Phoenix

Wednesday, January 22 - Today we left Tucson and drove to the east side of Phoenix.  We are staying at Lost Dutchman State Park.

Mom and I getting settled into our new spot at Lost Dutchman State Park.

A beautiful sunset.

Thursday, January 23 - Today Dad took Mom to the Laundromat and then he went to Harbor Freight.  He bought glue clamps to fix the medicine cabinet over the bathroom sink.  Yesterday on the way here, the screws pulled out of the wood and the door was hanging crooked when we arrived.  We were lucky that it didn't fall off.  The wood was split, so Dad couldn't just put in new screws.

Once Dad had his new glue clamps, he got Mom at the Laundromat and they came back to me.  He worked on gluing the wood while Mom put away the clean clothes.

Tonight Mom and Dad went to see our neighbors from home, Larry and Kathleen.  They have a house a couple miles from here and they spend the winters here.  They said it was good to see Larry and Kathleen and have a nice meal at their house.  They got to watch the sunset over Phoenix and then watch the twinkling lights of town as it got darker.

We will just have to take their word for it.  They forgot to take pictures 😞

Friday, January 24 - Today Mom and Dad went to the Mesa Market.  It's a huge flea market near here.  I stayed home because I don't like fleas.  They also did some grocery shopping.  When they got home, we enjoyed another beautiful sunset.

Saturday, January 25 -  The other night, Larry suggested that Mom and Dad go to the end of First Water Road near the State Park and check out a hike that he and Kathleen like.   There are several trails that will make loops, but All Trails listed the shortest one is 9 miles.  Mom and Dad decided to go out 3.5 miles and then turn around for a 7 mile hike total.  They said it was a great trail.  The first part was next to a stream and then they went up to some beautiful views.

Lots of nice views.

Mom and Dad with the Weaver's Needle in the background.

A closer look at the Weaver's Needle.

This is the Jolly Green Giant Saguaro.
He's really tall.

This is the Maytag repairman of Saguaro Cactus.  Doesn't he look lonely?

Dad told me that people ride horses on the same trail they took.   That's my kind of trail.  A 7 mile long buffet of pre-digested salad (horse poo).  Yum!  I'm sorry I missed it, but at least I had a nice view here in the campground.

Mom and Dad have had a busy week of hiking.  Mom's Fitbit has tallied 74,000 steps.  That works out to about 34 miles.  That's the most steps since she hit 95,000 steps in Norway/Iceland in July.  

We have a few more days here in Phoenix.  I'll tell you about those next time.

Love,

Doolin

Tucson - Part 2

Saturday, January 18 - Today Mom and Dad drove south of Tucson to a place called Madera Canyon.  It is near Green Valley, Arizona.  Mom and Dad took a 3 mile hike with 450 feet of elevation gain.  Mom said the bad part was that the entire elevation gain was in the last mile that's a nearly 10% grade.

The view down Madera Canyon.

Mom and Dad on their hike.

 After their hike, they drove to Tubac, Arizona.  Tubac is an artsy town with lots of fun shops and galleries.  One of the things they have on right now is Javelinas on parade.  A Javelina is a pig-like creature that roams in the desert around here.  There were Javelina statues all over town, each one decorated in a different way.  Here is one of the Javelinas.

They had an early dinner in Tubac at Tubac Jack's and then came home to me.  

Sunday, January 19 - Today Mom and Dad drove to Nogales and crossed into Mexico.  There are a couple things they want that they thought they could find in Mexico, so they decided to go across the border and check it out.  As a shopping trip, it wasn't very productive.  They came back empty handed.

Waiting to cross the border back into the USA.  You can see the border
wall, at the left edge of the to USA sign.  Fortunately, Mom
and Dad got to go through the gate.

.

Even with the Border Fence, Mom and Dad saw
these at several locations between Nogales and Tucson.

Monday, January 20 - Today Mom and Dad decided to hike the Bren Peak Loop in Tucson Mountain Park.  It's only four miles, so they thought it would be a nice hike.  They found the hike on Mom's new All Trails App and it said the trail could be hard to find at times and that it was rocky.  They decided that was a HUGE understatement.

Mom taking a break along the trail

In places, the trail was a steep scramble.

The trail collapsed here.  Mom says that it doesn't look like that
big a deal, but that piece of ground that Dad is standing on is
really skinny and it's pretty much straight down from there.

Once they got the top, there were great views of everything but the trail ahead.

More nice views.

Tuesday, January 21 - Today was a rainy day.  Mom and Dad stayed with me in the RV in the morning.  It stopped raining in the afternoon, so they decided to go to Sabino Canyon.  They said it's a very cool place.  

They rode a tram into the canyon and got off at the last stop.  You might be able to see the tram in the middle of the photo.

On the way, the tram went through several low water crossings. 

Once they were off the tram, they walked to a place where
there was a natural dam that created a waterfall.

A closer look.

Below the falls.

After a fun week in Tucson, we will be moving on to the Phoenix area tomorrow.  I'll tell you about that next time.

Love,

Doolin

Tucson, Arizona

Wednesday, January 15 - Today we arrived at the Gilbert Ray Campground at Tucson Mountain Park near Tucson, Arizona.  After we got set up at the Campground, Mom and Dad went to Wal-Mart.  We needed a few groceries.  While they were there, they decided to make another purchase. 

Our new RV size humidifier.

Yesterday, while Mom was in Kartchner Caverns (where it is about 70 degrees and 98% humidity in the cave), her nose felt better.  Meantime, the relative humidity is 16% in the RV and Mom's nose has not been doing very well.    Mom and Dad decided that they could do something about this problem, hence the purchase.

They got back to the RV in time to watch the sunset.

First there were pinks and purples.

that progressed to yellow and orange.

Thursday, January 16 - We had a little rain in the night and it's supposed to rain more today.  We have the humidity in the RV up to 45%.  While the moisture has Mom's nose feeling better, she doesn't feel up for a hike, so they hung out with me in the RV and decided to run some errands in the afternoon.

 When they come home, the sun came out. 

A full Rainbow and fluffy clouds over the desert.  Incredible!

 

and another spectacular Sunset!

Friday, January 17 - Dad made some bread 2 days ago.  It's a new no-knead recipe that he's never made before.  He didn't think it was ready to bake yesterday, so he baked it this morning.  I think it looks pretty good.

The humans eat pretty well, even in the RV.

 In the afternoon, they decided to drive up Mount Lemmon. 

The view from one of the first pull outs.

Further up the mountain.  In the middle of the photo, just off the rocks,
you can see a narrow squiggle.  That's the road where they came up.

Closer to the top.  The mountains in the distance are 25 miles away.

We still have a few more days in Tucson.  I'll tell you about those next time.

Love,

Doolin

Rodeo, New Mexico (Part 2) to Kartchner Caverns State Park

Thursday, January 9 - Today Mom and Dad took a drive on a Jeep road into the Canyons to the west of Rodeo.

In 40 miles, this was the only traffic they encountered.  I told you Rodeo is remote.

I'm glad that they came home for dinner and so we could watch the sunset.

Friday, January 10 - Dad's been fighting a cold and now Mom is sick, too.  The good thing about that is they spent the whole day with me.

Saturday, January 11 - Today we moved the RV from Rodeo to Douglas, New Mexico.  Douglas is on the border with Mexico (the country).  We can see the Border wall from the campground.  Mom and Dad went into Douglas to check it out.

The Lobby of the Gadsden Hotel.  This hotel was built in 1907.  There is a
chip in the marble stairway, which legend has it, happened when
Pancho Villa rode his horse up the stairway.

Then they took a drive by the border wall.  They said the houses on
the other side looked better than most of the ones in Douglas. 

They drove out to the San Bernadino Wildlife Refuge east of town and took a walk.

The wildlife refuge goes right up to the Border with Mexico.

This is the current barrier.  The closer fence is steel filled with concrete.
Mom and Dad didn't take a close look at the far one, but it's not
something that a car or truck could drive through.

A few miles down the road, the current barrier is being demolished and a new wall
is being built.  There is an arrow in the middle of the photo.  To the right is wall
like the small sections standing in the foreground.   Under the arrow, there is a
crane that is placing new sections.  Even though this is Saturday, the parking
lot was full of work trucks and activity is in full swing.
 I'm glad Poodles don't have to pay taxes!

It was about 15 miles from Douglas to the Border Wall Construction site. 
This was about 1/2 way in between.  Someone has a sense of humor.  

Sunday, January 12 - Today Mom and Dad drove to Bisbee.  

This is the Lavender Pit Copper Mine on the south side of town.  It operated from 1917 to 1974.
It is 4,000 feet wide and 5,000 feet long.  It's 850 feet deep.  Mom couldn't get a photo that
went all the way to the bottom.  It's named the Lavender Mine after Mr. Lavender
who was a manager for the Phelps Dodge Mining Company, not because of the color.  

Goes along with the bumper sticker that they saw on another car.
"Bisbee - It's like Mayberry on Acid"

Just outside of Bisbee is Lowell.

Everything is a blast from the past.

This guy was part of the welcoming committee.
You can tell by his red ribbon.  He had an assistant with a similar ribbon.

On the way home from Bisbee, Mom and Dad went by the Whitewater Draw
Wildlife Area to look at the Sandhill Cranes.  Sandhill Cranes winter in this area.
All those grey bumps are birds.  This is only one of the many flocks that they saw.

This is some of the "Art" around the RV Park where we stayed.

Monday, January 13 - Today we left our RV park near Douglas.  Mom still isn't feeling well.  She helped Dad get the car hitched up and helped in get backed into our new spot at Kartchner Caverns State Park.  Then, she went to bed.  She got up and ate a little dinner and then went back to bed.  Dad and I went for a little walk and other wise just hung out around the RV.  We didn't take any photos.😞  

Tuesday, January 14 - Mom is feeling a little better today, so Mom and Dad decided to take a tour of the caverns.  They said it was pretty spectacular.  Unfortunately, you will have to come see it for yourself, because cameras aren't allowed, so we don't have any photos.  

Love,

Doolin