Hot Fun in the Summertime... A Family Visit!

Corona de Tucson

July 15, 2023

It was 1969...the year I graduated from high school...when the hit song "Hot Fun in the Summertime" by Sly and the Family Stone was released.  An awesome song that peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, kept out of the number 1 spot by "I Can't Get Next to You"  by the Temptations.  What a great summer that was.

Monday's sunrise...

There was an extra little skip in our step on Monday's (July 10) morning walk.  Joe and I were both so excited...our oldest daughter Jill and SIL Bill were arriving for a visit.  You might recall, Bill proposed at a sunset adventure on Gates Pass when they visited us last year.  Jill retired from teaching school at the end of May with big plans for an epic two week road trip.  After three full days of driving from North Carolina, we were their first stop.  Monday night was spent catching up and reminiscing with lots of laughs thrown in the mix.  It's a great thing...family ! And it's so awesome when we can visit face to face !  

Day 1: Colossal Cave

(Tuesday July 11)

Some 80 million years ago,  when the heaving earth thrust limestone and granite together, the Rincon Mountains were formed.  Saguaro National Park-East is located in the Rincon Mountains and so is Colossal Cave.  After eons...that's a really long time...of water erosion, the cave reached a dry state and today, Colossal Cave is one of the largest dry caves in North America.  The cave was used by the Hohokam as temporary shelter as early as 900 AD. And since that time,  has attracted, ranchers, homesteaders, bank robbers, and tourists.  

The development of today's Colossal Cave Park is mostly due to the hard work of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) from 1934-37.  Their efforts included building the park roads along with the lighting and walkways inside the cave and the stone building that is now home to the gift shop and cafe.    The stone work, almost 90 years old, is incredible.   It is worth a visit there just to see the building, walls and the never-ending gorgeous views. 

Today, this 2,400 acre park showcases crystal-filled Colossal Cave and historic La Pots Quemada Ranch with cave tours, horse trail rides, hiking,  camping and picnicking. 

The cave is a constant 70 degrees and sounds wonderful considering the heat we are experiencing here...so the adventure begins !

Jill and Bill follow our very informative and entertaining guide Aric. Our choice for the 11:00 am tour was perfect.  We had 8 people in our group unlike the 10:00 tour that had 25 !

Photos...no flash...are allowed inside the cave.

Jill's first cave adventure...

Masterful work by the CCC all those years ago...

We saw prehistoric artifacts, 

years and years of accumulated human skin and dust,

a wedding alter,

a colony of bats,

a waterfall,

magic,

and amazing formations.

  

Day 2: Mt. Hopkins

(Wednesday July 12)

Mt Hopkins, a 8600 foot tall mountain, is in the Santa Rita Mountain Range just south of us.  The summit is home to the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory.  FLWO is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, with the help of the U of AZ.  It is the Smithsonian's largest field installation outside their main site in Massachusetts.  

So Wednesday morning, Joe and Bill got Pearl trail ready...they replaced the doors and windows with the summer doors and no windows and off we went to enjoy a cooler day in the mountains.  After a few highway miles, a left turn on Elephant Head Road and a right turn on Mt Hopkins Road, we began our adventure. Mt Hopkins Road is a wide, well graded two-way traffic road, but we chose the more primitive, less traveled, rocky, one-lane trail.  It's a jeep thing ! 

Looking ahead as we climbed...

  

Looking out the back as we climbed...

Further up the mountain, the trail made a left curve and the canyon opened.

  

After lots of oohs and aahs, we reconnected with Mt Hopkins Rd.  We had just made our turn when a white truck heading down the mountain stopped us to say the area just ahead was closed due to a fire, quite congested, and we needed to turn around.  We were about three miles from the observatory...maybe another day as they offer tours and a personal guide to the summit.

On the way down Mt Hopkins Road, we could see the trail we had just driven... 

The thin white line at the base of the mountain on the other side of the canyon was the trail we drove.

as one switchback and turn after another led us back to Elephant Head Road.

Wednesday night was a good night for Jamie and Andra to meet us in town for dinner.  Guadalajara Mexican is home of the "table-side salsa" where Salseras prepare "made to order" fresh salsa and guacamole right at your table.  What a surprise to all of us...Jamie proposed to Andra.  She said "yes!" and we are all so excited !

On the way home, we had a sunset that was unlike any I have ever seen.  The suns rays and clouds made beautiful, colored stripes in the sky.  Bill found a pull out so Jill and I could get photos.  Pictures did not quite capture the beauty we saw in person...

Taken at 7:20 from the backseat as we were still riding...

Taken at 7:30 standing beside the car...

Day 3: Downtown Tucson

(Thursday July 13)

Most folks know Joe and I have a few favorites in Tucson.  A day trip to "the city" is always a fun day with easy parking, museums, cafes and restaurants, markets and aritisan fairs,  vintage shops, and history.  We are a family of rock hounds and Joe and I wanted to take Jill and Bill to the U of AZ Rock and Mineral Museum.  It was closed for summer recess, but we had a plan B so no worries! Jill wanted to visit the historic Pima County Courthouse so that was our first stop.

 

The historic courthouse with its beautiful Spanish Colonial architecture is worth a stop.  Every time we go there, I see things I didn't see before or the lighting is different, or little things just pop.  

And the Visitor Center located inside the building is like a museum with a timeline and artifacts depicting the history of the area from the Hohokam to modern days. 

And  the exhibits featuring Arizona's nature, culture, food, history, and recreation are a quick read with beautiful photos...a great introduction or a reminder of all southeast Arizona has to offer. 

We enjoyed a yummy lunch at Cafe a La C'Art.  We were so happy to share one of our most favorites with the kiddos.  

Since the Rock and Mineral Museum was closed, we went next door to Tucson Museum of Art.  Just like the cafe, the downstairs of the museum is also housed in an old adobe house built in the 1860s.  

Jill and I both agreed this was our favorite for the day...Coyote Koshares.  A Koshare is a jester or trickster in the Kachina religion of the Pueblo Indians of the Southwest.  

 

Coyote Koshares...serigraph with glitter
Coyotes are a known trickster in Indigenous stories.  Harry Fonseca, the artist (1946-2006), often incorporated the coyote into his work with myth and history thematic elements. We both liked the simple forms and basic colors.  Such a fun piece with the converse high tops, jeans and watermelon.

And totally different, my second favorite was Deer...

Deer...mineral earth pigments
The artist Pablita Velarde (1918-2006) is known to be the first full-time female student in Dorothy Dunn's art class at the Santa Fe Indian School in the 1930s when she was 14 years old. By the 1940s, she was making a living selling her work.

Back at the oasis,  we enjoyed meals at the big table,  sunsets and sunrises, the first monsoon rain for the year and Jill's first monsoon rain ever,  the birds, the coyotes, the puppies, and mostly each other.  

Sunrise...

Wahoo!

Immature male Cardinal

Jack figured out to claim his spot on the sofa quick...

Dover is always attentive...

And Sally...

That's a wrap on our wonderful week together.  I'll close with a few random photos...

Friday morning came all too quickly.  Jill and Bill were headed north to explore the south and north rims of the Grand Canyon and from there to hike at Bryce NP with stops in Colorado as they make their way home.  A great adventure awaits... 

   

 HAPPY TRAILS !