Friday

We've been busy the last few days.   Wednesday Dave did a little preventative maintenance under Beluga.

He used one of John's cast off slide toppers as a ground cloth and it worked perfectly to keep him off the stones under Beluga!

We washed and conditioned Lewis in preparation for his first mow job of the year.  

Thursday morning we set up the grooming table behind Beluga and spent a few hours clipping and scissoring sweet Lewis.   We always like how he looks just before its time to clip, but clip we must to keep him neat.   Those curls collect all manner of leaves and prickers from the desert and its nice to get them taken care of.      We won't have to do it again for at least 6 or 7 weeks.

Later in the day Cindy P, Walter and Geneva came over for happy hour.   It was a lovely warm day so we were able to sit outside and visit.   Pam and John stopped by to say hello and we sat out until it got too cold.  As soon as the sun goes down the temperatures drop quickly.

Today John and Pam, Steve and Mona Liza went on a beautiful hike, they invited Dave to join them but his back was feeling a little "ouchy" so he opted to stay back and not push.

We packed a lunch and drove the 15 or so miles to the Saguaro National Park.

We ate lunch at Gates Pass and enjoyed the views in front of and behind the jeep.

We continued on into the National Park, walking when we felt like it and auto touring on the Bajada Loop Trail through a veritable forest of Saguaro.

I've always been fascinated by Saguaro.   They grow exclusively in the Sonoran desert.      I love them when they're small and young, when they're tall and old.    Even Saguaro that have died are fascinating to me.

still standing skeleton

dead, downed and deflated

Some of them are  perfect,  just what you've seen on post cards of the west.

But there is much diversity....no two are the same.

These tree-like cacti provide homes for Gila Woodpeckers, Gilded Flickers, various flycatchers and Elf Owls.

blue grey gnatcatcher

They have a very long lifespan and don't even start to grow "arms" until they are 75-100 years old.   A ten year old Saguaro may only be one and a half inches tall!.      They can reach heights of 70 feet in good growing conditions.

They are covered with rows of spines, white waxy flowers in the late spring and red "fruit" in the summer.   They are at once magnificent and ridiculous.   I can't get enough of them!

After our lovely afternoon communing with the Saguaro, we met up with John and Pam, Steve and Mona Liza at El Charro in downtown Tucson for a yummy Mexican dinner.  

Tomorrow we head over to the Pima County Fairgrounds to attend the winter Tucson Dressage horse show with the Ponds.

"safety"

Your Homeland Security tax dollars at work.....

"The wall"

 The Surveillance Blimps overhead

The "checkpoints"

I didn't take any pictures of the hundreds of white and green trucks, vans, and trailers running up and down the roads and parking stealthily in the desert.   Their driver's don't appear to have a sense of humor about being photographed.

Monday in Tucson

We're settled into our site at Tucson's Lazy Days KOA.  We're all having a bit of culture shock adjusting to these accommodations.   Beluga is backed in to a nice gravel site with paved patio and round table/chairs.  There are fruit trees, laden with oranges and grapefruit, between each spot and  behind us is the  rv storage area.   I requested one of these sites so we'd only have neighbors on three sides...    
Last week we were in a small and un-busy (is that a word?) dirt and gravel rv park in the middle of nowhere.   Not much going on there except a golf cart or two passing by and the sound of yipping coyotes at night.  

Here we're in the middle of Tucson with very active train traffic at night and lots of people/dogs/rv's/cars/bikes running along in front of Beluga most all day long.

Good things about both places, just a bit of an attitude adjustment.

Pam and John are diagonally across the park from us and Steve and Mona Liza are two sites down.    Tina and Ron and their dogs are near Pam and John so we've lots of friends around.    

Last night we were invited to Steve and Mona Liza's house for happy hour.   Boy was it ever a HAPPY hour when we discovered that Mona Liza was preparing her famous Lumpia for us!    I took no pictures, I just ate and talked and drank.
Thanks Mona Liza!

Today Dave and Steve gathered their ladders and assorted tools and set about helping John remove and replace his slide toppers.

men and their ladders

I'ts not a one man job and many hands make light work.    Lewis likes to be one of the "boys" but his lack of opposable thumbs make him a clumsy helper.   He's very sweet so we humor him.

Pam made us a luscious lunch after the job was done and it was wonderful to be able to sit outside to enjoy it.   Its been a long time since we were able be outside without moving around vigorously to stay warm.

We have a number of things to do here in Tucson this week, and plenty of socializing to boot.

End of the week

Here it is Saturday already.   We're leaving Naco and Turquoise Valley Golf Course and RV Park in the morning, heading back to Tucson.

We've had a splendid time here, most days playing golf and eating out.   Friday we took a day off from our usual routine of taking turns whacking the little white ball, walking a long way, whacking the little white ball, looking for the little white ball, walking, throwing hands in the air, the holding of heads, a few choice words, writing numbers with a tiny pencil, then repeating the whole process at least 18 times.

 We went into Bisbee to just look around.   It was cloudy and windy and quite cold.

 I'll let these pictures give you a flavor of the town.   Word of warning - there are a lot of pictures.....

Lavender Pit
 a enormous former open pit copper mine on the way into Bisbee

At one time Bisbee was the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco

Every fall, October I think, Bisbee hosts its Bisbee 1000 The Great Stair Climb, drawing thousands of people to climb the old, deteriorating stairs in the city.    They were built by the WPA following old Copper Mine mule paths that wound up and through the area.     I venture to say that there are more than 1000 steps leading to precariously perched houses and cottages.

There is a map that leads you to all the staircases and street connections used in the event, but we didn't have it.   Nor did we want to climb the stairs in the cold wind.

We continued our walk and auto hike around town.

One night we had dinner at Screaming Banshee Pizza, housed in a renovated gas station.    Wood fired pizza's and pastas decorated with unusual art work.

portrait of the screaming banshee
looking down on Dave

view from below

corner gate

interesting fence

The sky finally began to clear as we pointed the jeep toward the mountains in Mexico and we had a decent sunset as a result.

Today we took care of a few of necessary domestic chores and played 18 great holes before having an absolutely lovely dinner at Cafe Roka.    Perfect end to a wonderful week.

Wednesday in Naco

The weather is cooperating with us at last.   Its cold in the mornings, like 26 degrees cold, like unhook the exterior water connections to keep from freezing cold, but when the sun comes up the chill recedes.    Its still not hot by any means, but sweatshirts and fleece vests on the golf course keep us toasty.

John tempts fate today and wears shorts

Lewis is enjoying having Gramma Pamma's motorhome right outside his window.   He can see when she and that man of gramma pamma come and go, he keeps a close watch on their door.   They keep a box of treats inside that door.....

Its nice that the golf course is just across the street.   Pam "negotiated" a great deal with the pro shop.....$50 for unlimited golf for the entire week we're here.    We're able to take it easy in the mornings until it warms up a bit and then head over to play after lunch.

see Beluga to Dave's right?

There are patches of snow here and there in the shade, but the course is mostly dry.

We've gone into nearby Bisbee for dinner a few times.  Huge margarita's and great Mexican food at Santiago's and tonight we dined at The Table.    

Bisbee is a quirky little town full of eclectic buildings, shops and a nice little museum.   One of these mornings we'll drive over and just walk around a bit....its been awhile since we've done that.    

one of the hundreds of interesting staircases on Bisbee's curved and hilly streets

Pam wants to do the 1000 stair climb - again.   I don't think we'll join her.