New Tucson Sights

Even after all these years I found out this week there are new sights to see in Tucson.  On Tuesday my painting class went on location to Degrazia's Gallery in the Sun.  We arrived to find a delightful little garden and gallery.  It is quite clever and whimsical.  It is an awesome place to paint  as there are beautifully shaped adobe buildings with the mountains in the background and plenty of desert vegetation in the foreground.  A real painters delight.  The photo shows The Sanctuary on the property.  All buildings, structures and accessories were crafted by Degrazia.  The property is a historic landmark

Monday March 9, 2009 Sierra Vista

Monday dawned quite cloudy and overcast and we were looking for a new road to travel.  We tossed the coin and headed off to Sierra Vista via Rt. 90 as we had not gone that way before.  We found Sierra Vista pretty much the same as when we last saw it 5 or 10 years ago and decided to head further south to Coronado National Monument, again all new territory once you get south of the Ramsey Canyon Road.  They have a visitors center with the National Park Stamp (Betsy collects them) and enjoyed the very tiny museum and information about Coronado's march through the southwest into Kansas.  The views were wonderful and you can see into Mexico easily as the southern edge of the Monument land is on the border.  

After leaving Coronado Monument we wanted to take a look at the San Pedro Riparian Area know for its many birding opportunities.  I always love to see the Cottonwoods leafing out and was not disappointed as they are looked quite spectacular.  We  drove down the Hereford Road and went as far as the bridge.  Then on to the next adventure.

We traveled north back through Huachuca City on Hwy 90 then over to Sonoita on Hwy 82, a road traveled many times. On 82 we enjoyed the vast yellow grass prairies with the mountains in the background and the beautiful fluffy clouds in the bright blue sky......see for yourself.  Another beautiful day!

Saguaro National Park - East

On Sunday we took off for a short hike on one of the trails in Saguaro.  Here in Tucson you can access some of the trails from the streets.  We took Cactus Forrest Trail and Mica Trail.  Did I mention we joined  Amy and Elizabeth for the maiden voyage of the off road stroller? 

The weather was overcast and in the low 70's which was perfect for our trek through the cactus.  Miss Elizabeth had such a good time she fell asleep after her break and a bit of apple juice.  

We decide we love the saguaro skeletons as much as the multi armed big boys.  Along the way I took pictures of at least 6 varieties of wildflowers.  The desert is coming alive with color, it must be spring.

Snowbird Journal--Wk of 2/2/09--Gem & Mineral Show

The annual Tucson Gem & Mineral Show started this week.  Betsy has been wanting to go to this show for several years.  Our neighbors and family here all told us about how big this show was, but we thought they were exaggerating.  They weren't.  The show actually run's two weeks In addition to the gems,  & minerals there are many bead vendors. Hundreds of vendors set up in tents, motel/hotel rooms, the convention center and even outside their RV's.  I've never seen so many beads, bangles, and baubles in my life.  But in addition to the beads there are dealers selling minerals, huge geodes & crystals, and even fossils.  We walked into one tent and there stood a complete mastodon skeleton.  We also saw skeletons of dinosaur's and cave bears.  Just the thing to finish off that man cave.  One thing that amazes me is the amount of weight shipped into the show by some of the rock and mineral dealers.  They ship product into the show in crates, and 55 gallon barrels on pallets.  On Monday we went to one area of the show and we went to other areas every day except Thursday.  Next week we'll continue to visit other area's.  Rumor has it that some of the gem dealers have diamonds, rubys, emeralds displayed in mounds on tray's.  I've also heard that some of the local thug's are gainfully employed as security personnel by some of the gem dealers.    

photo: Carolyn (Jamie's sister) and Betsy 

Happy New Year, part two.

I imagine when you live in the area with the most spectacular winter weather in the country you can expect and anticipate great visitors. 

The Hagars were here for a three day stay and we had a great time exploring southeastern Arizona. (see previous post to get the details)

On the 30th we had friends from  Columbus.  Sharon and Earl came by on their way from their California Christmas.  We had a great lunch with Amy, Jim and Elizabeth joining us. It was so good to see them and catch up on what is and isn't happening in Columbus.   

If all that isn't great enough-------today a man walked up to me and asked where we lived in Indiana.  Turns out it was Bill T. and his wife Vickie worked for me at Four Seasons.  They arrived yesterday for the 10th year.  They couldn't say enough wonderful things about the resort.  What fun we had renewing our friendship.  

Betsy

picture:  Sharon and Earl (look for the mountains around Tucson in the background)

Oct 4, 2008 !!!!!!!!OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

Things were going so well on our first day of travel to Arizona. Everything was packed, double checked, and all arrangements made to be gone a few months. We were just west of Indianapolis when I looked in the right outside mirror. Something didn't look correct. Couldn't quite figure out what wasn't right, but there was something different. I ask Betsy to take a look, and she commented that the door appeared to be open!! I pulled over on the shoulder of I-70 and she jumped out and ran back to shut the door. I saw her lock it, slam it shut, and pull on it to see if it would open. It didn't budge. So off we go again. Not a half mile down the road it blew open again and slammed into the side of the trailer. We stopped at the next exit and figured at the worst we would have to tie the door shut for the rest of our journey. We were totally unprepared for the damage that had been done. The outer skin had a huge dent, the door itself had been bent where the door stop on the side of the trailer had hit it. The upper and lower corners of the door had been forced out when the center of the door was forced in by the door stop. Consequently the door wouldn't shut totally. After a few hammer blows we were finally able to almost shut the door, but the upper and lower corners still protruded and would act as wind catchers. We duct taped the door shut. It wasn't pretty but it worked. Our first call was to Dan who sold us the trailer, but he doesn't stock old parts. He confirmed my feeling that we should get in touch with Chuck C. in Watervaliet, MI. Chuck runs a vintage trailer shop, and his family started the Avion Co. Unfortunately he isn't open on Saturday. We decided that we'd head back to Columbus and figure out what to do from home.
When home I found on the internet a listing of salvage RV shops and called one in Carthage, MO, another in Phoenix, and three or four in northern IN. No luck, but some didn't answer probably because it was Saturday. I guess we'll wait until Monday and then call Chuck to see what advice he has. There is another possibility that our friends Kay and Ernie have a neighbor that might be able to make the repairs. We've e-mailed pictures to let him see the damage. We'll keep you updated. Ah, the joy of vintage trailering. Tippy likes the campground we're in tonight--it looks just like home.