The return trip begun

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We have started doing more Hiking together. Bob is doing way better - not getting as sore afterwards, so he is able to build his body up enough to be able to handle it. Which is GREAT! I'm used to taking long hikes with Al, but he hasn't been able to. We went up to Romero Ruins yesterday which is just about a mile and a quarter loop. There isn't much left of the ruins. Mostly just piles of rocks here and there and plackards saying that they were ruins. I guess we believed it... Anyway, we found another trail that was about a 3-4 mile loop that wound through the foothills. It lead up to a small waterfall and stream and then looped back toward the park. The wildflowers up there were truly amazing. Such bright yellow and orange poppies and huge areas of such cute little pale yellow flowers. There was a whole hillside of them! There were some purples and reds mixed in, and some of the cactus (cacti?) had yellow or red buds on them. The weather was perfectly beautiful and it was a great hike.
Aside from hiking in the foothills, we have also done some touristy-type stuff in the Tucson area. We went to the "White Dove of the Desert" - the San Xavier Del Bak Mission that was constructed originally in the late 1800's. It's in the process of being renovated and it is really a spectacular work. It is huge inside and has an interesting history. Then we went to the Sonora Desert Museum which was mainly an outdoor display of life in the desert. There was a walk in aviary where they had several varieties of doves, cardinals and local finches. There was a separate area for butterflies (we saw none, probably blown away by the high winds we had), and the hummingbirds. They also had a cougar, bighorn sheep, otters, fish, a parrot, an owl (supposedly - never saw this), a Coati (co-ah-tee), which is kind of a racoon among other things. They also had a cactus garden, and another 2 miles of trails that we didn't have the stamina or energy to walk. Pretty impressive set up though, I'm really glad we went. We also went to Old Tucson - where they made a bazillion movies and filmed little house on the prairie and High Chapparel. We really had fun going through it and were able to see one of their little shows based on the series "Wild Wild West". They don't film there any more, or at the most very seldom - there is another town in Arizona that has taken over that honor. It was a busy day after which we totally collapsed! But it was a good, fun, and informative day. The only thing we didn't do that we had hoped to was the Biosphere 2 which was about 40 minutes north of where we were staying. We will just save that for next year.
Last night, we made the decision to start taking the trek back to Washington - slowly. At first we thought, well maybe we'll just head back, take about 5 days or so to get there. We have an awful lot to do and to accomplish before we head out again next fall, and the home show in Spokane is April 15th... Then this morning, on Good Morning Arizona, they showed the hail in Everett and said that there was rain in the forcast for Washington until at least April 10th. Ummmm, lets see... Sunny, 75-80 degrees, hiking, biking - or rain and sitting in the Cameo all day. Hmmmm. No brainer I'm thinkin! We're going to take a few more weeks to get home, but we are heading that way. We have decided to forgo the Grand Canyon this year. We'll have plenty of time to do that later (sorry Randy - the skywalk will have to wait). We left Catalina this morning and are now at Shiprock park in Apache Junction and will be here a week. A really nice, small park. There are a lot of trails to hike and bike around here, so we are really looking forward to getting going in the morning. There are also a lot of cute, old towns around here that we are looking forward to exploring. It's supposed to rain on Thursday so we need to take advantage of Wednesday - then it starts getting back up into the 70's and 80's on Sunday.
We are really looking forward to church this Easter Sunday (it snuck up SO fast this year)! We've decided on Community Christian Church which is right around the corner from the park. I wish we could be home. I miss everyone so much - especially my little Ry-Bear! Just know that we are thinking about everyone and praying for you all! I have to say that spring - rebirth, renewal - has never been as apparent and obvious as it is here in the desert. The spring wildflowers on the way here just along the side of the highway were exquisite! Lots of purples, oranges, pinks, yellows, reds - all along the route. And the mountains and canyons along the way showed Gods majesty in a HUGE way. I wish that my pictures could show the real depth of beauty that we are seeing here. Just amazing. Awe inspiring. I hope you can get at least a little of that from the pictures.

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Photos

Bob n Al
A huge field of wildflowers was a perfect place for a photo-op of my favorite kids

Wildflowers all over
This was just amazing. All these birght poppies! Just beautiful....

Wildflowers
It was such a great day! We had a blast on this hike.

Wildflowers on Hillside
This whole hill was just covered in waves of wildflowers. It was so pretty - the light colored flowers are just a pale pale yellow. There were purples and reds mixed in that a camera just wouldn't capture.

Purple
There were quite a few of these mixed in, but they were hard to see among all the yellow

Allie in the stream
She doesn't even hesitate any more when we need to cross a stream. And she used to be so afraid of water!

Hiking Romero Trail
My Hon Hiking. Who'd a thought! And he LOVES it! As long as we don't push it he does great

Romero Ruin sights
This is just a cool picture that I really liked and wanted to share

Young Cactus
We found this one growing out of a crack in the rock.

Hummingbird on the nest
This was at the Sonora Desert Museum as well. Amazing how they can cram their little bodies in that little tiny space!

San Xavier Del Bac Mission
You can really tell the difference where they have restored. Very impressive building

Interior of the Mission
Very ornate paintings and wood carvings of the catholic saints.

Bighorn Sheep
At Sonora Desert Museum. Pretty ragged lookin sheep if you ask me, but photo op none-the-less

Sonora
This was at Sonora Desert Museum. He was really enjoying the shade

Comments

[Pam Thompson]

Great Pictures
Marti...have so enjoyed all the great pictures you've been including with your blog posts. Thanks for your very descriptive narratives, too! It sounds like you and Bob have had a wonderful few months getting used to being "footloose and fancy free." Happy Easter! Pam

[Dana McDonald]

Did you get to see the Harris Hawks free fly at the Sonora Desert Museum? Cool show! If not, next year :-)

[Darlene]

What a beautiful trip you are doing thank you so much for the Travel Log keeps us up dated also on what you are doing The pictures are pretty Marti and it does show good. take care Don and Darlene

[Amanda]

Coati
I used to volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary (Sarvey) when I was in high school and we had a coati there. They're SO sweet. Much nicer then a raccoon. Haha! The one we had was so used to being there that we could hold it and it would cuddle with you. We also had to little possums like that. They'd wrap their tails around your waste, clutch your shirt and snot you with their nose. Haha! That last part wasn't so awesome but talk about a great experience. I wouldn't dare approach one in the wild tho. You never know if its carrying babies and when they have babies they are mean! Anyways, I really enjoy reading about your adventures and the pictures are beautiful! Thanks for sharing it with all of us!!!