Three Days/Nights in Tucson - Wonderful

After leaving the desert in Quartzsite, I needed to find a place to spend a couple of days getting the sand out of all the nooks and crannies in the RV. It was insane. We had about 5 minutes of rain over the 3 months that I was living in the desert and a lot of wind too…so the sand got into everything.

I booked a campground for 3 nights to use their water and electric hookups to do a top to bottom cleaning. But after leaving the campground and stayed at my absolute favorite Harvest Host location in Tucson…Little Anthony’s Diner and Gaslight Theater. This is my 3rd time staying here and I love it. It’s right in town and I’m staying in the parking lot but the staff and the meals make it a special place to me. The last two times I stayed here the owner invited to sit at his table for the show in the theatre. The actors are very good and the production is top notch.

I stayed for 3 nights at Little Anthony’s but during the days I had some wonderful day trips.

Saguaro National Park - Home of the largest number of Saguaro Cactus in the country, the park itself is over 92,000 acres. There are two separate areas (districts) to the park, one on the east side of Tucson and the other on the west side. I visited to larger of the two districts on the east side. There is an 8 mile driving loop around the park and a handful of picnic ares. In all there are over 165 miles of hiking trails through the park. I meandered along 3 of them to get up close to the Saguaros.

The Saguaro Cactus is the largest cactus in the world and the largest ever measured was 78 feet tall. They can live as long as 200 years and average about 40 feet. They are only found in the Sonoran Desert (Northern Mexico, Arizona and California. 

Know for their height and arms the Saguaros don’t grow their first arm until they are approximately 40 years old. 

Over the last 90 years the population of Saguaros has been devastated by the climate change in the Southwest, hotter temperatures and less water available to them, but they are beginning to make a comeback through conservation and preservations efforts.

It was an amazing drive through the park and it was neat to hike a few trails to get up close to these huge plants. 

Unfortunately, due to government cutbacks the parks are starting to limit hours of operation beginning next week as is happening with a lot of National Parks. Hopefully we will be able to continue to visit OUR National Parks for a long time to come.

Mt Lemmon - Mt Lemmon is located in the Coronado National Forest just north of Tucson. At 9,157 feet it’s quite the drive in the RV. Lots of switchbacks and steep climbs but well worth it.

The University of Arizona has a free app you can download and listen to as you drive up the mountain. It tells you about the geology, the plants and trees, and the different living zones as you drive up. Very informative. There are bunch of pull outs you can park in to view all the peaks, the valley below and see all the vegetation. Amazing views.

Near the bottom of the mountain the landscape is full of Saguaro Cactus as far as you can see. At about a 3rd of the way up the vegetation changes and you see mostly small oak trees and wild grasses. The last 3rd of the drive the views are full of Ponderosa Pines and other large trees. The different zones are due to temperature, rain/snow, and the amount of soil. Learned a lot and had a great drive!

A bit of trivia…Mt Lemmon was named after Sarah Lemmon the first woman to trek to the top of the mountain, on her honeymoon in 1881! Both her and her husband were botanists and wanted to explore the area. What an adventurous honeymoon! 

Mission San Xavier del Bac - Walk around this almost 225 year old mission this morning. Quite impressive. The murals on the walls are stunning as is the architecture. The mission is located on the San Xavier Indian Reservation about 10 miles south of Tucson. The mission was founded by the Jesuits in 1692 and the building was completed in 1797. 

I am really glad that we are preserving these old structures. They are very beautiful, full of amazing history, and just peaceful places to visit. Sometime in the near future I am planning to visit the 21 Missions in California from San Diego up to just north of San Francisco. That will a cool adventure!