A Sunday Drive (On Monday) and So Much More!

What an awesome "Sunday Drive" I had today - enjoyed my day off celebrating Martin Luther King and Civil Rights in this gorgeous desert.  I made a huge loop around the city, wandering around on the west side of the Tucson Mountains where I don't think there's more gorgeous terrain anywhere in the world.  So many cactus!

First, though, I went up to Sentinel Park and visited A Mountain.  It's sort of like going to the top of Cadillac (in Acadia) but with a completely different feel.  Since it's not part of the National Park system, it's not in pristine condition.  There's graffiti.  There's shining glass and ground-in litter in the parking areas.  The views are incredibly expansive - 360 degrees!  Granted, the view does not include ocean and lakes and incredible greenness, but the views of the city, with mountains, and cacti and beautiful blue skies are just as spectacular in their own way.  The cars parked up there - and there are many, many people enjoying the vies, sitting on the rocks and looking out over the expanse - are, for the most part, battered and old.  Mine included.  A free view.  Clean air.  What more could one want?

I found a letterbox up here, too, which was the reason I ascended, but became a plus.  I really enjoyed this trip.  The woman who planted the box let me know that she no longer comes to Tucson (her daughter was a student at the U of A when the mom planted it) and she's glad it's still safe and being found.

From there I hit Silverbell and headed north.  Hadn't been over here in years.  Stopped at Christopher Columbus Park where I found another plant by Desert Flower.  I was sure I was nowhere near where I was supposed to be, but followed the directions and VOILA!  There it was!

From there I headed north even more to go to the Picture Rocks area, meandering across the Tucson Mountains, along Sanderio Road, Kinney Road, and Gates Pass Road.  LOVE IT SO MUCH OVER THERE!

I found my last letterbox of the day along the side of Wade Road, in a desert setting, in the midst of all sorts of cacti.  The letterbox was called "Cactus Village."  Cactus Village to be sure!  Two different kinds of cholla, barrel, prickly pear, and saguaro plus a whole lot of creosote bushes and small palo verdi trees - just gorgeous, just sitting there.  With the letterbox sitting innocently a hundred feet or so from the edge of the road.

As a side note, I checked my altimeter reading at the top of Gates Pass and it was 3150 feet.  I don't usually drive from west to east over Gates Pass and I missed the view going the other way.  It was still pretty darned breathtaking.....

Pickin' Away - Found Three on Saturday

When I headed out Saturday it was to do a few errands, but ended up hunting for ... and finding ... three letterboxes.  The first was at El Corral Restaurant, just west of where I work, on River Road.  The parking lot was empty so I was a bit conspicuous, but I tromped up the hill and easily found it under a tree.  So much fun!

From there I headed to La Encantada for a fabulous carving - parking and walking along a somewhat busy intersection at the north of the shopping center.  I often wonder what people think when they see a rather large older woman picking her way through the cacti in the middle of nowhere, heading for a rock.....

My last find was at the Holy Hope Cemetery on Oracle.  I LOVE the directions for this one, "find Jesus in the roundabout" !! There was a perfect hole in the junction of some branches in a tree.  For all three I could hop back into the car and enjoy my stamping with not time constraints.

So much fun!

Letterboxing

Atlas Quest and the "official" Letterboxing site are the two ways that one can find locations of letterboxes  I also have discovered an app that I use on my phone, but not all the boxes are found on all the sites.

I'm hoping this will be my ongoing list of letterboxing adventures.

1.  Girl Scouts Rock! (LbNA) COULD NOT FIND (LaTorte Spring Trail, nr. Carlisle, PA) with Ella 4/8/15
2.  Gloria's Pepsi (AQ) COULD NOT FIND (King's Gap, nr. Carlisle, PA) with Ella 4/11/15
3.  Beautiful Spring (AQ) FOUND! (I-81 N Rest Stop just south of Carlisle, PA) with Ella 4/11/15
4.  Irish Bell (AQ) (LbNA) FOUND (Michael Perry Park, Tucson) 4/19/15
5.  Daisy Gordon: GS Series (AQ) COULD NOT FIND (Quincie Douglas Library, Tucson) 5/10/15
6.  This One's For the Kids (LbNA) COULD NOT FIND (Children's Memorial Park, Tucson) 5/10/15

Tip 1:  If a box has not been found in a number of years, even though it's still "active," it might not be worth the time and effort you put into trying to find it - unless your stroll/walk/hike is the main reason for your adventure.

Tip 2:  I know that I'll be adding more and more as I become a more experienced letterboxer.

Letterboxing Attempt #3 - To No Avail

Yup, it was a bummer day letterboxing today, although I'm not too frustrated and I enjoyed both of my attempts. A great Mother's Day adventure, I guess!

The first was "Daisy Gordon: GS Series ," which took me to the Quincie Douglas Library in South Tucson.  It wasn't there.  The Bear Essentials container was completely empty, inside, out, and under.  However, I found a couple of good picture books that I haven't read, and loved looking around this lovely library.

The second, this time off River Road just west of Oracle, was at the Children's Memorial Park. I'm discovering that Tucson is FULL of small, lovely parks that are well kept and full of playgrounds and ball fields for the kids of Tucson.  This one was right on the River Bike Path and commorated children who died shortly after birth.

It took me a bit to figure out all the clues, but I know with 100% certainty that I found the right spot.  The only flagstone that I could see had been pulled away from an apparent empty hole.  I would have poked and prodded a little more, but it was under a mesquite tree and those long, sharp pricklers kept catching on my brand-new shirt....I was afraid I'd get a hole or a rip.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't there.

 The copse of rocks where this was located was pretty cool, and somewhat of a hideaway, on a short trail that joins River Road to the bike path along the wash.

Better luck next time!

Letterboxing #2 - My First Try in Tucson

Sunday, 4/17/15

Irish Bell

Tucson, Arizona

Gorgeous spring day, high 70's and super sunny, I headed down Pantano to Michael Perry Park - a small playground, a fenced baseball field, rest rooms, and access to the Pantano Wash bicycle/walking  path.  But it was on a short gravel path just beside the paved bike path where, under a pile of rocks at the base of some shrubs I found "Irish Bell."  Good directions other than one small glitch - the gate to go through is on the WEST side of the parking lot, not the east side as the directions claimed.  Took a few minutes to figure it out and try it anyways...so glad I did!

I settled down cross-legged, partially shaded by a different shrub, and stamped my book with the hand-carved Irish bell stamp and stamped their little book with my tree.  I've put all my stuff - and a bottle of water, into my black hiking bag and it worked out perfectly.  I plan to leave this in my car so that I'll always have it with me!
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I like that it was a short walk - only a little over 1300 steps - and that I actually found it!  The exposure to the sun was a bit difficult, so I'm thinking that now that summer's upon us, much Tucson trekking will kill me - if the snakes and scorpions and other various critters don't.  But I hope to try one or two more huntes before I leave for the summer!

"Chef for a Day" at Ronald McDonald House

A couple of Sundays ago, three of my colleagues met me at the Tucson Ronald McDonald house to prepare the Sunday evening meal for the people staying there.  There were eight families, averaging four people per family (which I understand is the norm.)  The kitchen is huge - it has two identical sides, each side with a dishwasher, two sinks, two stoves, a multitude of refrigerators, and cupboards filled with every tool and spice that we might ever need.

The facility is beautiful, warm, and friendly.  The volunteers who were staffing the area were extremely kind...and so thankful to us.  And we had fun.  We did a good did and had a good time doing so.

What did we prepare?  We were told that many of the meals provided are spaghetti and/or tacos.  We decided to have two different casseroles - one being vegetarian; two desserts; homemade rolls; and a big tossed salad.  Everything has to be prepared on site. It took the four of us about two hours to unload, get our bearings, and prepare the meal for 30.

We served:

Chicken-Rice Casserole
Chicken Enchalada Casserole
Rolls
Tossed Salad
Brownies
Millionaire's Pie

I can't wait to do it again.

Charron Vineyards

This is probably the closest vineyard to my home - it can't be more than 30 minutes away, on the way to Sonoita, but actually in Vail.  And what a wonderful way to spend a gorgeous winter afternoon in southern Arizona!

Setting:  A long, wide deck, dotted with low tables and comfy chairs sports a wood-burning chimenia in the corner.  Lovely.  But the view?  GORGEOUS.  Sitting low on a mountain, the view of closely distant (can you picture that or is it a lousy description?) mountains is absolutely wonderful.  It was perfect for this 65-degree sunny day.  And in the summer when it's really hot hot hot in Tucson, it never goes much above 90 here (higher altitude than Tucson proper) and  they have misters completely surrounding the seating area.

The Deal:  Taste up to 6 wines for $7 including souvenir glass.  My friend Sheila had a "Living Social" coupon, which included a 6-oz. glass of wine after the tasting for $2.00.  They sell munchies (we had lentil chips and hummus) which was nice to clear the palate between tastings.  We were told to bring a picnic or any food (cheese & crackers, anyone) the next time we came.

Wines:  There were 14 offered, twelve of which were described on an easy-to-understand handout.  Dry wines on the left, sweet wines on the right.  Very helpful, and you can take notes on the handout and take it with you...and the handout includes pricing (which seemed very reasonable).

Personel & Service:  There were two women serving everyone - and there were probably five or six groups of people being served throughout our visit.  We never had to wait and we never felt rushed.  Both women were extremely nice, helpful, and knowledgeable enough for me!

The Company:  I went with two friends from Maine - all three of us teachers, one of us from Bar Harbor, one from Southwest Harbor, and one (me) from Northeast Harbor.  A lot of history.  Our kids went to MDIHS together.  It was as close to a perfect afternoon as I've had in a long, long while.

This was a GREAT way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  My sister is coming in May, and I can't wait to take her here, with a picnic basket of special snacks and a camera.....

Charron Vineyards website.

My choices:
from the "DRY" side:
Blanc De Noir - lite and dry, faintly sweet, but not enough for me
from the "SWEET" side:
Santa Rita Rose
*Tortolita Blanca (this was my full-glass choice, and the bottle I purchased) yup, sweet.  yup, yummy
Golden White Merlot - had a bit of a different taste (they said it had a "nuance of sweet sherry or cognac)
Tempranillo Rose - a sweet blush
Rincon Red - the only red wine I had, and very sweet