We made it from New Orleans to Tucson. We made the whole 1200 miles in 2 1/2 days and arrived ahead of schedule.
The Hall's stay in 4-star accomodations!
We spent four nights in Glenn and Karin's driveway. They live in eastern Tucson in a beautiful house that they are working hard to fix up. It's built in the "territorial" style common in town and dates back about 40 years or so. It's very lovely - swimming pool, covered patio for cool evenings, big kitchen and even a tower in back. The original owner built it as an observatory; there's still an 8 inch telescope mounted inside. Tom crawled up the ladder to take a look, but seems that someone cut the electricity to the lights up there and it's pretty dark at night.
Cooper's not allowed in the kitchen
Seems like most of what we did revolved around eating:
we had great dinners at home - stuffed pork tenderloin, pistachio nut encrusted chicken salad, smoked brisket. Yummy stuff. They are great cooks! Sally offered up some calamondin - it substitutes well in a key lime pie recipe. Sweet with just the right amount of tartness.
And we ate several lunches at local restaurants - deli, american diner, vietnamese.
Also, Glenn is working at a wine store, so we had some special wines - especially the last night.
But we saw some sights as well. After lunch on Wednesday, we went out to Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. They have a tram that takes you up 3.8 miles to the head of the canyon. You can walk back (either part way or the whole distance) and get back on the tram at any of the seven stops along the way. The scenery is gorgeous and the stream flowing down the canyon is a big attraction in such a dry area. Karin and I walked all the way to a point where the stream crosses the road and dipped out feet in the cold water off Mt Lemon (sp?).
Karin, Glenn and Sally at the canyon.
Tom the camera-man on the tram...
Thursday, we took a scenic drive to Sonoia, Patagonia and Patagonia Lake State Park on AZ 83 and 82. Lovely scenery again. Think about it - there's a lake in the middle of the desert! Again, lots of people enjoying the camping, boating, hiking and birding in the area. It's home to the Elegant Trogon. Unfortunately, the volunteers in the visitor center said the trogon was not around Thursday. It's too bad since this part of Arizona is one of few places you can see it.
The road to Sonoia
Boaters on Patagonia Lake
That night we ate Mexican (food again!). This time we were joined by another couple we met while workamping in Bethel Maine in 2006. They were volunteering at a BLM location, acting as caretakers for an old homestead. They are also being trained to lead tours at Karchner Caverns State Park (we visited there last year). Hopefully, when we visit Glenn and Karin next time, they will have a workamping assignment close by again.
The BOA workamper outpost at Magaly's
The last day was filled with shopping. Glenn and Tom ran errands to Costco and Camping World, while Karin and Sally hit the secondhand stores. Tucson has some of the best! I found a pair of Papillios (Birkenstocks) for $2! That evening we joined Glenn at a wine tasting at the wine store where he works. Really delicious selections. We enjoy that kind of thing; we frequently stop at local wineries as we travel.
Sally's bargain birkies
After a festive dinner Thursday night, we had to say goodbye to Tucson. Karin researched the filght options - I think they want us to come back. I'd say there's a very high probability!
A festive meal to end a wonderful visit!
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