Thursday – February 2 – Well, we had a good day for moving and an uneventful drive. Once we picked up I-8 at Casa Grande there was very little traffic. The drive was interesting, there are still mountains but not as many as around the Benson area. We came through areas of nothing but desert, then there was about 10 miles where it was all farmland and there were even fields that were GREEN. There was also a large grove of pecan trees, and at one point we saw a lot of bales of hay, so quite varied topography.


There was also a large area of saguaros, and it was interesting that for quite a distance they all seemed to be badly damaged at the bottom, we think maybe there was a fire in the area and they got burned but not enough to destroy them. The fellow at Sabino Canyon said that if there is a forest fire and they get hot enough they explode as they are composed of 80% water and the water boils, which causes them to explode. I wouldn’t want to see that!


The weather here is much warmer, it was in the 80’s yesterday and last night went down to the low 50’s. Maybe we have found our warm weather!


This park has nice large sites, but is not as nice as Cochise Terrace, the roads are not paved and there is no cable TV. Thankfully the satellite is working. There is free wi-fi here but you have to go to the clubhouse to use. I guess I won’t be using the internet as much here!
Wednesday – February 1 – Today was starting to pack up day to get ready for our move tomorrow. It was cloudy and cool this morning but cleared off and warmed up this afternoon. We went into Benson and got fuel and a few groceries, then went back tonight for dinner. We had a really good dinner, Shrimp Diablo on linguine and the waitress wasn’t kidding when she said it was hot (as in spicy hot). I also did some laundry so that chore is out of the way for another week or so.
Tuesday – January 31 – Today was another stay around home day. We didn’t do a lot, bud did have a nice visit with a couple from Washington State who are down the road from us. They are leaving today and heading to the far side of Tucson. I did some reading, I picked up 2 new Wilbur Smith books at Wal Mart so have read one and started the second one. I thought I had read all his books so was thrilled to find a couple more.


The weather was lovely but around one the wind came up and it was brutal, if it is like this all the time in Texas I don’t think I could handle it!
Monday – January 30 – Today was another day spent just puttzing around. I got my blog updated and John got ExpressVu working on the first try – yess, Canadian news again! We didn’t take any pictures today.

About 3:30 we went to Sierra Vista to pick up a few items and it was quite interesting on the way home - about two miles north of the park there was a helicopter hovering quite low and a Border Patrol truck out in the wasteland, must have picked up a sign of an illegal immigrant in the area. We again had to pass through their check point on the way back - it was just a matter of driving through, but they did have a car pulled over with two border patrol guys and a dog tearing the car’s trunk apart. Wonder if they found anything.
Sunday – January 29 – Today we went into Tucson and checked out Sabino Canyon and what a wonderful place. It is a national park and a recreation area with miles of hiking trails throughout the canyon. They also have a tram which goes almost 4 miles up the canyon with 9 stops and you can get off and on at any stop. We took the tram to the end then got off and walked back to stop 8 (on the road). It was a nice walk and all downhill so not too tough. There were lots of people hiking through the canyon, none of this tram stuff.

Throughout the area they had signs alerting people to be careful of mountain lions as they have been quite active in the area. The tram driver gives a running commentary on the way up of the canyon and said there were 6 different varieties of rattlesnakes, mountain lions, bears, tarantulas, etc. etc. in the canyon – do you think I’m going to walk far in there! The saguaro cacti in the canyon were wonderful and literally 1000’s of them. The driver also said that a saguaro with 6 arms, which would be a couple of hundred years old would weight about 6 tons as they are mainly water, and they also have a very shallow root system – the roots would only go down about 4 feet but they could spread out for 40 feet.

The cliff formations were fascinating and on the top of one of the clips is a formation called the Thimble. This can be seen from most of Tuscon and is a landmark for the area. All in all it was a very enjoyable afternoon.
 

The Thimble Posted by Picasa
 

Another View Posted by Picasa
 

The Canyon Posted by Picasa
 

Before We Started Walking Back to Stop 8 Posted by Picasa
 

Another View Posted by Picasa
 

One View of Sabino Canyon Posted by Picasa
Saturday – January 28 – Today was stay around the trailer day. John again tried the satellite but to no avail. I did cleaning and laundry – real exciting stuff.