A Break from the Desert in Tucson

The two-week trip from SD to AZ and our summer geo/camping excursions 'taught' us we enjoyed the trip and adventure more if every two days or so, we took a break from strenuous/serious caching and geocached in a community or took a road trip. We are following that guideline when in Tucson. Friday and Saturday were desert caching days with 'stressful to me' roads. On Sunday we chose to geocache in downtown Tucson. (Monday was back in the desert and home on Tuesday.)

Our first stop was a geo event, outdoors in a park. The hosts furnished donuts. I found it challenging to drink coffee and eat a donut while wearing a mask, but I did it without embarrassing myself too much!

my Christmas jelly-filled roll

Then it was off to the University of Arizona campus, Wildcat country.

The science-themed art display above the entrance to the new chemistry building caught my eye. (Click on the photo to enlarge it for a closer look at the different disciplines taught in this building.)

Then it was off to the El Presidio, the fortification built by the Spanish in the 18th century. This original fort became founding structure for the city of Tucson.

This Mormon Battalion Monument statue is in the plaza. Designed by Clyde Ross Morgan, the monument is a 2-ton, 19-foot-tall bronze statue of battalion members Christopher Layton and Jefferson Hunt raising the U.S. flag and engaging in peaceful trade with Teodoro Ramirez, a prominent Tucson merchant. It was dedicated in 1996.

The plaza grounds have been in use since 1539. In 1775, Captain Hugo O'Conor selected a piece of land on the east side of the Santa Cruz River for a presidio. Over the next eight years adobe walls were built to enclose the area to protect people inside the fort from Apache attacks. In 1810, a Spanish garrison of about 300 military used the park. The park as it is today was developed in 1970-71. The plaza covers 2.75 acres and contains veterans' memorials, a small rose garden, a fountain and various art pieces.

It was also the gathering for many of Tucson's homeless. 

The Pima County Courthouse flanks the eastern side of the El Presidio Park. It was built in 1929 and is considered one of Tucson's iconic structures.

The mosaic-tiled dome adds to the beauty of the Mission Revival style and Spanish Colonial Revival style structure designed by Roy Place. It is now the former county courthouse and houses offices and museums. It is currently closed on the weekends. 

This crested saguaro is on the grounds of the Pima County Courthouse. The yard was fenced and gated, so I could not enter for a better angled photo.

It was lunch time so we headed back to the camper to eat and watch Miss W in the church Christmas program.

Streaming the virtual concert was so slow on the computers, we resorted to watching it on my phone. Not ideal, but we will watch it again now that it has been uploaded to the church's web page.

We went back downtown to complete a few more geocaches on the Presidio grounds.

I was disappointed to learn the presidio museum is not original, although some parts of the grounds are original. The buildings look original, but are not.

The Presidio a San Agustin del Tucson was originally built by Spanish soldiers during the 18^th century. Later, the fortress was taken over by the United States army and used during the American Indian Wars. The original fortress was dismantled in 1918, but was reconstructed in 2007. The items found during the reconstruction are now on display throughout the museum.

This may be one of the five original Sonoran row style homes built in the 1860s.

The red door and neat grounds caught my eye before I knew what business it housed.

it is a pub and restaurant

If we go back to the area, I will definitely pay more attention to the five original homes on the 33 acres of the Presidio Historic District.

Time in Tucson

 Earlier this month we hitched up the travel trailer and headed south to Tucson for a few days of desert geocaching. The temperatures were perfect and all went well, thus making for another good trip. By the end of this post, your question might be answered of why do we geocache in the desert around Tucson.

This is the end of the season for growing and harvesting cotton. Some of the fields still have some cotton boll remains, but the majority of the cotton has been picked, baled, and hauled away.

This photo shows a strip of cotton plants that missed the cotton gin/combine. The plants are loaded with full white bolls. I am betting the field will be plowed and ready for the next crop when we return to the area in January.

Hubby had asked on our November trip if I had noticed the painted naked bush trunks? No, I had not. So on the November trip, he stopped long enough for me to get a photo. There is a green one not in this photo. Don't know why they are painted. Don't know who painted them. Just one of those interesting things that catches the eye, and if you are lucky, the camera lens.

The area we have been caching has many signs warning of open range and we have seen evidence of the cattle and have seen a few. This day was the first time we had seen horses and mules. This small herd had just been given some hay and most of them were very intent on getting their share.

All except this pretty white horse. He/she was outside the fence and the two guys and a dog were trying unsuccessfully to get him/her back through the open gate. We did not stick around to find out if their endeavor was successful.

The desert is very dry. This area has many chollas and prickly pear cacti along with pokey bushes. Most of the geocaches were a container under a pile of rocks, next to the road.

And this was one of the better roads! There are roads on which I will not drive the jeep. I do not want to be the one that drops it in a wash and can't get out. So far, that has not happened. 

We have come across a few temporary and a few permanent residences in this desert area. A camper (travel trailer) sits in a cacti cleared area. These folks built a deck on a platform allowing them a great view of the area. No running water. No electricity. No close neighbors. (This was one of the newer campers we saw. More of them were from the last century.)

And then we came upon this tiny house or park model which had recently been moved out there. It is still on wheels, but the evidence near by led us to believe someone was using it. Hardier souls than I.

The end result of some of our reasons for driving in the desert. There are five geo-arts in this area. Three of them are completed.

We probably won't look for the rest of the green circles on this art. The jeep is complete as is the hill it is sitting on, and then some.

These three arts and part of another are the result of 4 trips to the area. One more day in January and we should have the five completed. It is a great social distancing activity, giving us some exercise, some 'quality' time together, and an opportunity to be outside enjoying nature. We are blessed.

Merry Christmas 2020

The Christmas cards were ordered the week before Thanksgiving, but did not arrive until mid-December. They were stuck in a distribution center in Pittsburgh PA for two weeks. So, most of the cards will arrive after Christmas. Sort of fits with how 2020 has been.

Hubby and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and safe New Year!

*Remember, you can click on any photo to view in a larger format.

Glendale Glitters

Hubby wanted to stop in Glendale as we traveled home from Surprise and Sun City. He had seen some of the advertisements for the Christmas lights displays and was in the mood for some more Christmas cheer. I was a little reluctant to be amongst the crowds of people on a Friday night, but everyone was wearing a mask and people were staying a safe distance from other visitors. And there weren't that many people in the area of the park.

The last time we were in Glendale to see the holiday lights was 2011! Hot air balloons were involved in that event, which I think was in the same park with the side streets closed to traffic allowing the balloons to be filled. Here is that blog post: Glitter & Glow Block Party 

"Glendale Glitters is Arizona’s largest free holiday light display and a beloved family tradition, as charming downtown Glendale is illuminated by more than 1.6 million twinkling lights across 16 blocks."

"The lights will twinkle nightly from  5 p.m. – 10 p.m. starting 11/25/2020  through 1/9/2021."

"In response to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases across the nation and certainly in our state and county, we made the tough decision to cancel the Glitter & Glow festival that was schedule for January 9, 2021. This event, with the two dozen hot air balloons and multiple band locations,  usually draws 70,000 - 80,000 people over a six-hour period and we feel there is no safe way to follow CDC guidelines with a crowd this large. The downtown holiday lights are on and will remain on until January 9, 2021."

"We were pleased with what we experienced at Murphy Park. Not a lot of people, everyone wearing masks. We didn't feel the need to walk on the busy sidewalks to see more lights, displays and people."

"The annual celebration started in 1993 with 300,000 lights lining the trees in Murphy Park. It's since grown into something much larger, making use of the area's small-town atmosphere and filling it with live performances and street vendors beneath the now 1.7 million lights."

It takes a lot of people to string one million plus lights. I wonder when they start the process? St. George was wrapping their trees in lights before Halloween!

clear lighted balloons for sale

a very popular location for photos with little kids

I am glad we stopped.

The Original Retirement Community

We spent a day earlier this month in the northwest part of "The Valley" in Surprise and Sun City. It was geocaching that took us 90 miles from home. Besides, the 30 or so geocaches we found, we saw some interesting sculptures and the Original Retirement Community.

This was by far the most stunning sculpture of the day, located very appropriately by the library. It is called Learning Tree Sculpture by Joe Tyler.

27 feet high metal tree shading

a 10 by 14 foot book

detail on the ends of the two metal benches

one of the book's quotes

(click on the photo to make it larger for reading)

and the other appropriate quote

the details completely intrigued me

I have since learned Joe Tyler has a similar sculpture in Chandler: Las Brisas: Tree Ramada and Hummingbird Arch at the entrance to a park. Joe also did the 5 Cs sculpture in Chandler. (posted in the December 11, 2020 blog post.

Christmas display at the Texas Rangers stadium

Lucky Strike

some of us are old enough to think cigarettes?

another sculpture near the entrance to a golf course

Finally, the biggest surprise to me, learning that Retirement Communities started in the 1960s.

Sun City was opened January 1, 1960, with five home models, a shopping center, a recreation center, and a golf course. The opening weekend drew 100,000 people, ten times more than expected, and resulted in a Time magazine cover story. The future retirement community was built on the site of the former ghost town of Marinette. Developer Del E. Webb expanded Sun City over the years, and his company went on to build other retirement communities in the Sun Belt. Sun City West was built in the late 1970s, Sun City Grand in the late 1990s, Sun City Anthem in 1999, and Sun City Festival in July 2006. ~ Wikipedia

Sun City, Arizona wasn't the first of its kind though. In 1957 Sun City, California was built in the middle of the Southern California desert next to a tiny town called Menifee.

one of the five original model homes in Sun City AZ

The idea of a community for 'active retired people' was radical in 1960. Couple that with building it far from downtown Phoenix, way out in the desert! Bell Road was still dirt in that area. The first communities were built in concentric circles with four main pin wheels. Originally, there were no fences between the houses, being more of the style from the east.

purchased in 1989 by the Sun Cities Historical Society

it is now a museum

The story of Del Webb, the contractor for this first retirement community, is quite interesting. We see Del Webb communities throughout 'The Valley." I am including a link to his Wikipedia page: Del Webb