Chickadee-dee-dee

  We left the land of endless sun and encountered endless clouds and lots of snow.  But I am enjoying this forage into winter wonderland.  I have never seen our "new" house in the snow and of course the main wonder is visiting with family and friends.  There are not many people around in our housing community but town is busy.  John got some lights up and I decked the halls in preparation for company and just to enjoy the comfort of being inside when it is cold out!  And then there is the joy of winter hats.

We went for a ski in the bush behind here with Sandy and Richard and they showed us the chickadee feeding grounds.  Over the years many people have gone to feed them and they are accustomed to it.  They land on your seed filled hand!  If you have never experienced this you have to get yourself somewhere to try it.  I love the feeling of the fragile and beautiful little creature on my hand.  Tiny, prickly feet, sharp beak and such a slight weight.  The colour of the feathers up close is incredible.  A few years ago on a winter trip up to Wye Marsh (Midland) we experienced this.  But now it is available in my own backyard!

Despite piles of snow the weather has been fairly benign and the roads remain open.  It's looking promising for returning to Arizona.  Christmas is going to be a whirlwind of dinners and visits but I am very happy to be here.

East Section of Saguaro National Park (Rincon Mountains) and Sabino Canyon Trolley Tour and Walk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonoran_Desert

Jackie and Nick, friends from Kincardine who have a place here in Voyager, took us on a tour the other day of the Sonoron Desert East and Sabino Canyon.  The Sonoron Desert is the ONLY place where the famous Saguaro (sworrow) cactus grows.  It is reminiscent of the old Western movies of course.  It is an incredible sight to see so many of them but apparently this is nothing compared to their numbers a few years ago.  It was thought they might even become extinct, due to weather conditions but they have survived and seem to be reproducing.  They are full of holes.  Wrens make homes in them and when they vacate elf owls take over.  It takes 40 years of growth before they flower and 70 years before an arm is produced!  So that tells me the ones with lots of arms are quite old!  Once they die the innards that are exposed look like driftwood with strangely shaped holes.  It is like they are inside out with soft tissue on the outside.

Sabino Canyon is in the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson and it is beautiful.  There are "Santa" mountains all around!  (how Christmassy)

We took a trolley tour up and learned lots from out tour guide Frank.  What do you get when you cross Yogi Bear with Mr. Rogers?  Frank!  He had a sing-song voice that reminded Jackie of the speech pattern of Yogi Bear but his quiet and gentle way of speaking reminded me of Mr. Rogers.  I am not sure if that was his real way of speaking but it was entertaining for sure.  I suspect it broke the monotony for him of repeating the same thing day after day.  Maybe he changes his tune depending on his mood?

We walked down the road and enjoyed the scenery even more.  It was an unusual combination of fall colours, boulders and mountains and desert vegetation.  John and I will go back and do some of the off road hikes in the new year.

Desert Golf, Quail Creek Golf Club

The golf courses here in Arizona are fantastic.  Using golfnow.com or EZlinks websites we have managed to get excellent rates.  I love the desert courses in particular and they are not as difficult to play as I thought they would be.  People say it's target golf and that sounds intimidating but seeing your target is kind of nice.  If your ball goes into the desert DON'T go get it.  Snakes and other critters could be lurking.  Remarkably I haven't lost many balls and John is playing very well as usual.  Here are some pictures of one of my favourite courses we have played so far, Quail Creek.  Quail Creek is in between Tubac and Tucson in a place called Green Valley.  It was great meeting up with Pat and Derryl friends of friends from Sanlan in Florida!

Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona

All you airplane guys!  Where were you when John decided we should visit this place?  It was an all day event including a walk around 75 acres of the museum and hangars with exhibits, and a huge yard full of all kinds of planes and helicopters from all eras.  Then a bus tour of 2100 acres of thousands of stored planes and parts in varying states.  It is mind boggling.  I can't imagine the money tied up here.  When we go out to play golf, to tour or just to get groceries we have been driving by all the planes so it was nice to get in there and see what it is all about.  It was right up there with Pima Mine Tour and Titan Missile Site in terms of a testosterone day.  RRRRRR!

Believe it or not I actually enjoyed it.  Once I realized I was in for the long haul I just gave in and made the most of it.  What was really impressive  was the sheer size of some planes and the massive number of them.  In the museum many historic examples of famous planes are kept in immaculate condition.  Nose art was interesting and something I had never known about.  It was neat to see the drawings and names of wives, girlfriends and mascots on the bombers.  It's a bit disturbing to see the cartoonish drawings and propaganda on the planes that took VERY young people to destroy or be destroyed.  There was a B-29 well preserved and pictures of the young and innocent crew.  The pilot was 19 and most of the crew in their teens or early 20's.  They dropped nuclear bombs.

Some planes are here to be refurbished, used for parts or waiting to be recommissioned.  Some are for sale for parts or in whole to private or international buyers.  Few have their paint jobs intact.  Storage involves applying coats of protection from the desert sun.  The bottom is left untouched to allow airflow.  Why here?  I am sure you can guess that the dry heat prevents corrosion.  Another interesting feature of the desert is the density of the alkaline soil.  It is so hard that even the heaviest planes do not sink at all!  They do not need pads or anything.  This is amazing when I think about the RV and how easily it can sink down into the ground.  The boneyard is part of an active airforce base so it is neat to see warthogs and other planes flying above all of this in training exercises. Check out Airplane Graveyards or the website below.

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/apr/airplane.html

Voyager RV Resort, Tucson AZ

More palm trees than Florida!  This is a view of Voyager from the outside.  

We arrived at Voyager Tucson on December 1st and are booked in until the end of January.   John had found this park online when researching RV destinations 4 years ago!  Finally got to it.  Jackie and Nick from Kincardine bought a park model here so we have appreciated them showing us around and "playing" with us.   There is a lot to see and do around Tucson and heading south toward Green Valley, Amado and Tubac is viable.  We really liked it down there but are still close enough to go back for golf, hiking or visiting.

Front gate.  They guide you right into your site.  Marriage saver.

Voyager is the largest RV park we have experienced.  It is very much like a resort with all the amenities you can imagine and then some!  The activities are endless.  Most of the parks we have been in have some kind of organized activities especially cards and crafts but this is unreal.  You can take lessons of all kinds ranging from dancing to learning spanish.  If you would like to do stained glass or silversmithing that is available too and many more hobbies and activities, too numerous to name.

We live on 7th.  These are called casitas (little house) and are for rent.  Very expensive however. 

 There are many living options here.  We have talked to several people who have been coming here for years.  I think this park was established in the 80's but it is nicely kept.

A mixture of RV's and Park Models on our street

If you are into sports you can play golf (par 3 course on site or others nearby), shuffleboard, tennis, pickle ball (smaller court, different ball than tennis), volley ball, baseball, swimming, hot tubs, hiking club, biking club, and who knows what else.  If you can think of it you can probably do it here.  There is NO excuse to be bored.  If you decide to do something you can usually just show up.  Some activities have fees, some don't.

This little par three course in the park looks better than it is.  But many people do enjoy playing it. 

John enjoys using the extensive gym facility. 

I think the sporting facilities have lots of appeal and of course we are seeing many fit seniors!

Baseball diamonds 

This hot tub is very large and a good meeting place.  There is a smaller one but it is also large!

The pools are lovely and warm.  The indoor pool is steamy actually and the outdoor pools kept in the mid to high 80's.  The hot tubs are kept at 103 F.  Pickle Ball is a big sport here.  It is like tennis but not so much running.  There was a U.S. Pickle Ball Tournament going on when we arrived.  More fit seniors.  I think we will try it.

The ballroom is so big and shiny!  We have not attended anything there yet.  There are weekly concerts that are expensive so I think some of the entertainment is pretty good.  The library is huge and you just take books on the honour system.  I don't know about trades.  I think they expect you to return the books.

We have not been getting into the organized activities so far but who knows?

Store an Restaurant

Where is the Men's Laundry??  

Market Daze once a month

Not only does Voyager house RV's and Park Models but regular homes!  

If you need a doctor, massage, physical therapy, hair cut, pet grooming etc. you can get it here.  There is a variety store, restaurant and bar, post office, library and a bank.  Oh, if you don't feel like reading the newsletter just turn to the Voyager TV channel to see what is going on or go to the activity centre office. It reminds me of a cruise ship!


Voyager has RV sites, privately owned park models and homes as well as rental trailers or park models and an Inn.  You would think with all this it would be nuts in here but so far it is not.  I think things will get busier in January but crowding is not an issue so far.  It is like a well manicured and organized town.  Everything is clean and well kept.  Of course there are rules but I can understand why.  It would be chaos without them.  No laundry hanging out, limits on what can be on your site, etc.  Nothing we can't live with.  We can still see the mountains and the desert from certain vantage points.

Pickle and tennis courts galore! 

Mixtures!  Orange and palm trees, park models and buses!

There is a motel on site! 

Goodbye De Anza and Amado

The cold weather in the last few days has been disappointing.  But yesterdays wind and clouds produced

beautiful sunsets.  Lemonade.  

Bull Springs Road 4 Wheel Trip

Little-used mining road crosses Santa Rita Mountains from Interstate 19 to Hwy. 82 south of Patagonia. See mines along the route and adobe ruins at Alto Camp, once a community of several hundred people. The post office was active until 1933. Narrow, rocky shelf road at higher elevations. Suitable for high clearance stock SUVs. Remote location.

Read more at Trails.com: Bull Springs Road | Arivaca Junction Arizona Off-Road Trails | Trails.com http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=XFT002-074#ixzz16duNAxui

Wow!  What a way to spend an afternoon.  Thanks Brooks and Lou! (and Pancho)

Brooks and Lou are staying here in the park and we have been playing golf and enjoying dinners together. They invited us to go on a back road trip with them in their truck which is rigged up for this kind of terrain.  Brooks has a book with maps and descriptions of back road routes in Arizona so we picked one they had not been on, grabbed our picnics and headed out today in cool and windy weather.  We started on Elephant Head road, yes the road that leads to Elephant Rock, one of the prominent landmarks here in the Santa Rita's.  It was paved but then we got to Bull Springs Road and the fun began.

The road was so rough and rocky and full of huge ruts that we were bouncing around like popcorn!  Brooks said the trip was 20 miles and after a few minutes of this I realized we would never get out by dark.  We were going 15 miles an hour max!  But if you do the math we actually had lots of time.  Okay, relax, breathe.  Lou didn't seem to be worried at all.  She just held onto Pancho and enjoyed the ride.  Well so could I!

John was reading from the book and about 2 miles in,  the road was supposed to worsen!  I couldn't imagine this and I think even Brooks was wondering if we should turn back.  Although I couldn't see how we could ever turn around. We gave it another couple of miles and the road actually improved.  Well, it was only as wide as the truck and the bumps and turns were precarious especially as we climbed higher into the mountains but the ruts were not as big.   I guess that is an improvement.

The desert and mountains here are amazing and to be right in the thick of it was a thrill.  Mesquite trees, prickly pear and all kinds of other strange vegetation that I can't name yet is all around.  In between this scrubby vegetation is lots of dust and rocks.  And there are mountains all around...literally.  If you do a 360 that is all you see.  Sometimes we could look down, up or back and see the road, more like track, that we were following.  It looked so small and un-passable for the truck.  But we plodded along and before I knew it we were doing a hairpin turn at an elevation of 5000 feet with no room for error!  Yikes!  My heart pounded a bit but Brooks kept us nicely on track and even stopped so we could get out and take pictures.  What a hero!

I thought heading down would be easier but it was dicey in spots too.  However, by now I realized we were going to live and was really enjoying this.  We did see old mine shafts, junky cars full of bullet holes, other 4-wheelers, deer hunters, cattle and even a couple of campsites.  What?  Are they nuts?  Who would want to tent out in this desert right now, or ever?  It is going down to freezing tonight and who knows who or what is out here?  Deer hunting season must have just started.  We talked to a couple of guys who said they were hunting white-tailed deer.  But we didn't see any deer today.  We did hear gunshots though.

We crossed many cattle guards which are all over Arizona since many areas are free range for cattle.  I do not really understand this since the cattle can't possibly get fat out here eating prickly things and climbing around this rough terrain.  They have to be lean and mean!  But we saw lots of cow patties and even the cows themselves!

We stopped at Alto Camp Ruins for lunch but it was so cold we ate in the truck.  That was just fine however.  Despite the cool temperatures it was a great day to do this trip.  Brooks' truck is very nice and comfortable so we could enjoy the experience and not freeze.  The last part of the trip was through private ranch land but they permit people to go through it.  The road got better and better as we neared highway 82 on the other side.  We did go through a river and there was water in it!  Most of the rivers here have no water right now, they are just dry beds.  Brooks revved it up and we splashed through no problem.

When we got to the highway we turned toward Nogales, the Mexican Border town that is less than half an hour from here by the Interstate.  It took us more than 4 hours to get there by the back route.  What an excellent way to get up close and personal with the desert mountains of Arizona.