Follow the Sun

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We've been in Arizona since mid October. The weather has been fantastic, consistent day time temps between 75-85 with evenings in the 50's. We have eaten many dinners sitting on the patio as the sun sets.

Cindy has been gourding, sewing, and quilting. Glass work, carving, guitar have been dominating my time. Boyce Thompson Arboretum asked us to come back. Cindy works the hospitality/information desk and I lead tours of the 380 acre site.

One of our first explorations was to an old town of Tubac. Tubac is south of Tuscon near the US Mexico border. It sits at the base of the Santa Rita Mountains. Established in 1752 as a Spanish presidio, the first Spanish colonial garrison in what is now Arizona, Tubac was one of the stops on the Camino Real (the "Royal Road") from Mexico to the Spanish settlements in California. The site has been the excavated by University of Arizona archeology teams. Tubac's most famous Spanish resident was Juan Bautista de Anza. While stationed at Tubac (1760–1776), de Anza built the chapel of Santa Gertrudis, the foundations of which lie beneath today's St. Ann's Church.

Apaches attacked the town repeatedly in the 1840s, forcing the Sonoran Mexicans to abandon both Tumacacori and Tubac.

Tubac was the scene of a four-day siege in 1861, between Tubac's male population, Confederate Militia and Apache warriors.

Today the entire town has become a center for artist studios and galleries and of course...gift shops.

We are planning many off the beaten path jeep travels and hikes.

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Photos

Day of the Dead
One of the many Day of the Dead figurines on sale in Tubac

Wall Murals
An amazing mural