Living Our Dream

Tucson, AZ, Part I: Saguaro National Park

We had quite a long drive from the Texas Hill Country to our next destination of Tucson, AZ. It took us three days driving five or more hours a day to get there. We usually don't drive more than 4 hours a day or for more than two days in a row, but somehow, that's the way things worked out for this leg of our travels.

Our first overnight stop was at Hilltop RV Park in Fort Stockton, TX. Hilltop RV is all gravel, and somewhat dusty gravel at that. They have full hook-ups with 30/50 amp electric and Wi-Fi. All the sites, which are fairly narrow, are pull-throughs. There is some traffic noise from I-10 but there is a nice view from the hilltop toward the west. The photo below shows our site at Hilltop RV.

The next photo shows some of the other sites along our row.

The pull-through site helped us get an early start since we left the toad hooked up. That was good because we had another drive of over five-hours. However, we gained an hour going from Central Time Zone to Mountain Time, and we got to our next stop at American RV in Anthony, TX, by early afternoon.

Anthony, TX, is a short distance past El Paso and right before the Texas - New Mexico border. American RV is located behind and is apparently owned by Camping World. In fact, there is a 200-300 rig rally park there, too. The campground is all fine gravel, but it's not too dusty. The fine gravel, however, gets stuck in the tread of your tennis shoes and gets dragged into the rig quite easily. There are full hook-ups with 30/50 amp electric and Wi-Fi. All the sites are extra-long pull-throughs, and site width isn't too bad. There is a little noise from I-10.

 

The next morning we were off to another fairly early start for another five-hour drive to Tuscon. This time, we would gain an additional hour because we were going into Arizona, and Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time. Our home during our stay in Tuscon was Desert Trails RV Park.

In addition to getting good reviews on rvparkreviews.com, Desert Trails also has a 50% Passport America discount from May to September. The discount is good for up to four days.

Like a lot of campgrounds in the southwest, Desert Trails is all gravel (except for the main road around the campground which is paved), but the layer of gravel was very generous and it wasn't dusty at all. Desert Trails has some sites with 30 amp electric and some with 50. If you need 30 amps, be aware that Desert Trails is another of those fairly rare campgrounds where the the 50 amp sites don't have a 30 amp plug in the box. We wanted 50 amp because temperatures were predicted to be in the 90s most of the time we were going to be there, and we figured we'd need both air conditioners during the day. With 50 amp, not only could we run both air conditioners, but we also could run the washer/dryer and microwave at the same time if necessary. The nice thing is about the desert, however, is it cooled off at night and we could turn off the air conditioning and open the windows.

Overall, the campground is very quiet except for the incessant cooing of the white winged doves and mourning doves that starts before dawn. And someone living near the campground also has a rooster who can't tell time. He crows at random times during the night. The birds start to coo and crow in earnest quite early because with no daylight savings time, it starts getting light at 5:00 AM this time of year.

There are a couple of pull-through sites, but most are back-ins. The sites aren't very wide; but there weren't many people there, and we had no one directly on either side. Desert Trails is a winter snowbird park, and it has pretty much emptied out now that the season is over.

We liked the desert landscaping throughout the campground. There is a large cactus garden near the office, and there are small patches of cacti and desert shrubs scattered around the campground. Some sites don't have much landscaping, but we picked a site with a couple of small trees, some other desert plants, and a rather large saguaro (pronounced sah-WAH-roh) cactus in front.

 

The next photo is a view looking down the road. The sites look a little bigger than they really are because the RVs are parked on every other site. If you can stand the heat, Desert Trails is a really nice RV park in the off season, especially with the cacti blooming in spring; but we're afraid things might be a little too close for comfort when they're full in winter.

In addition to getting good reviews and having a Passport America discount, Desert Trails was located very close to several things we wanted to see in Tucson. One of these was the Saguaro National Park. Sagauro National Park is divided into two units about 30 miles apart separated by the city of Tucson. The two districts are the Tucson Mountain District (Saguaro West) and the Rincon Mountain District (Saguaro East).

Saguaro National Park is named for the saguaro cactus that grows in the Sonoran Desert. The Sonoran Desert includes the southwest corner of Arizona, the southeast tip of California, and runs on down into Mexico and the Baja Peninsula.

Saguaros can live to be over 150 years old, and a mature specimen will usually be 30 to 50 feet tall. Saguaros grow mostly on the south-facing slopes because they need the heat of the sun to survive in winter. The cooler air also collects in the valleys, and for that reason, not many saguaros grow naturally on the valley floor either. We'll have more information on the Sonoran Desert and saguaro cactus in our next post.

Saguaro East is a higher elevation that Saguaro West, and the Sonoran Desert in Saguaro East gradually gives way to conifer forests. Mica Peak in Saguaro East rises 8,664 feet above sea level. We were more interested in the desert, and since Saguaro West was only 5 or 6 miles up the road from where we were staying, that's where we headed.

We stopped at the visitor center and watched an excellent slide show on the desert and on saguaro cacti from a Native American perspective. Then we took off to drive the loop trail through saguaro West.

What we didn't know was, although the loop road in Saguaro East is paved, the loop road in Saguaro West is not. Not only isn't it paved, but it's pretty rough in places. Fortunately, the Saturn Vue didn't have any problem even though it doesn't have very high ground clearance.

There was an interesting balanced rock near the beginning of the loop.

In addition to saguaro cactus, the park has other desert plants like the ocotillo (pronounced oak-oh-TEA-oh), prickly pear cactus, cholla (pronounced CHOY-ah) cactus and plenty of creosote bushes.

On the return side of the loop, there seemed to be more branched saguaros.

Botanists aren't sure why some saguaros form branches or arms and others don't. A saguaro may have to be up to 75 years old before it gets arms. The one in the next photo was very impressive in both size and the number of arms.

We completed the Saguaro West loop with a very dusty car. Although the scenery in the park is nice, it isn't anything you can't see on the hillsides along many of the area roads. Tucson Mountain Park is a 20,000 acre county park that you have to drive through to get to Sagauro National Park, and its scenery is every bit as nice as that in the national park with much better roads.

There are several hiking trails in both units of the national park, but at 98 degrees we passed on the hiking. Still, we're glad we visited the park because we got to stop in several places along the loop road and see some of the cacti a lot closer than we would have just driving by in the car.

We have only scratched the surface of things to do in Tucson, so stay tuned for more.

One of our final excursions before leaving Florida was a trip to Daytona to tour the International Speedway. Being NASCAR fans, it was a great opportunity to learn about the history of the sport and to actually experience the 31 degree bank! This picture of the Daytona race on the beach in the 1950s was remarkable for the undeveloped area to the right of the beach as seen in this picture!

Additional pictures of Daytona and other experiences are in Photo Album: 011: Heading West on I-10.

We enjoyed our month in Florida and now understand why so many snowbirds call it home during the winter. In addition to visiting with Pittsburgh friends, Pat and Wink Daniel, at their home in The Villages and also with Paul's aunt whom we hadn't seen since Paul's dad died, here are some of the reasons we liked Florida:

• There are so many live oaks, that it’s green all winter.
• Even when it gets dark early, you can still spend the evening with the door open.
• You can drive in and out of rain showers within 1 mile.
• The clouds are puffy, cumulus, and seem like you can touch them. They are rarely steel grey all over like Pittsburgh skies.
• You can hear birds chirping even in December.
• Flowers bloom in December…even wild flowers.

Our goal this winter is to explore Florida, south Texas, and Arizona for consideration for next winter. Much to Margery's surprise, Florida is worthy of serious consideration. : )

We try to maintain a four-hour travel day so we allowed 2 1/2 weeks to travel the 2,200-mile, 45-hour drive to Quartzsite. We left Bushnell, Florida on December 28 planning to get to Rainbow Plantation (another Escapee park) in Alabama for the new year's weekend. As we traveled north on I-75, the number of palm trees decreased  while we traveled through horse farm country. Watching the changing terrain  has been one of the most interesting things we have found about traveling west.

We were amazed by the number of pine forests in the panhandle of Florida.Our weekend in south  Alabama gave us the opportunity to see the less developed and more accessible beaches of Gulf Shoes and Orange. Even though it was gray and threatening rain, we drove down the peninsula and found large stretches of beach with no houses blocking beach access. There was also quite a bit of property for sale which made us wonder if some homes were destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.

Our travels across Louisiana and eastern Texas deserve another trip before forming an opinion. We drove through heavy rain which caused this small pond at our overnight stop to overflow its banks.

We spent the weekend in Livingston,TX, at the home base of Escapees. The highlight of our stay was attending a church where teenagers filled the whole front half of the church and took the initiative to stand during worship, to raise their hands in praise, and to be pro-active in moving out of the pews to greet adults during the fellowship portion of the service. It was also the first time we ever saw the minister's wife walk down the aisles shaking people's hands and welcoming them to the service for about 10 minutes before the service. The other thing we appreciated about the service was the opportunity for quiet, personal prayer...lasting more than 20 seconds.

At this juncture, we revised our travel schedule several times as the forecast for nighttime temperatures in the teens was predicted across the south. We had planned to stay in Pecos for three days, but we revised our plans to stay only two days so we could move out and get far enough west before the low temperatures hit.

The high point of our stay in Pecos was the West of the Pecos Museum  which is housed in a saloon built in 1896, by R. S. Johnson, a former Texas Ranger. The red sandstone building included the saloon on the first floor with bedrooms upstairs. In 1904, the three-story Orient Hotel was added and was in use until the mid-1950s.

There were over 50 rooms of exhibits: artifacts, history, and West Texas lore. Additional pictures in the photo album capture some of the notable and quirky displays.

Another fascinating thing we learned was the presence of the Permian Sea, a large underground saltwater sea located under the west Texas desert. Water from this sea is pumped to the surface and used to raise "the sweetest, cleanest, best-tasting shrimp." The Permian Sea Shrimp Store is definitely on our list to visit  when we pass through Texas another time.

Pecos is also known for its cantaloupe. Although the varieties grown in other areas are the same, climate, soil, and cultivation methods account for the distinctiveness of Pecos melons. Pecos cantaloupes first became popular and in wide demand when they were sold to the Texas and Pacific Railroad to serve in their dining cars.

As we traveled I-10 across west Texas, the landscape changed dramatically. The live oaks and other trees became smaller and were eventually replaced by mesquite and creosote bushes and prickly pear cactus. We passed miles and miles of this landscape never seeing a house or a person and rarely grazing cattle.

At the end of western Texas, entering New Mexico, the terrain began changing again. We were struck by these mountains rising above us.

When we are traveling on successive days, we usually stay at Passport America campgrounds along the interstate that provide pull-through sites. These are very convenient, but not too quiet., so we were delighted to find Caverns of Sonora. Located six miles from the interstate and situated in the heart of a ranch, there was an RV park in addition to the caverns. Unfortunately, I was not able to take the cavern tour. The sign in the office said there were 360 steps on the tour and 1 3/4 hours of walking. That's more than my knees can handle. However, the wildlife and quiet in the area was amazing!

As we continued across  New Mexico and into Arizona, the changing landscape continued to enthrall us.

Driving through Phoenix on a Saturday proved to be a challenge as the road seemed inadequate for the amount of traffic. However, as we pulled into Saddle Mountain RV Park (a Passport America campground) in the setting sun, we were rewarded with the changing colors on the mountains surrounding the campground.

While staying at Saddle Mountain, we took a day trip to Wickenburg, AZ . This town deserves more than a couple of hours to explore so this trip we reconnoitered for a more in-depth visit in the future.  Located on the northern edge of the Sonoran Desert, we were captivated with the colors and textures of the vegetation and the beauty of the mountains. We'll sure to be back to visit the Hassayampa River Preserve, Desert Caballeros Western Museum, and Vulture Mine which is an abandoned gold mine. Wickenburg is also home to Rumuda Ranch offers biblically-based residential programs for women and girls suffering from eating disorders and related issues.

Although we've had two nights in the 20s, we did miss lows in the teens as we had hoped. Thursday we travel the 70 miles to begin our Quartzsite stay. This will include self-sufficient camping in the desert…meaning without any hookups. We will depend on our water tanks, generator, and batteries to provide us with electricity and heat. Conservation will be the word of the day. We look forward to sharing with you our Quartzsite experience.