TUESDAY MARCH 1st 2011

Once again another beautiful morning.  Just the type of day to get out and enjoy it, and do a little exercise

 To make the most of such a wonderful day Alison and I took off to hike the Desert Trail head Mountain Trail.   The scenery was fabulous,  as was the warmth from the sun.

It was amazing to see the city of Tucson looking like a tiny village way below us.

 We were very lucky and the trail was not at all busy.  Not an extremely difficult trail to hike, but very different to any trail I had ever been on. It
certainly was a fairly steep trail, as you can see.  You had to watch where you put your feet, or suffer the consequences.   Never the less, very beautiful.

You can see some of the Saguaro growing here.  
They do grow their arms after 100 years, and become very tall.

 

Here we are getting closer to the peak, having already been hiking for an hour and a half.  

Unfortunately, I was not able to go the further half an hour to the peak, my lungs were not used to this type of hiking.  I believe Alison told me the peak was around 4,000 ft. - but don't quote me on that.  That figure could have been related to another mountain.  But my lungs felt like it certainly could have been 4,000 + feet.

So we turned and headed back, which was very disappointing for me, as I would dearly have loved to reach the peak, where you can stand and see either side o the mountain.   I will have to get in training and re-do it all on the next trip!

While coming down the mountain Alison and I were almost confronted with a wild pig.   It was just a head of us and ready to cross the trail in front of us.  Must admit it was not a very pretty looking animal.   Alison assured  me we were quite safe as these pigs do not see very well at all.  I was pleased to hear that.  These wild pigs do frequent Alison's property along with coyotes and rattle snakes.  We did not see any of these on this trip.

While we were away Mike stayed to change the oil and filter and wash our little camper.

On our hike Alison and I found a name for our camper.
It will now be known as  El Campista.   (Hope this is correct - Alison) ?

It was a perfect morning to clean vehicles.

 Must admit El Campista looked really good all nice clean and shiny.

We all sat out side with our lunch and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.

 I spent some time outside through the afternoon catching up on all my notes and a little reading.

When Mike has finished with the cleaning he joined me outside and with the help of SALLY we managed to plan our route for the following day, when once again, we would be hitting the road!

After another fabulous dinner we all sat around and chatted until it was really far too late, but a whole lot of fun.

It will be hard to leave Tucson - but we have some great memories - and stories, should anyone want to hear them.

                     Here you can see how beautiful the sunset is in Tucson.   Thank you for this Alison. 
                                                          And a Good Night to you all.