Adventure 222: Catalina State Park, Tucson, AZ/Post A

The Wilds of Catalina Park

It felt like a good dream gone bad. There I stood in front of St. Peter just outside of cribbage heaven. I was interviewing well, and I thought I was a shoo-in. Out of the blue, the phone rang. Peter said, "Yes, Lord, I'll be there straight away." And like that Peter was gone, with me just a nose away from Pearly Peg Heaven. Up steps his assistant, and who do you suppose? That's right, it was the Wylie Cager, herself, and she said, "Not so fast, Bub, I still have my hand to count." And just like that a flaming red peg darted past me like the flame of perdition. There she stood (In the glory hole), and there I stood (In that cold, cold place just an arm's reach from heaven). Talk about your Inferno moment. The saddest part of all is that it was no dream. The Cager came from behind on the last hand to win the Phoenix Open, which of course means she gets all the Phoenix Suns (That disgruntled Morris included). Woe is me! After the game we had an eventful, but somewhat surprising trip to Tucson. We chose to follow the back roads through Apache Junction on Highway 60 and then follow Highway 79 to Catalina State Park. We expected there to be light traffic, but we were surprised to find a seven mile lineup of cars waiting to get into the Renaissance Festival. We finally realized that the passing lane was for through traffic, and soon we broke through to beautifully empty desert. We arrived at the park around noon, set up, and called the Kral's  They came out within the hour. We chatted awhile, and then we hiked a couple of the park's many trails. We covered about three miles before Stumpy's leg began to complain. We came back to the trailer, enjoyed a very nice shrimp salad, and some more good conversation. We'll drive into Tucson tomorrow after we ride our bike around the park in the morning. The Kral's live at the end of a culdesac, so we'll park the trailer in front of their house for three days. It's good to connect with friends, and these two count among our dearest. As you can see, life is good, especially today.

 Home Sweet Frac in site A6.

 The view from our side window.

 The ladies fording the creek.

 The ladies pointing the way.

 The park is bordered by spectacular mountains. I just love these cactus bushes.

 Whenever I see heart shapes, I think of Liz Ulmen.

 Another view of the mountains.

 David Kral enjoying a crisp, cool glass of wine before dinner.

 Two of the four shrimp salads. Yum.

 Our toast to the good life. Thank you, Lord.

 The view out our front window. We're here only one night, so we haven't even unhooked.

Doing the form in the desert twilight.