Touring Tucson-Westward Bound

Hi, Hi, Hi! On our way to Tucson, Az. we had an overnight stay in New Mexico. It was an underwhelming stop in a KOA campground in Lordsburg, NM., but it broke up the drive nicely. Now we can add New Mexico to our state list of stops. Haha…just an overnight but, a legitimate stay. The town was kind of down ridden but the campground was okay. The highlight of the stop was a $7.50 meatloaf dinner in their cafe. That was a hoot…and the food was surprisingly pretty good. We shot the breeze with the cook while we ate since, we were the only ones there for dinner.

We avoided any longtime stays in New Mexico on this side of our journey because this time of year it’s very cold there. Especially further north. It went down to 28 degrees overnight where we were in Lordsburg. We will try and catch Albuquerque and Sante Fe when we circle back later in the year. We did have a wonderful thing happen in New Mexico. Kathy drove the RV for the first time. Granted, it was only 4 inches of a drive but she did drive. While Brad was outside removing a leveller from underneath the front right tire she took over. Yay, Kath! She rocked those 4 inches.

The 140 mile drive to Tucson was smooth. The speed limit was 80 mph, yes 80 mph. This was the first stretch of highway Brad was comfortable going 65-70. He’s usually cruising at 55-60 mph. The Tucson campground was a large mobil home and RV community. It had three pools, a huge hot tub, bocce, shuffleboard, tennis and 6-8 pickle board courts and a grocery store. We were so busy sightseeing we didn’t really take advantage of the campground like we could have but, the place was comfortable..

Alright, let’s get into Tucson! It was our first stop in Arizona and it was a great experience. The mountains, the dessert, the weather, the sunshine, the opportunities to be in a completely different environment then we’ve ever enjoyed before, was wonderful. The first day, which was a half day since we traveled that day, we went to the Gem Show. It is the largest gem and mineral show in America. There were numerous locations throughout the city. It was huge with tents 10 blocks long with two of them back to back. We’re pretty sure that’s where we got COVID…more on that later.

After the gem show we went to a local brewery called Borderlands. We both had a flight and almost picked identical beers. Not planned. It was cool, fun, a bit chilly but, good beer and we enjoyed watching how they ran the place. It was different. They had a gym for kids, group activities where people were painting, separate seating areas with couches and TVs and they even had a barber shop.

We went to Segura National Park the next day. This national park had cactus and dessert out the ying-yang. it was magnificent! We were advised by the Park Rangers to take our bikes in and leave our car at the park entrance. We took their advice and turned an eight mile loop into a four hour tour of the park. It was probably the highlight of our visit. We made numerous stops along the way. Magnificent overlooks, winding trails, slopes and hills while being extremely bike friendly. We rescued a lost women when we took our bikes on a off-the-main-road trail. She was wearing long black pants, using her phone as her GPS and she looked flushed. We had a map of the park and we were heading back from the trail she was about to take. We convinced her it was safer to go back the way she came in. Brad walked his bike next to her as we headed back. After about 200 yards she asked to hop on the back of Brad's bike. Never having had anybody riding on the back of the bike, Brad reluctantly agreed. The trail was all dirt, gullies, and small revines. but she was a good passenger. The bike-rescue was successful. When we got back to the road she called her husband. Brad heard him say "did you get a ride yet"? We left her there for her "caring" husband to pick her up. We offered to stay until he got there but she said she was "good".

After, we went to Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. Yeh, they call it a recreation area because they have so many hiking trails. We took a walking trail that was kind of boring but we did it in anticipation for more. After, we went to the shuttle driver to hook a ride up to the top of the canyon but we were too late. They said they could drop us off but we’d have to hike down the remaining four miles. F, that! Brad was pissed that Kathy made him pay to park. He wasn’t going to. Haha…catch us if you can….So he went to the Visitor Center to get a credit. They gave it to us but we never found the time to go back.

The next day, thanks to recommendations from our friends Glen Gitterman and Ron Clukey we went to Thombstone. Thombstone is an old western town where Texas history passed through legendary lawmen and bandits of the wild-wild west. It was a cute town about an hour drive from our campground. The best part was the recreation of the shoot-out at the okay corral. They made it interactive, the acting was pretty good and they through in some one-liners that brought a little humour to the gunfight.

On the way home we were going to hit up Kertchner Caverns but we were a little late to do so, so we opted for Charron Vineyards. The view was beautiful but the service was terrible and the wine only fair at best...They're not all winners ladies and gentleman.

We watched the Super bowl with some homemade guacamole, salsa, chips, shrimp cocktail and chicken ceaser made on the grill. Brad blew the two beer maximum for the day and had four. Special occasion! Kathy started feeling shitty during the first quarter and watched the rest of the game inside. Brad took the opportunity to continue watching it outside.

The next day was interesting…we went to the Sonara Dessert Museum, Tiny’s and then Charros Steak for Valentine’s Day dinner. It was a good combination. We didn’t know the Dessert Museum was going to be a 4-5 hour jaunt through the dessert. Brad got a bath while feeding the stingrays. That's what he gets for teasing them and besides, he could use a bath. It was fun and a good time. On the way back we hit this dive bar/restaurant called Tiny's for a refreshing beverage and then had a nice dinner at a very successful restaurant chain in downtown Tucson. This same family owns five El Charro restaurants in and around Tucson.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/b79b56_c86bffedd1d942c7a835f9736f31e675/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

We left to go to Phoenix on the 15th. Kathy wasn't 100% so we decided she'd get covid tested when we get there. Thanks for reading down this far and thanks for following our journey. Kathy & Brad.....to be continued...