good-times-rollin: Tucson hikes

Corona de Tucson

April 16, 2023

The evening glow...we haven't had a lot of clouds this week.

It's nice to have a day date. It's a day when we head to town...no appointments, no errands...just for the fun of it ! We hadn't been to The Lost Barrio in a couple of months and it's one of my favorite places to meander and browse. Gather:A Vintage Market was open for the April showing and the other stores along the street are fun, colorful, and offer a variety of old, new and unique things.

Afterwards, CAFE a la C'ART was our lunch choice.

The patio is wonderful this time of year.

We have enjoyed brunch (which they serve all day) at the CAFE several times, but we both wanted to try something new. I am happy to share that lunch is every bit as yummy as brunch.

I had Salmon Nicoise served with green beans, egg, radishes, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers, a variety of mixed greens and the best herb vinaigrette ever. Joe had a Cafe Burger cooked to order and piled high with smoked peppered bacon, avocado. pepper jack cheese, chipotle aioli on a challah roll served with fries. Both are a mouth full to say, and both our mouths were full...we ate every bite !

Saturday morning we were up early and headed north to Catalina State Park. The adventure for the day was a hike with Jamie and Andra. Neither one of them had been to CSP. It's such a beautiful setting and one we really wanted to share with them. Even the short drive from the entrance to the parking lot (which is really the end of the road) for the trails tugs at my heart strings !

The hike for the morning was Canyon Loop Trail.

It's a great trail that crosses several different washes, follows the canyon rim, hugs the creek, and meanders at the base of a hillside covered in saguaros.

The wash had just enough water to get our feet we. Lots of fun memories crossing this wash from years past...

Beautiful mountain vistas on the rim...

Looking down on the wash we just crossed...

Lavender fields of clover...

thistle...

and asters lined the rim trail.

As we rounded the curve to drop into the canyon, lavender gave way to orange...no fields of poppies, but plenty blooming to put a big smile on my face !

And hot pink penstemons were blooming along the steps (there are 90 of them) that make the descent to the creek much easier.

I was so happy the creek had water...flowing water !

From the creek, we crossed the wash and followed the trail as it curved around the base of a hill.

Crossed the wash again...

and followed the path back to the parking lot.

We all enjoyed an early lunch at Tucson Tamale.

Nice to beat the crowd !

One green chili chicken tamale and one black bean and cheese tamale with a side of Mexican slaw and chips (the best chips ever!) and salsa. Yummy!

It was such a nice morning...the weather, the trail, the flowers, the tamales, but mostly the company ! Life is good !

Back at the oasis, we spent Wednesday morning with Jack at the vets. He had an EKG, a CT scan and his blood pressure checked. Hoping to hear from Dr. Huang mid week with the results. He was a good boy at the vets and did not have to be anesthetized. He was one tired little fella and went right to sleep on the way home.

The mornings have been perfect for coffee with the sunrise.

The Bottlebrush tree in the backyard is about to burst open.

The owl finally showed him/herself.

And the rabbits...lots of them... have been enjoying the area on the other side of the fence.

The orioles have arrived and are enjoying the oranges.

And crane flies, better known as mosquito hawks at our house, have been buzzing around Tucson for weeks and finally made the news. There have been kazillions of them in the yard and the rainy weather is said to be the cause. And to make matters worse, it's mating season which explains why we find them on the wall or ceiling from time to time paired up. The good news, crane flies are not harmful and do not bite. They spend most of their life underground eating microbes which helps plants. Nonetheless, I'm happy when I see the birds dining on them for breakfast, lunch and diner !