Back among the Saguaro (10-24-13)

The last time we were in the Tucson area, we had planned to do some hiking, but instead, I broke my arm, so we didn’t make it out on any trails. 

This time around, luckily, that wasn’t an issue, so out among the cactus we went.  Our first venture was into the Coronado National “Forest”. 

We stopped at the very crowded Visitor's Center to get recommendations from the rangers, and ended up on Bear Canyon Trail to Seven Falls waterfall.

After 4 miles and 1000 ft of elevation gain, I was feeling tired.  By the time we reached the waterfall, the temperature was about 86 degrees.  Had I known there would actually be a fair amount of water (who knew?? It is a desert after all) I would have worn my swimsuit.

    .  Instead, we sat in the shade and had lunch while we watched other people (mostly kids) go for a dip in the multiple pools created by the falls.   After lunch we made our way back- a little easier since it was more downhill.










After a couple of days to recover, we headed out again- this time to Catalina State Park to hike to Romero Pools.









  It was even hotter this time, and the trail, although a little bit shorter at 7 miles, had a total of 1600 ft of elevation gain.  It was a little more interesting, with a little climbing, and some great views.

At the end of the trail (well, not actually the end- it keeps going) we were rewarded with the Pools.  At first we thought it was just the little pool within a creek, and we took off our boots to cool off for a bit.  Our packs were heavy with all the water we need to carry and it felt good to get them off for a bit!

We soon discovered that if we kept walking just a little further, there are more pools- several of them are deep enough to swim in.  We didn’t, but several people clearly made the trek out there with the intent to swim.

After a week in the lap of luxury, we moved on towards Phoenix, but we stopped at Picacho Peak to hike one of our favorite trails. Every time we pass by this way, we try to hike this one.

  This time around we did it differently.   We went up Hunter Trail ( the more difficult and steep trail) to the peak, and back down Sunset Trail, which is a little easier.  There’s lots of rock climbing involved, and sometimes you have to wait for someone to come down, before you can go up.

There are many places where the cliff is quite steep, but usually there’s a fence or railing to help out. I do better when I don’t look down.

We were delayed on our way up by an accident.  A young guy had been rock climbing off trail and fell about 20 feet. Several paramedics came up the trail to help him, so we waited around to see if they would need help carrying him down the mountain to the helicopter. Once we knew they were all set, we moved on.

Sometimes you have to go down, to go up.  We don’t like it when that happens, but there isn’t much choice!

In many places there are cables to hold onto while you climb, which sure makes it a lot easier going up and down!

Once we got to the peak, the view was awesome, as usual!

After lunch, we started the trek back down. By now, the temperature was in the mid 80s- pretty hot for hiking in the desert.  Luckily there were a few clouds in the sky to keep us from baking.

The trip down can sometimes be trickier than the trip up.  Especially for me, because it’s easier to not look down when you are going up!

 
Also,somehow on the trip down, it’s easier to see the precariousness of the trail!

We didn’t have any problems though, and 8.4 miles after we left, we arrived back at the campground. 








{rant on} A note about this trail:  It’s not for novice hikers, and there is a big sign at the trailhead that says that.  It also says to stay on the trail, wear good hiking boots, and bring at least 3 quarts of water per person.  It states that the trail is not suitable for dogs, or for children under 10.  We saw two dogs on the trail- I’m not sure how they even made it up there.  We also saw a man with 4 kids, all under 12 years old or so, and the ONLY one who had any water was the adult.  He had one bottle of water and NO food for the 5 of them.  It amazes me when I see people hiking in the desert with no food or water {rant off}. 

Luxury Living in Tucson (10-20-13)

Ah, the good life.  We’re staying in a resort (Voyager) in Tucson that has everything you could possibly want.  Because it’s not quite their “season” yet, we get half price using Passport America, a discount club that we belong to.  So, for $25 a night we get:

the Billiard Room

   Indoor pastimes include a Poker Room, Sewing Room, Lapidary, Silversmith, Billiards,  Stained Glass Workroom, Library, Quilting Room, Woodworking Room…..and that’s just a few of them.

Paul plays Pickle Ball

For staying fit, there is a great fitness room, Pickle ball courts, Tennis, Bocce, Shuffleboard, Horseshoes, and a 9 hole golf course. And there are all kinds of fitness classes to attend, if you want.  Afterwards, you can get a massage at the Massage Center.









Of course there are the usual pools.  Two outdoor pools and hot tubs, and one indoor pool. The only thing that’s missing is a pool bar, but there IS a restaurant onsite. And a health center.








So, life has been somewhat lazy this week, but not totally.  We have gone on two killer hikes (separate post).  The temperature has gone up from a high of 84 when we got here, to a high of 91 today, so I don’t think there will be any more hikes for a bit. Paul has gotten some work done on the truck, and discovered an issue with the exhaust, so we’ll have to get that fixed as well.  Tomorrow we head to Costco to get our eyes checked for new glasses.  We’ll have them shipped to our daughter in CA, where we’ll be in two weeks.

We had to extend our stay by a day or so because we’re having a few things shipped to us, and not everything will make it here in time for us to leave as scheduled.


Tonight we are kicking back, watching the Red Sox hopefully beat the Cardinals in game one of the World Series.

Albuquerque, NM (10-14-13)

After taking a day or so to recover from the non-stop activity of the Balloon Fiesta, we were ready to see what else there is to see in Albuquerque.  We’ve been here before and have seen all the stores in Old Town, so we elected not to go there. 

The Federal Shutdown has had an impact on our itinerary.  In fact, the next place on our path to Arizona was going to be Malpais National Monument, but of course, it’s closed.

We wanted to do some hiking in the Albuquerque area, but again, most of the hikes are on federal land and are not open.  We did find a trail that is open because, although it’s on Federal land, it’s maintained by the City of Albuquerque, so off we went.

 
The area is called Piedras Marcadas, which in Spanish means “Marked Stones”.  This is an area that contains hundreds of petro glyphs. We walked among the rocks for about 2 miles or so, checking out all the “art”. They have estimated that these petro glyphs have been here since the year 1300 A.D.  It’s amazing that they are still so vibrant.

When we look at them we think in terms of people just drawing pictures because they want to, but in reality, this was a major form of communication before the written word.  This particular area was a major crossroad for ancient tribes.  One picture was of a man with an arrow in his head.  Not sure what that was communicating!

For our last night out together, we headed first to a pizza place. It’s been months since I’ve had pizza and this stuff was really good! 

We wanted a quick meal because our real goal was to get to the Sandia Peak tram in time to see sunset at the top of the mountain.

We made it with a little time to spare.  We didn’t mind cutting it close, because it was so cold at the top, that it was snowing!

 

The snow made for some really interesting sunset shots!

  Finally, the sun was all the way down, and we headed down the mountain.  We found when we got to the top that you can actually hike up and just take the tram down.  Maybe next time!

Sadly, it was time to leave Mike and Julie, but we’ll see them again in January, and I’m sure the time will go by pretty fast!

  We left Albuquerque, heading towards Tucson, and stopped about halfway, in the small town of Deming, NM.  We knew another friend of ours is staying there so we stayed at the same park, and the three of us went out to dinner.

The restaurant Lee suggested is called Adobe Deli, and it’s one of those restaurants with lots of character. It’s out in the middle of the desert, in what used to be a school.
Paul’s ribs showed up on a sword type of thing, stuck in a chunk of wood.

Even the ladies room was interesting- a parking meter is in front of the stall doors, with a sign telling you to deposit 5 cents to use the facilities!









After a great dinner, we took off the next day for Tucson.  Tucson is at a lower elevation, and further south, so its much warmer there.  Unfortunately, at the moment, we only have one working air conditioner.  Our main  AC unit, in the living room, is broken.  It’s the one that has a heater, as well as an air conditioner.  Its not heating or cooling, which is not good.  It’s also not good that it’s 3 months out of warranty.  Seems like an air conditioner should last longer than two years.  Paul has spent a fair amount of time talking with DRV, Dometic, (the manufacturer of the air conditioner) and multiple repair places.  Apparently there’s not much that we can do, other than replace it, but Paul is going to try and see if the issue is a lack of refrigerant, and he’s ordered a tool to be delivered that he’ll use to check it.  Then we’ll see where we go from there.  In the meantime, we have a fan pushing the cold air from the bedroom to the living room, because it was 87 degrees here today!

The last of the Balloons (10-12-13)

Balloon Fiesta is not just a morning event.  There is something to see every evening, as well.   Friday, in the early evening, we visited Teresa at the hospitality area sponsored by her employer.  Once we had a bite to eat and visited for a bit, we moved on to the main field.







Several evenings the Fiesta has “Evening Glows” .  This is where the balloons light up once it’s dark outside, but they remain tethered. 





















We could walk among the balloons and watch them being blown up with the hot air.








  Once the Glow was finished, it was time for “Afterglow”.  Afterglow is the fireworks show that takes place every evening after the balloons are deflated again.

Having gotten up really early the first two days, for the second two days that we were at the Fiesta we decided to “sleep in” until about 6:30 and just drink our coffee outside while watching the balloons fly overhead.  None of us had been sleeping very well since they start parking cars (right next to us) at about 4 AM, with all the noise that goes along with that.

 It didn’t take long for the balloons to be directly overhead:


    































 

One of the pilots stopped briefly to drop off some passengers and pick up some new ones, and several of us held the basket down while the transfer was made.

Then they were off again, with a new set of passengers!















Once again the guys helped the balloonists move the basket to an easier spot to fold up the balloon.














   They both spent a couple of hours helping to deflate balloons and put them away. All in all it was a lot of fun!













Finally on Sunday afternoon the Fiesta came to an end and we moved on to another RV Park.  The following two days were pretty much spent recovering from the lack of sleep! We were all pretty beat, but it was so worth it- we had an awesome time!

Balloon Fiesta, Day 2 (10-10-13)

Day Two- the storm is gone and the wind has left with it.  Once again we are up before dawn, headed over to the launch area.  



This time, the green flag is waving, indicating that all systems are “Go” for launch.







 

We arrived in time to watch the “Dawn Patrol” balloons being inflated.

 
As the sky started to get light, the balloons headed for the sky.

Soon, the sun peaked over the mountain top, and the crowd got quiet as the National Anthem was sung while two balloons carrying our flag climbed above the field.

This was the magical day for me.  As we wandered among the hundreds of balloons, everywhere we turned, more balloons were being released. 

Soon, the skies were strewn with hundreds of them.

    

This was the day for the “special Shape” balloons to fly. Some of them were cool to see because they are familiar.

Others were just colorful and fun to watch.  Not all of them were special shapes- there were plenty of “regular” balloons as well.





















Rather than posting each picture here, and making everyone scroll down for 10 minutes just to see them all, here’s a photo album with some of my favorites!

View Full Album

Once most of the balloons were in the air, we realized that they were flying directly over our trailers, so we went back to watch the show from the comfort of our chairs.

Well, if we thought watching them go up was fun- watching them come down was an absolute blast!










Part of the reason why ballooning is big in Albuquerque is because of a phenomenon called “the box”.  Quite often, the wind at low altitudes blows in one direction, and the wind at higher altitudes blows in the opposite direction, so the balloons fly out, go up in altitude and then fly back to the launch pad. 



Well, on this particular day, the box wasn’t working. 

There was virtually no wind, and we soon noticed that the balloons were landing in the parking lot right behind our trailers! They couldn't make it back to the launch field because of the lack of wind.

It didn’t take Mike and Paul long to realize that the pilots could use some help on the ground (sometimes the chase crew couldn't get to the landing site in time).

 













The guys got into a great rhythm. Once a balloon got close to the ground, the pilot would let the people on the ground know where they would like the basket to land, so that the balloon would have enough space to “fall”.













 

I lost track of how many balloons the guys helped bring down (Julie and I helped too, just not quite as much as the guys), but at one point, they hopped the fence to the baseball diamond to help the pilots who had chosen that spot to come down.

I am sure they were both tired by the end of the day but we had an awesome time.