rush of water over a precipice

We love learning new things! We did not know that!

Years ago we came to Arizona, and we just remembered it as being brown, tan and dry to the bone. No greenery except for aging saguaros (those tall cactus with "arms") all over the place. We really aren't desert people, but you can't beat the warm temperatures during the winter....haha....see below.

We actually didn't like the area years ago, except for the upscale Voyager RV resort that we stayed at back then. This year is totally different. We are seeing Arizona through different eyes, we love the mountains, we love the cacti, we love the difference in the vegetation, rain or not. But with the rain and the wildflower bloom this year, it has really brightened the landscape everywhere. There is even stubby grass growing in the desert! The weather has been all over the place. We've had two dust storms and more rain and several big wind days with gusts over 45 mph. and the locals say that is very unusual. Here in Tucson, it was 86 degrees last year on March 2! This year it was 31 degrees this morning when we woke up to this:

It was so weird seeing the heavy snow covering the palm trees! It didn't stick on the ground and rapidly melted as the day warmed up. Sparky still loves seeing snow. 

It felt like Christmas morning when you wake up as a little kid, hoping it snowed the night before so Santa could make it down the chimney.

view outside our bedroom window

endangered Gila topminnow

This weekend it's going to be 72 and totally sunny....Sparky will ride the Loop bike trail a time or two. This time she rode a section of The Loop bike trail over by Sweetwater Wetlands, a very small park with birding and wildlife viewing. She saw these stenciled fish along the trail and wondered what that was all about? 

It turns out that the endangered Gila topminnow, a native Sonoran desert fish was discovered in the Santa Cruz River in Tucson. A conservation artist, Kimi Eisele, was chosen to depict the fish along the Santa Cruz River to connect the public with the fish and the flowing river. The fish came back to the ecosystem because of the treated wastewater. Since the 1970's, the highly treated wastewater, the effluent, has created a green riparian corridor for over 20 miles and the Gila topminnow are back!

The photo at the upper right guides the cyclist or walker or casual pedestrian to a platform overlooking a very low flowing stream, but apparently, the minnow must be in there. The beautiful fish stencils most definitely engage your interest! AND, if you are lucky, you might see a roadrunner or two along the dry, desert washes. Sparky saw TWO on her last ride.

However, the trash all along and inside the washes (the dry riverbeds for the heavy monsoon season in the summers) is NOT very attractive. It was sad to see all the debris left behind by people and how it all ends up in the washes is another story and probably a big problem for Tucson. It's got to end up in storm drains or clogging the system somewhere. Signs even warn you not to traverse portions of the trail if flooded due to the debris that will be deposited.

Monday we leave for Fort Davis State Park in Arizona for a few days, which is very close to the McDonald Observatory. That place has very cool star gazing programs. Unfortunately, there are no openings available for the short sty we are there, but it is HIGHLY recommended by many.....

Always an adventure, this travel lifestyle! This will be a new stop for us at Fort Davis State Park. You never know what's going to be around the corner...Stay tuned and thanks for reading!