A Little History, Deer Valley Loop, and Some Merry and Bright

November 28, 2021

Corona de Tucson 

It has been a fun week.  It all started with a walk in downtown Tucson.  Main Street and the side streets that criss-cross are full of history.  The city of Tucson was founded as a military fort by the Spanish with the construction of Presidio San Agustin del Tucson in 1775. 

The adobe walls for the Presidio were completed in 1783.

At that time it was included in the state of Sonora, Mexico.  It wasn't until 1853 that the United States acquired the region that is present day Southern Arizona from Mexico.  The Spanish name of the city, Tucson [tuk'son] , is derived from the O'odham meaning "at the base of the black hill" (a reference to a basalt covered hill know today as Sentinel Peak or "A" Mountain). Anyway, when I read the phonetic pronunciation of Tucson, I laughed out loud as Joe and I have forever (just to be funny) called Tucson...Tukson.  

I love meandering through these side streets.  

The Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block serve as the "steward" of five properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Included in the list is the Corbett House built in 1907 home.

The neighborhood referred to as "Snob Hollow" was home to many wealthy residents.  The Corbett's home served as a center of social activities and "opulent" parties.

 
Every fall and spring, the Tucson Museum of Art hosts an Artisans Market.  Over 100 artisans are featured in the outdoor street market in the beautiful, historic Presidio Neighborhood.  We spent so much time perusing the streets that I still didn't get to go in the museum.   We saw unique and beautiful pieces of art and a wide variety of mediums including textiles, pottery, paintings, glass, wood, copper and metal. 

    

Deer Valley Loop is in Saguaro National Park East.  The trail begins at the WildHorse Trailhead.  

This trail is located off Speedway Boulevard as is the Douglas Spring Trail/Garwood Trail I posted back at the end of October.  Deer Valley Loop is a combination of multiple trails that are all interconnected in this area of the park.  

The park instructions and map along with a few other sites I googled made it easy to navigate ourselves on the hike without getting lost.  

We traversed several washes.  That meant lots of this...

Going down!

 

...and lots of this.

Going up!  It was a great workout!

A saguaro family...

Christmas Cactus fruit...in some places it lined the trail. It was quite showy and just in time! 

It was a quiet Thanksgiving at our home.  The hike and picnic we had planned was a no go as the winds were gusting at 25+ mph.  So that brings us to merry and bright.  

We have never put up a Christmas tree in November so let 2021 go down in the books as the year one of us couldn't wait a minute longer !  Thanksgiving Day was spent decorating the tree, watching the National Dog Show, napping and eating turkey sandwiches.

I couldn't wait any longer for party mix either.  Just look at the mound of yummy goodness.  I haven't made party mix in years...the whole time we lived in the MH we were without ! I have yet to figure out why, as much as Joe and I love this concoction of cereal, pecans and pretzels, we don't have it more.  I guess it wouldn't be a special Christmas treat !     

That about wraps up another week at the oasis.  Sally continues her watch dog responsibilities.  She takes her job very seriously. 

One morning when I opened the door for the pups to go out, I was greeted with the sweet smell of rain from the night before.

Jack continues to demonstrate that if we play hard we can take a nap.

Joe cut mattes.  It's not as easy as it looks !

Dover still follows me everywhere and waits patiently.  

And the wind continues to spread seeds.

So until next time, 

HAPPY TRAILS !