Adventure 557: Catalina State Park/ Post E

Old Site B-30

Maybe it's the rain, but I'm especially despondent today because each member of the senate signed their name certifying their pledge to impartiality.  Hard to swallow when the leader of the senate himself (among other sycophants) declared on national TV, "I'm not impartial at all." At the same time, the newest narrative Republicans are feeding unthinking regular Americans is that just because the Judiciary committee didn't finish its investigation, "It's not our fault". I guess the stonewalling of the subpoenas, the direct instruction from the White House not to cooperate, the refusal to turn over documents, and the lame alarms of senators like Romney and Collins don't count. Beware America. Us chickens are in grave danger if the weasel is allowed to run free in the hen house much longer. What, me worry?  OK, I've had my rant; back to the tour. We're safely ensconced in our trailer surrounded by people who look much like us. There wasn't much outdoor action since it rained all day. I spent part of the day deleting some of our 16,000 pictures from the computer. I also took a nap, watched a movie called Leaving Las Vegas (Which did nothing to improve my attitude), and I managed two victories over the Wiley Cager. To offset our lack of exercise, we've decided to extend  our "wintling" time to one minute, which allows for extended back scratching, gentle body rubbing, and the increased warmth of our love. It's so fun, we may extend the time further. Note: I highly recommend the practice with your own significant other. Because we're not hungry or tired, we'll be able to stay awake for the Zag game tonight which starts at nine. The weather is supposed to clear again tomorrow, so we'll lube the bike and ride some more of the hundred mile river trail. In all, we're still grateful that life is good, especially today.

 My Bunny spent the day watching Netflix while knitting a new something for Falcon.

 She found this buried in the fridge: Shades of Dorothy M.

 Selfie of the day.

 The weather outside, while not frightful, certainly didn't invite the faint hearted.

 Falcon shot of the day.

New site for the night: B-24.

Adventure 556: Catalina State Park/Post D

Good Morning, Frac.

Oh, scrumptious delight, we've forever dispelled with capitulation! Sheer joy befell us today. We began in the morning twilight with birdwatching. We spotted three kinds of woodpecker and at least two flickers. We then hiked the Romero loop trail, vicariously living with the native peoples who populated the area a thousand years ago, and we gently traversed the ranch of Mr. Romero, who raised cattle for a time. Remnants of his compound remain. We gleefully danced among the Saguaro, the Barrel, and Cholla cacti. The cool desert air flowed from the mountains, and the bright dawn light caused us to squint. From there, we drove to Rillito Park where we rode a bit of the hundred mile canal trail, and to top the night off we watched episode one of season three of Anne with an E. Like I said, this simply scrumptious life in the desert makes us ever so confident that life is good, especially today.

The cool air seemed to color the mountains blue.

 Judy ogling a desert bird.

 Part of the Romero ruins.

 The true harshness of the desert is a bit belied by this beautiful shot.

 The Barrel cacti bloom this time of year.

As do the Cholla.

This park borders the bike path. It's also part of a Tucson expansion  controversy of late.

Selfie of the day.

 Good night sweetie pie.

Adventure 555: Catalina State Park/Post C

Cash Only; Worth it.

My Bunny suggested we drive to downtown Tucson for breakfast at Poca Cosa (The Little One), a small, welcoming cafe that has wonderful food, loud Spanish music (Their menu says they like it that way), and a warm atmosphere. Our waitress, a lovely young Hispanic woman named Dani, said she liked my Orwell hat, and when we pulled out the cribbage board, she quipped, "I think I like you guys." Breakfast, which was not only very attractively presented, was as excellent as we remembered the last time. It was our niece, Miss Kate (Now Mrs. Kempf), recommended the place. After breakfast, we drove to REI to buy a new pannier. Our old ones wore out. Besides, we left them at home. We decided to buy a carry bag that fits on the back rack. It also expands to side panniers. This will work well for us. We made it back to the trailer before noon, and immediately got on the bike for a two hour ride, our first since Vermont in the fall. We both felt pretty good afterwards, considering. We lounged around for a while, took a walk around the area to stretch our bike muscles, and then experienced another highlight. We were doing the Form when a young woman named Kelly cruised by slowly. It turns out she is from Reno and is here in Tucson visiting her friend Cindy. Kelly, who has been studying Tai Chi for a year and a half, was extremely enthusiastic. She asked if she could join us. We spent about a half an hour showing each other our versions of the Form. It was fun, especially since she was so eager. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice call from our youngest daughter and a fresh picture of Falcon, our newest grandson. What else could remind us that life is good, especially today?

 Sunset of the day.

 Falcon photo of the day.

 Sweet corn Tamales with two eggs over easy; rice, fruit, and greens.

 This rest stop honors a  young girl who was killed during the Gabby Gifford shooting.

 Art shot of the day.

 Selfie of the day.

 Wiley Cage s**t eating grin of the day.

 Notice Papa's new rack pack on his back rack.

Gotta love these cacti.

Adventure 554: Catalina State Park/Post B

Nigh Sky

Due to my tardy reservation performance, we have good news and bad (relative) news. The good news is we have spots for ten days at Catalina State Park. The bad news is we have to move sites fairly often, which frankly is low on the first world problem list. For now, we're happily ensconced in site B-30 for the next three nights. We then move like gypsies through the weekend, and actually (Horror of horrors) have to spend one night without power. All is well. We've fallen right back into our travel routine. Judy is up at five. She enjoys her coffee, a muffin, her devotions, her puzzles, her journal, and her quiet time, stretched out as she is on the lounge side of the trailer. I rise about seven. We enjoy coffee and prepare for the day. This year, we've decided to add a new daily tradition: 30 seconds of wintling. To explain, wintling is a standing hug in which the huggers sway gently back and forth, enjoying the closeness, a little back scratch, and the nice sway of the earth's rotation. So we did that. We first wintled in Seattle during our torrid courtship back in 1989. We've continued since, but now we've decided to add it to the ritual. Today, after we set up in site B-30, we spent a couple hours out. We grocery shopped to replenish the stores; we gassed up, and I cleaned and lubed the bikes to get ready for our ride tomorrow. Right now, we're sitting outside under the awning enjoying the warm desert air, the soft setting sun, the occasional dog bark from our neighbor's pets, and generally realizing that life is good, especially today.

 The Wiley Cager herself, down two games so far, though it's way too early to claim victory.

 The view from under the awning.

 Scrub oaks twisting to life.

 A titch of bourbon before dinner.

 A nearby neighbor, a quite cute Airstream Bambi.

 Our "Casa" decked out.

Bikes at the ready for tomorrow's ride.

Adventure 553: Catalina State Park Revisited

Site B-32

We hosted the Ellsworth's for breakfast huevos rancheros in Frac this morning. More propinquity; much joy. We then headed South to Yuma, new roads for us. We took Interstate  8 across the bottom of Arizona, thus bypassing Phoenix. The trip took an hour longer, but afforded us views of desert heretofore unseen, a low traffic volume, and no stress. We're here in Tucson safe and sound. It's a balmy 63 degrees, no wind, and sun so bright I had to pull the shades. Life is truly good, especially today.

 Always joyful to be on the road in Fric and Frac.

 Catalina Park run up.

 Can't get enough of these cacti.

Adventure 552: Lake Havasu Here We Are

Snowed Nine Hours the Day we Left

Our 7 AM departure had us up and at it around 4. Kevin shuttled us to the airport. All went smoothly and before we knew it, we were in Las Vegas waiting for the shuttle to Lake Havasu where the driver dropped us right at the front door of our good friends, the Ellsworths who have been kind enough to babysit Fric/Frac for the past few months. Last evening, we enjoyed a delicious meal of comforting scalloped potatoes and ham, a nice salad, a little wine, and quite a bit of happy propinquity. Judy and I retired early. Today, Saturday, January 11, we enjoyed Mike's delicious diner style breakfast of eggs, raspberry pancakes, bacon, coffee and more happy propinquity. Then we headed to the Desert Bar, which can only be described as a boomer phenomenon. Along with six or seven hundred other folks, we bumped our way along a five mile rocky road to an old mine site. Years back a guy had a "if you build it, they will come" moment. Sure enough, visitors venture in from all over: some locals, some snow birds, some just curious. Once a small three sided shack, the bar is now a sprawling monstrosity of steel and concrete. Drinks are served-basic food-cash only. A band entertains the crowd, covering most of the old time rock and roll favorites. Ninety percent of the people looked like us. I received no comments on my Orwell hat, but a few furtive and some scornful looks were thrown my way. No worries. I'm sadly, but defiantly aware that we're all Republicans now.  Tomorrow, we begin our 2020 adventure in Fric and Fric. This will be our sixth trip. We thought when we started, we'd be lucky to get five. So, we're blessed, happy to be alive, and ever grateful that life is good, especially today
.

 The bar is open weekends 12-6, October-March.

 Several vintage property speckle the property.

 No comments on my hat. To them I say, "Just because you're not paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you."

 According to Mike and Kathy, this deck is a new addition since they were here last.

 Sunset view from the back patio of the Ellsworth's Lake Havasu home.

 It's only Rock and Roll.

 Art shot of the day: The window of the all steel church at the bar.

 Rules are funny. Even in the middle of the Sonoran desert, they make you drink inside.

 This is the good part of the road. Dune buggies come from over the mountain.

 This is the original bar, a three sided open aired plywood structure. Drinks were served out of coolers then. Water was trucked in using an old fire engine.

 Today you could ride in this helicopter for just fifty bucks.

 We enjoyed a sunny table just above the main bar.

All kinds of steel art dot the landscape.