Apr 2, 2012 - Bye Bye Mesa

Our assignment at Mesa is done. Yippeee. We are now at Catalina State Park located in Oro Valley which is a suburb of Tucson. This park is an oasis in the middle of a metropolitan area located about a mile off of the main road. From our site, you can see mountains in the background and the desert flora and fauna that we missed while were working in Mesa. There are a number of trails to hike and a short bike trail nearby. We were here five years ago and enjoyed the park but we were wondering if it would still have the same appeal. It...

Nov 26, 2011 - Catalina State Park Canyon Loop Trail

We decided to revisit a hike we had done another winter - Catalina State Park is about 15 miles north of Tucson. It's an interesting hike (The Canyon Loop Trail). It starts off climbing above "the canyon" - which is wash - containing a significant amount of water on our last hike - but only a small amount this time. None of the stream crossings required us to remove shoes and socks. The hike continues along the canyon edge heading slightly up and towards the beautiful Catalina Mountains. At its eastern-most point the trail turns north to a...

Oct 23, 2011 - Catalina State Park, AZ

We have been traveling a little faster than we would like because we want to be in Puerto Penasco, Mexico on October 25th. A little more time has past since JC's last treatments and he is doing pretty good. We share the driving. Go for shorter walks and get more rest. Recovery from treatment is a slow process reminding us of the virtues of patience. Today we arrived in Tucson in plenty of time for Holmes Tuttle Ford to check out what was wrong with our Escape Hybrid. The bad news is the control module for the power steering went out and...

Jan 26, 2011 - Catalina, Arizona – Tucson area

We traveled some 200 miles east and, through a strange coincidence, moved from one “Catalina” to another: Catalina Spa in Desert Hot Springs, California, to Catalina State Park in Arizona, north of Tucson. We had several reasons for being at Catalina State Park. (1) SaddleBrooke, where Jon’s brother Roger, sister-in-law Jude, and stepmother Janet live, is only about eight miles north. (2) Ranger Steve, for whom we volunteered at Sonoita Creek State Natural Area (SCSNA) in 2006 and 2008, is now the head ranger at Catalina State Park. (3)...

Mar 10, 2010 - Flash flood!

We left Kartchner Sunday morning, knowing full well a storm was forecast, but cleverly incorporating our knowledge that our next destination, Catalina State Park, was very popular and often full. We figured, with the storm coming and it being the end of the weekend and all, we might get in! So we left Kartchner early early early Sunday morning, stopped at a bank machine and a grocery store, and arrived at Catalina Park in late morning, and -- there was room! We smiled smugly at our cleverness and continued smiling, but not so smugly, for...

Jan 8, 2010 - Desert Museum

Our friends, Len and Nancy, joined us at Catalina State Park on Wednesday. They are the couple that will be our traveling companions to Alaska. Len had never been to Mt. Lemmon so we took off for a great scenic drive. Being a week day, the place was deserted. We had hoped to have dinner at the Ironwood Terrace Restaurant but, they are closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. The ski area is only open on the weekends and if there is new snow. We jammed down the road the few miles to Summerhaven hoping to get some pizza at the Cookie Cabin. Ah, we...

Jan 5, 2010 - Santa Catalina Mountains

Hope all of our family and friends had a safe and happy New Year celebration. We have always been very low key about this particular event and rarely stay awake for the monumental moment of bringing in the New Year. What a couple of fuddy duddys. LOL However, this year we did stay up a little late. I was in bed reading....one my favorite pass times...and, at midnight, J.C. came running in to wish me a Happy New Year. As previously mentioned, we are staying at Catalina State Park. It is located at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains...

Jan 11, 2009 - Catalina State Park

Our first day in the Tucson area was spent exploring some of the trails in the Catalina State Park also our campground base. The state park is an excellent place to stop. Firstly it had magnificent vistas of the Santa Catalina Mountains whose highest peak is Mount Lemmon at 9,157ft. Secondly it is a regular campground with no park models in sight unlike most of the campgrounds in Tucson and Phoenix catering for the extended stay snowbirds. Thirdly it was an excellent price at $20 per night for electricity, water, park entry and huge...

Dec 6, 2008 - Catalina State Park, Tucson, Az

Short driving days are good, made even better when we fill the motorhome fuel tank with diesel costing $2.17 a gallon! This summer in Anacortes we paid a high of $4.99 and earlier, on the eastward-bound leg of this trip, we were elated at $3.59! Does this mean more travel and farther destinations are in our future; probably not until the first of the year when we re-evaluate! Departing Benson was indeed "sweet sorrow"; sad to be saying goodbye to Rodger and Sharon whom we have spent a lot of time with this year and enjoyed every minute. Sad...