Two Spots in Tucson (01-09-15)

We spent two weeks in Tucson-the first of which was spent at Justin’s RV park with Mike, Julie, Dave and Nancy.  It was a very relaxing week just hanging with everyone.

  Of course we got together for New Years Eve, and immediately decided that as soon the ball dropped in Times Square, that was close enough to midnight for us (10 pm).  It worked out quite well!


I haven’t been taking many pictures but I did get a few shots of the snow we got on New Years Eve.  Yup, it’s been that cold here in Tucson.

  Our main focus has been on hiking and walking whenever possible.

You may be thinking, looking at this picture, that apparently we had to drive all the way to Canada to get to a decent hiking trail, but no.

Back in the 1970s, when the US was making the attempt to switch to the metric system, this section of Rte 19 was the testing ground for kilometer highway markings.

Well, we all know how well the metric system worked out for us- but the highway signs here are still in kilometers.  In fact, its the only stretch of highway in the U.S. that is only marked in kilometers. A few years ago a move was made to switch the signs back to miles, but the businesses in the area lobbied to keep the metric.  Apparently its good for business because it makes the area unique.

This particular trail in the Santa Rita Mountains was one we were looking forward to hiking, but after driving an hour to get there, we were thwarted by the ice on the trail.  We did attempt it, but after passing over a dozen people coming back down who said they had only made it as far as the next corner, we gave it up and headed home.

One of the perks to Justin’s RV is that our site literally backs up to a wilderness with miles and miles of hiking trails- so if we didn't feel like driving to a trail, all we had to do is walk out our back door- which we did-on many occasions.  We got into an easy rhythm of texting the group when we were headed out back to hike, in case anyone wanted to come along.

When we did drive, we didn't usually have to go too far to find some decent trails. Brown Mountain Loop was just a 10 minute drive down the street and was a nice hike.

Whenever we hang out with our friends, we exchange ideas about everything from modifications to our rigs, to solutions we have discovered for XXX problem, etc. And of course, we show off things we have bought (since none of us buy much). 


Mike and Julie have a hummingbird feeder and Mike rigged it so it is attached to their large rear window.












   After watching all the hummingbirds, I decided we needed to keep up with the Joneses, so off to Home Depot we went.
















So we are now the proud owners of a hummingbird feeder.

We have already discovered that hummingbirds are not the only creatures interested in the feeder. It took this guy a few tries, but he did manage to hang on long enough to drink the nectar.

This particular creature has been trying to launch himself through the glass to get to his buddies, the birds.  He even calls to them in his version of “bird talk”.

Eventually he gave up, exhausted, and needed quite a long nap to recover from his attempts.

I have been practicing taking pictures of the birds and I have gotten a little better, but still have a long way to go…











And, now that I have managed to ramble on and on, about pretty much nothing, the rest of Tucson will have to wait until the next post.