Thursday catch up

Tuesday morning we moved about 18 miles north to one of our favorite places, Catalina State Park.

We've been here before, most recently just before Christmas, but we never tire of the quiet, the birds, the huge sites and the way the light changes on the mountain views in front of us.

I've set up our "bird spa" just outside Beluga's door and I'm happy to say it is very well used.   The birds here are habituated to people feeding them and as soon as you step away from the feeder the stampede begins.    We have placed cut oranges in the trees, hung a hummingbird feeder and a mixed seed feeder, along with a pie plate filled with fresh water.   This set up makes our second cup a bit longer each day because we can't stop watching and laughing at their antics.

I haven't posted a blog since we got here because I discovered that our phone/internet coverage drops dramatically after the sun goes down - the time I usually sit down to do this blog.    I'm taking a minute this morning, before we head over to Jodee and Bill's site for an early happy hour/lunch-ish get together with Pam/John, MonaLiza/Steve, Jodee/Bill, and Cindy P and her family.    In this desert climate the early afternoon is warmest and most pleasant to be outside.     After the sun dips, the temps dip and it is no longer nice to be out.

A quick wrap up of our last few days at Lazy Days KOA Tucson and I'll close this post.

We spent Saturday afternoon with a dear old friend, originally our next door neighbor at the farm, Carm.     We've know her for 40 years and she is 91 years old so she definitely qualifies as an "old" friend!      After seeing our pictures of Sedona and hearing our tales of the west, she and her late husband, Joe, sold their house, bought a van (Dave turned it into a mini-motorhome for them) and moved to Sedona in 1979!    This was pre-Beluga days but even then we'd do anything to get to the west.    To prove that, we volunteered to drive their moving van and follow them across the country.    It was a fun trip.

They stayed in Sedona for 10 or 15 years and then moved down to Tucson, where Carm still lives.    It was great catching up with her, she's dealt with a few tragedies this past year but her smile is still strong.

Monday morning Dave, John and Steve replaced Steve's slide toppers and MonaLiza prepared a fantastic lunch of pancit guisado, a Philippine specialty.  Pam and I were lucky, we got to enjoy lunch without doing any work!    I took no pictures, I ate.

Yesterday afternoon we took Lewis on a hike here in Catalina State Park.  Its so great that the trails are (leashed) dog friendly and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

This was only the second time we were able to take Lewis along on a trail and he was definitely "on his toes" but he watched quietly when we encountered a few other hikers and we were happy with his behavior.

I got a chance to use my Christmas present lightweight hiking poles on the short ascent to the ridge part of the Canyon Loop Trail and I love them...Thanks Jess and Erin.

these two quietly watched us

It was another beautiful day, sunny and warm.    We started out with vests on because the wind was a little chilly but quickly shed them and were sweating by the end of our hike.

The sky was the impossible blue you only see out here.   If it looks otherwise in any of these pictures, its the fault of my photography!

We walked through forests of saguaros, stands of mesquite, through beside and across running washes and through dense, green bottom lands.   A lovely hike.

water in the desert is always a delight

After the recent rains and mountain snows, the washes were running strongly.  Some places deep, some shallow.   We made 4 or 5 crossings, I made 3 or 4 crossings successfully.    One not so successfully, but my trusty boots and wool socks dried eventually......

Dave spotted a huge and very unusual crested Saguaro near the end of our trail.
Pam told us we'd see one, we're very glad we didn't disappoint her!

After we finished and arrived back home Jodee and Bill came over for a proper Happy Hour.   We sat outside until the the settling cold ended our visit.

Lewis was very tired we caught him dozing in an upright position many times throughout the evening.....poor baby.