Down the Road: A Surprise Birthday in the Desert

Tucson, Arizona
Gilbert Ray Regional Park

What a fun time we had in Tucson! We had been planning a friend reunion for a few months and it all came together. Steve, Rick & Ron had all met waaaaay back in the Air Force. When they got out they all eventually ended up working for Kodak where they met Mike. These guys have been friends for 40+ years!

Me, Ron, Angie, Steve, Rose, Mike, Rick & Kathleen.

Mike & Rose drove to Tucson from Northern CA where they rented this nice Airstream.

Ron & Kathleen flew in from Hawaii and rented this motorhome. They had never camped in an RV before but did great driving and camping in it.

We all got sites near each other at Gilbert Ray Regional Park. $20 for 30amp, central water and dump station. Many of the sites are smaller but we eventually got into our site, #A27. It's a beautiful park. We had a lot of hikes and relaxing planned. We all arrived around the same time. Unfortunately for Steve, he broke a tooth a couple days before and I lined up a dentist appointment for him in town, so he only got to say Hello before heading out. Poor guy. They ended up having to pull the tooth and he'll need an implant later in CA.

We started out Friday with an easy hike around the campground on a loop trail. Since Ron & Kathleen haven't really spent much time in the desert, they really enjoyed the cactus and desert landscape. Seeing the Saguaros was very impressive to them.

This is what a dead saguaro looks like. The ribs were used to make homes and shelters for the Native Americans and westerners.

This guy had a wavey hairdoo.

Tucson Mountain Park is all around us. So much hiking here.

They loved learning about the dreaded Cholla plants. This one is the Chain Fruit Cholla.

First time I spotted a Crested Barrel cactus in the wild! Pretty cool.

We ended back up at the campground. This is how we spent most of our time. Hiking followed by Cocktail Time then a BBQ. Even though there was a cold spell most of the time they were here, and it was windy off and on, we all had a great time.

Saturday we headed to Saguaro National Park. Mike found us a great 3+ mile hike. We did the King Canyon/Gould Mine Loop.

We started off hiking up the wash which was quite the workout. Like hiking in sand.

Plenty of little spillways. I'm sure if you were here after a good rain these would become very pretty waterfalls.

A Barrel Cactus growing right out of the rocky canyon wall.

Looking up the canyon wall. Once we were in the canyon, protected from the winds, it warmed up.

Mike and Rose climbing over one of the many walls.

There are SO MANY Saguaros out here!

There was a small amount of water here and there along the trail.

There are also some petroglyphs.

An old stone cabin.

See the heart in the middle of the cut arm on this Saguaro?

This Saguaro looked like it was made up of stacked segments.

At the top is the Gould Mine with a nice lookout over the valley below.

Angie & Rick.

On Sunday we went to the Desert Museum. You can easily spend an entire day here. There are some local animals, birds and lizards and some amazing plant/cactus area.

We have been here a couple of times so I didn't take many pictures of the animals. The outdoor Birds of Prey was cancelled due to the winds. Too bad as it's really cool to see the hawks, owls, falcons and other predator birds flying all around you.

However, I do LOVE the Cactus gardens and flowering deserts plants.

I love these little round guys.

There aren't many cacti, plants or trees in the desert that won't hurt you! They are armed and dangerous!

Ok, I did take a picture of the Beaver because he looked so out of place here in the desert.

Loved the yellow color of the Golden Barrel Cactus.

These wooly looking cactus are pretty cool too.

This is a Golden Saguaro.

The Cactus Garden is my favorite part. So many different varieties.

That night we went out to dinner in Downtown Tuscon. We walked around and ended up at an outdoor eating area with a delicious Taco Truck conveniently parked next to a Bar Truck. Thankfully there were heat lamps next to us as it was still chilly outside.

We ate dinner and watched this talented couple play some great music.

On Sunday, I took us up Brown Mountain for a hike. Above is Me, Kathleen and Rose. Angie didn't come because she was preparing a special surprise we had planned for Rose later for her birthday.