Tucson

January 19
One more nice, relaxed morning in Prescott before Katie and Eric head out for Minnesota and we finally depart!! Nasty weather in the forecast for the area, so a good time to get further south, and lower elevation. We encountered nothing bad to drive through, and ended up making an unplanned stop at Casa Grande trails, where Rudy got in a little biking and I had a nice hike. There were lots of unmarked intersections, but you could pretty well see where you wanted to go.

Reminds me of a hug

Don't get too close to the cholla

SEE!

It was fun to be back in more deserty desert, and have a little warmer weather. We found a spot to camp on some BLM land just north of Tucson. Dinner was simple pasta, and then Trivial Pursuit - two wins for Rudy!

January 20
The morning was overcast with scattered rain. We pretty much just listened to the presidential inauguration on the radio before heading to Saguaro National Park. We stayed dry during the warmish and windy hike/run on Hugh Norris trail - it was cool hearing the gusts 'swoosh' through the big cacti.



Post-outing we still had time to stop by the visitor center. I particularly liked the plant walk, learn some of the pokey things we've come to recognize.

Ocotillo, formerly known as Murder Sticks

We headed to a camping area south of Tucson Mountain Park - pretty busy, we found a spot though. Made burritos, played a game of Trivial Pursuit, Leslie win! Then watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, inspired by a couple of Joan of Arc questions from the trivia game.

January 21
Still breezy, but abundant sunshine! We had expected a rainy morning, but with the change in weather, headed into Tucson Mountain Park, Starr Pass area - beautiful, but again, very little signing.



After Rudy's bike and my run, we had dinner with my Great Aunt Trudy, her daughter Marie, and Marie's boys Tyler and Jayden at a local chain Mexican restaurant - La Parilla Suiza. I hadn't seen them (or ever met the boys!) in 20 years, so it was pretty cool to catch up/get to know them. We spent the later afternoon with some scenic driving up toward Mica Mountain - a lot of water running over the roads with recent rains - and Rudy found a nice little waterfall a short walk from our spot for the night.



He also harvested some cactus fruit - they're all edible apparently - tastes OK, faint citrusy flavor.

Barrel cactus - the fruit looks like little pineapples

Barrel cactus fruit above, chain cholla below

We cleaned up some leftovers before watching Mr. Peabody and Sherman - a little cheesy/cutesy, but entertaining.

January 22
A sunny and warm morning! Rudy had to complete some repairs on the sliding door - some parts getting worn out I guess. Early afternoon we met a friend from Minnesota, Dave, up in Oro Valley and went on a cool bike ride around Honeybee Canyon - mellow trails through some scenic desert bottom.

Dave's wife Di was recovering from a nasty cold, but at least we got to chat a little (while keeping a safe distance) before and after the ride. After cleaning up, we tried to get to a Mexican restaurant Dave hadn't been to, but it was closed, so checked out another place he had been to once, but in a different location - Guadalajara. It was decent, the highlight being tableside salsa made to order in a mocajete.

I got a big mocajete of veggies, including cactus on the left

We were reasonably full after the meal, despite taking leftovers, but managed to stop by Frosty's and enjoy some gelato. Just a little visiting after that, no night owls with this crew.

January 23
I joined Di in walking the pup on nearby trails for about an hour - weather was windy, but warm, and it was nice to get out and just stroll around in the desert. Later, Rudy and I headed to Dove Mountain to hike the Wild Burro and Alamo Springs trail - lots of steppy rock, but also flat washes - Rudy was a little putsy, but it was fine! He needed to save energy for a bigger ride the next day. I really liked all the burly granite and marble we were hiking through.



We all went out to Flavor of Indian and enjoyed naan and samosas with yummy entrees. No leftovers this time, but we still picked up some Ben and Jerry's and whoopie pies for a later dessert.

January 24
A cooler morning - and fairly cloudy, so a little bundling up to head to Honeybee again - Rudy, Di, and I met Tiffany, from Duluth out there. Di and I went on a slightly more involved ride than a few days ago, just out and back, while Rudy and Tiff went on a longer technical loop - sounds like some good trails. After that was lots of hanging out, we cooked some awesome pasta, watch lots of Family Guy, and killed more B&J's and whoopie pies.

January 25
I got in another nice stroll with Di and the dog while Rudy worked on documenting his bike rides on the trip. Our destination for the day was the Mount Lemmon area - the top was snowed in, but still desert at the bottom! A run on the La Milagrosa trail, out and back, for me - a couple significant creek crossings and some hikey stuff, but I had fun, and the weather was sunny and wonderful.

Canyony stuff along the way

Looking back toward Tucson

Rudy had a more extensive ride, guess he was kind of tired though, and didn't enjoy it as much as some other rides. Next, we drove a couple hours toward New Mexico, and were fairly late getting to a spot near Bowie AZ. No moon or city lights, there were some amazing stars! It was nice that we had hot water and leftovers from out friends to make for easy cleanup and eating!

Not too many cow pies around

Entertainment was Trivial Pursuit - Leslie win.