A Tucson Birthday Celebration

A special three dimensional card made by my friend Wendy in Spain – can’t believe it has been 10 years since we met them and been together. Very nice we still communicate! This card is more beautiful in person with the amethysts and pearls. I am loving the squirrels.
Happy hour party with our friends! We met all 4 years ago: fun to get everyone together.
Burgers and beer on Zinburger’s patio in front of the fireplace.
And of course some wine…a Mischief Red. Appropriate!
M & R surprised me with a gorgeous and yummy cake. We divided into 8 pieces and devoured the entire delight!
J & J brought some gifts for the aging – a diaper, um, swim suit bag – and assistance for those difficult jars.
The next night, we indulged with a nice quiet meal out. And more wine.
And more desert!
And the next night, we celebrated with champagne, flan, and strawberries…
with some more cards and gifts….
…and friends bearing consumable gifts. Good we will be able to keep the party going for a while!

Heading to Sabino Canyon, Arizona

Retracing our steps, we picked up the MINI in Denver, the Travato in Kansas, and returned to Lake Meredith to catch up on sleep. http://tealsky.com/2016/11/11/oklahoma-texas-panhandles/
We revisited White Sands NM for a beautiful hike on the dunes. http://tealsky.com/2015/12/09/white-sands-new-mexico/
We camped near by on this picturesque pond.
Near Las Cruces, we enjoyed this spot in the Organ Mountains NM for a few nights – meeting up with an architecture friend for a Rotary event. First time here in the Travato  http://tealsky.com/2015/12/08/organ-mountains-new-mexico/
Back at our site #2 in Sabino Canyon, enjoying happy hour with Site #1 friends, co-volunteers. Last time we saw them: http://tealsky.com/2017/05/22/flying-from-ft-collins-colorado/
The sunsets are memorable looking east with the saguaros in the foreground. Pictures from a year ago http://tealsky.com/2017/01/15/sabino-canyon-tucson-first-weekfull-moon/
A coworker made this awesome flan for the holiday party! We had to try three servings just to make sure it was as good as it looked!
A Merry Christmas to You Saguaro Nativity.
Sabino Creek is very low with no water flowing, just a few little reflection pools.
This coati was hanging around one of the little pools with 4 other family members – we sure enjoyed watching them forage!
Some incredibly nice fall color as we started our work routine up the canyon.
Hiking on another day we found this pop up art installation of balanced rocks.
This must take a lot of patience but it was very fun to come across it. A peaceful way to start 2018.

Navajo National Monument

A beautiful day to enjoy this sacred area of the Four Corners region.
We took a picnic lunch to the overlook of the cliff dwelling to enjoy the day.
A cloud passed overhead and we were able to get this photo – there is a private led tour to give a sense of scale.
We were able to get a top spot in he Sunset View campground.
And it lived up to its name!

Flagstaff to Grand Canyon National Park – South Rim

Last January we went to Sunset Crater and Wupatki NM and we returned again to enjoy the hikes and views.
The Apache Plume was in bloom adding a bit of color to the landscape.
It is so neat to see these ruins and imagine the lives that were lived here.
In case you don’t look at the link to last’s years, this is another of the ruin on a hillside.
This little lizard came out to enjoy the sunshine.
Those are the sacred San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff.
As always, Exit through the Gift Shop! Good thing we can not store much in the van.
Grand Canyon! We dispersed south of Tusayan on FR 302 and took the free NPS shuttle into the park – a 15 minute ride to the new visitor center (at least, we had not seen it before).
Some things never seem to change, like the Hopi House – wonderful Parkitecture!
We did not remember ever seeing the canyon this green. Looking down into Indian Gardens.
And this is the Bright Angle path I did oh so many years ago. WOW!
John Wesley Powell and his expedition – a very nice monument to these early explorers.
We took a ranger led history tour that showed us this heart placed in the wall by a CCC worker. One of the Harvey Girls he was sweet on looked at this part of the wall from her lodging window. Or maybe it was just for his love of the canyon.
Either way, I like that it is in front of the Lookout. Another very cool building. Further on is the Kolb Brothers Studio which has a great little museum about their contribution to tourism.
We took the shuttle bus to Yaki Point for sunset – worth the trip!
Incredible! We stayed on for a star program at the Visitor Center before catching the 9:00 bus back to Tusayan.
Early morning drive to Desert View side of the canyon.
Very peaceful morning.
Nice displays telling about the history like this one about Thomas Moran. He created his own interpretations to make the most of nature.
You can see more of the Colorado River from this eastern end of the south rim.
There are some rafters going around the bend.
Can you see them now?
Desert View Watchtower by Mary Ann Colter is another one of her fabulous parkitecture sites.
Just fun to photograph and appreciate.
I thought I would give you a sense of the scale of the detail.
This is a great viewing deck on the roof of the lower round building.
A fellow traveler took our picture.
We stayed at the campground two nights in site #42 and were able to walk over for some great sunsets.
A few of the cool sunset pictures over the canyon.
A storm was moving in so the virga gave an interesting element to the sunset.
Nice the sun went behind the cloud so you can see more of the Grand Canyon.
The north rim is getting the storm. We did have a snow shower in the afternoon but it did not stick.
Looking in the black mirror inside the Desert View Watch Tower for a polarized look of the canyon. This was a technique to sketch the canyon.
Another sunset with a spectacular vista.
Very interesting light to see the canyon in shades of blue.
A perfectly clear quiet morning for our departure and final view of the south rim.

April in Sabino Canyon, AZ

The Brittle Bush blooms were amazing – we missed the height when we were in Florida.
One of my favorite locations with the Palo Verde in bloom. The canyon is so green!
Ocatillos in bloom as well.
The Gila Monsters are out of hibernation. How cool is this!
We got a hike in to Hutches Pools – a very hot day but still nice water in the creek.
Looking the other direction into a little canyon.
Gorgeous cactus blooms!
And a nice spot for a picnic lunch.
The hike is 8 mile roundtrip from Shuttle Stop #9.
The Cholla in bloom – there was quite a variety of colors.
This is “our” saguaro, taken from the Winnebago Travato in early morning.
A close up of a cactus wren and the flowers of the saguaro.
This one was even more prolific! What a sight to see.
We feel really lucky to have spent the winter here and to be able to appreciate all these lovely views. We trimmed some branches at this site.
An end of season pizza party – make your own and bake on the grille.
Group shot of the winter maintenance team – employees and volunteers.
We are “hot stuff” with our matching socks!
The parting shot as the neighboring 5th wheel has headed towards home a day before us…

Sun City, Phoenix, AZ — Family Reunion

My “rich” uncle rented a three bedroom home and this was our family meet-up.
It was on this nice little lake, complete with blue herons, night herons, swans, Canada geese, bunnies, quails…
…and sunsets!
My parents were also there and we posed them for anniversary photos next to this Joshua tree on the other side of the lake.
Hers and His – retirement life on the golf course.
My aunt, Mom, Betty Homemaker and me in the 1960 Sun City Museum Model Home kitchen. Mom still has the Pyrex bowls and her canisters are stainless rather than pink. It was fun to tour and watch the original promotional video.
We made it to White Tank Mountain Park to hike a bit of the Mesquite Canyon Trail.
The wildflowers were looking quite spectacular.
Our hiking companions – this was a more challenging trail than last years waterfall trail. http://tealsky.com/2016/01/09/white-tank-mts-phoenix-area/
The size of the California poppies were amazing. Lupins also in bloom.
My “rich” Dad treated us to their celebration dinner at Arrowhead Grille – half of us had fish and half had steaks – YUM!
And this incredible desert with 6 spoons.
We played 9 holes of golf – MINI, that is.
But oh! The concentration. Do you win with the high score? Ha
A full moon in the morning – we were all up to watch it set. Very picturesque.

Sabino Canyon, AZ — Work Camping

Our picnic table with the moody sky before a storm.
Our favorite work lunch picnic spot overlooking the Bear Creek and the start of 7 Falls Hike.
Another great spot is the Dam in Lower Sabino – it is beautiful this winter with all the rain and snow melt from Mt Lemmon.
Another favorite Nice (Gneiss) rock outcropping.
The first Spring flowers are this pink fairy duster.
Part of an old road to the Dam, that we have dubbed the Roman Road. We cleared the edges from growth to expose the beautiful cobblestone work.
The Roman Road before the brush was removed – barely a path through the prickly bushes.
And we finished clearing the shrubs next to this beautiful stairway as an alternate to using the Roman Road to visit the Dam.
Helping out on some brush cutting along the Phoneline Trail.
Emptying the bucket loads of prickly pear that we cleared from the Bear Creek Roadside – safety measure for the pedestrians, especially children.
The result is a much safer road to walk on.
We also cleared growth above and below this wall in a large parking area in Upper Sabino Canyon. Little did we know that the Youth Corp was going to camp here the following weekend while doing some trail rebuilding.
This crested Saguaro cactus is much visited by the visitor center, but really interesting.
Walking back to the Winnebago Travato after work before a rain storm. this is such a beautiful place to be!
More snow in the mountains was visible at sunrise.
We found an oasis in the desert (south of Sabino) at Agua Caliente Park.

Sabino Canyon, AZ — Days and Forays

Beautiful Sabino Canyon watching the clouds build in mid-January.
Reflections of the saguaros.
Looks like more rain as we are watching from the Travato.
Wow – another amazing rainbow.
So much rain (and it is cold), we are working in the warehouse – prepping new boards to revitalize some picnic tables.
Pre- drilling: three coats of paint to follow. The legs got spray-painted.
There were large signs to paint in “Federal Brown” – these will go up Mt Lemmon.
You can check out, but you can never leave!
We met J & J at Starr Pass for a hike before dinner out and an astronomy lecture at UA. The day ended by seeing a 4 star cluster in Orion’s sword at the Steward Observatory. Their blog with more pictures of the hike.
We took a group hike from Molino Basin on Mt Lemmon to this trailhead on Reddington Pass.
It took us all day but we had some great scenery and camaraderie.
We took a break to Kartchner Caverns State Park and shared a camp site with J & J – leveling was a challenge. But we now have a new leveling app from Truma that should be helpful on other sites.
We hiked a couple miles to this overlook. Then back for some of Joan’s home made pizza – yum! It was great to have so many times together this month, building memories and sharing our travel stories. Joan and Jim’s Blog on Kartchner Caverns
The waters really reached a high point and even the trams could not go up Sabino Canyon.
We have shoveled, then swept all the sand and debris off this bridge as part of our job to keep it safe for bikes and peds.
The mile markers were looking a bit less than fresh as this one at the top of the canyon.
This one was buried behind debris but we have it cleaned up and looking good.
Having friends over for a BBQ and sunset. Lights under the Travato to keep away the pack rats.
Hanging out under the awning – well deserved after washing the house inside and out.
Our neighbors also enjoying the view at Cocktail Hour.
Another full moon in the canyon.