Travel News
Arizona 2000

Click on the small image for full size view
Use "BACK" to return to text.
This page was last updated on Jan 19, 2000

 Home   Next Page   Previous Page

Tucson Area

No more dates for a while - the days go by too fast!

Went for a hike across Brown's Mountain with a group from Justin's.  There were 27 hikers and we were by far the youngest (but not the fittest)! The trail was posted as being 2.7 mile each way but took over two hours to get there and most decided not to walk back.  I hiked back at a brisk pace but it still took nearly an hour on an 85F cloudless day.

Brown Mountain..Brown Mountain hike..Brown Mountain hike..Looking south to Tucson

The guidebooks advise not to go to downtown Tucson at night so went for a walk around there in the afternoon.  It was the first day with clouds since we got here, so no nice blue skies for the pics!

El Presidio, Tucson..St Augustine Cathederal

Went for a ride on Hal's Yamaha in the desert - great stuff! Can't wait to get one myself - but Sandy says it's got to have 2 seats or she wants one as well!

Bob on a Yamaha..Ditto..Sandy's first riding lesson


Visited Kitt's Peak Observatory about 40 miles west of here.  It's one of the most important in the US and has 24 telescopes - some optical, some radio. The location is right at the top of the mountain at 7000' and there's an incredible road carved into the mountain that climbs 4000' in a few miles - sheer drop offs on the sides. The ride is actually more spectacular that the observatory as you cannot actually get to look in the telescopes, partly because it's daytime but mainly because they charge $35 and you have to go there at night!  One of the pictures below doesn't seem to fit the theme, but it's relevant! On the way back down the mountain we stopped to cut down some Yucca spikes as these make great hiking sticks (they are a very light and strong wood). If you think you've seen big yuccas you ain't seen Arizona yuccas!

Looking west over a small telescope..The 4 metre telescope..Inside the 84 inch telescope..The Solar Telescope (most of it is below ground and liquid cooled)..Holy Giant Yucca, Batman..Several telescopes at the peak

The days are just rolling by now - went Line Dancing on Sunday night, had a great bike ride across the desert  to the top of Gates Pass on Monday morning (about 3 hours), and then to a BBQ lunch and RV show put on in our RV park by Baudry's - who claim to be the largest Fleetwood dealer in the world. Dug out the golf clubs Tuesday and hit a bucket at the range - there isn't really any grass in this area so the golf courses tend to be either burnt out (like the local muni's) and charge $40 or lush, like Starr Pass, and charge $150+, guess I won't be golfing much.  Visited Tucson Mall but couldn't afford anything, then had a nice dinner at Mimi's Cafe.

Justin's Water World (part of the RV Park)Worked on making walking sticks from the yucca spikes for tomorrow's hike at Bear Canyon, in the Catalina Mountains N.E. of Tucson (about 45 minutes from here).  Afterwards went to the pool which is part of Justin's Water World. In the summer, there's not many RVs here as it's too hot, so all the locals come to the water park - in the winter only one of the pools is open and heated.
 

 Home    Back to Top of Page   Next Page Previous Page  To send comments