The Backroad to Tucson

There are two or three routes to get from our Del Webb community to Tucson, and without a doubt we always prefer to take the backroad... the Old Spanish Trail.  Two reasons.  Great scenery... and no school zones to have to slow you down.

The best other route goes thru Vail to Houghton Road and thru THREE school zones... and there are no Saguaros to enjoy.  The third route is to take I-10 into Tucson... this is quickest if you want to go to the old downtown part of Tucson or the west and north parts of the city.

                                                                               photo by Shirley Goerlitz

The entrance to Saguaro National Park is right off Old Spanish Trail...

                                                                                                         photo by Shirley Goerlitz

And there are lots of these giant Saguaros close to the road.

                                                                                                          photo by Shirley Goerlitz

Shirley soon learned to go across the road to avoid catching cars with her camera.

                                                                                               photo by Shirley Goerlitz

There is one corner of the Old Spanish Trail that affords a great views of the Saguaro forest.

photo by Shirley Goerlitz

These majestic cactus grace the ridge and welcome us whenever we whiz past.

photo by Shirley Goerlitz

It is kind of like a drive thru Saguaro National Park without having to pay any park admission.

photo by Shirley Goerlitz

There are also some interesting buildings and events that happen along the Spanish Trail... like at this barnyard where every Saturday there is a Farmers Market... and the place is packed.

photo by Shirley Goerlitz

This only billboard on the road looks antiqued... and features some of the events and places in this Rincon Valley.

photo by Shirley Goerlitz

Like this Rocking K Ranch where you can do trail rides and other horse and roping events.

photo by Shirley Goerlitz

They also have the Rincon Valley Cowboy Church here.

photo by Shirley Goerlitz

The sun was setting as we were on our way home from the Tucson Home Show at the Convention Centre.  I love the long shadows at the end of the day.

photo by Shirley Goerlitz

This was the first cactus flower of the season we have seen.  If we hadn't stopped to take the long shadow photos we would have missed this beauty.

This sign is close to the turn off where we leave the Spanish Trail and go right onto Camino Loma Alta.  We have yet to visit the Colossal Cave... just waiting for some visitors to take there.

There are only three stop signs from our Del Webb community to Houghton Road when going to town on the Old Spanish Trail... and coming back there are none from Houghton Road to home.

This cyclist has just turned off Spanish Trail onto Loma Alto.

There is an endless bike lane all the way from our community into Tucson.  Next year I hope to have a bike and make an occasional trip to Tucson on my bicycle.

On Loma Alta is the fire station...

And right beside it is the water reservoir.

There are lots of signs warning of cattle... open range... etc.

And we cross four cattle guards on this route to town.  But I have yet to see our first cow or critter on any road here.

However I did see a few bees enjoying these flowers.

And I caught a little rabbit trying to hide behind this prickly pear cactus.  See the sunshine in his ears?

I was intrigued by this sign on Camino Loma Alta.... I think it tells us this is a scenic route to view Saguaro cactus... but when I looked around the only Saguaro, which is behind this sign... it is pretty dead with all its arms drooping down.

photo by Shirley Goerlitz

Coming down Rancho del Lago last evening before turning into our Del Webb community the sun had set and the palm trees were silhouetted against the mountains in the distance.  I had to stop so Shirley could get one last photo.  Some photos you just need to keep the memories forever.

Fun Pickleball with Rincon Friends

Today our Del Webb community hosted a fun Pickleball tournament.

My friend Lorne Booth brought over six other friends from the Rincon East RV Resort and we had an informal fun tourney.

We added two additional Pickleball courts in the tennis court next door... so that gave us four courts for our fun tournament.  And we used them all today.

We let the matches kind of happen with the only rule that we always had to have a different playing partner every game and we always tried to have at least one or two players from Rincon in every game... and we played with them as partners... not against them.

Lorne Booth is playing above with John Apgar.

One of my games was with Mary Lou as my partner.

All of these photos were shot by Shirley... since she wasn't playing, she just wandered around and tried to get a picture of everyone today.  Thank you, Shirley!  Good job.

This is Al playing with Jim from Rincon.  

Jim was the oldest player today on the court... and today we matched him up with our own Bob Shillinglaw and they played against me and John.

It was a hard fought match with the final score 14-12 for us.

This is our oldest Del Webb player... Bob Shillinglaw.  His wife Sally just told me that Bob was so delighted with the pickleball today... he came home and told her, "today I wasn't the oldest one on the court."  

And Sally also told me that this afternoon she played a little pickleball for the first time... and it was fun. Good for you, Sally!

Dennis from Rincon is playing this game with Diane.

 My Friend Lorne Booth from Canada.

 Fred

 Dennis from Rincon.

 I got to play one game with Rick from Rincon today.

 Al certainly looked liked he was having a fun time.

 Kathy... the most faithful female player.  She usually plays three or four times a week with us.

 Gene was the first one to invite me to come and play pickleball when we first arrived here.

 Diane

 Kathy sizing up where she is going to serve.

Millie often has classes to help the newest pickleball players learn the rules of the game and how to play.

 Bill from Rincon

Joe from Rincon.

 Dennis looks like he is getting ready to serve.

 Fred looks like he is wondering if that last ball was in... or out?

 Rick... he and I laid out and put down the masking tape to set up the fourth pickleball court for today.

At the end of each game the players come to the net and exchange greetings by touching your paddle handle to each of the other players handles.

After we all had played six games we added up the scores of each player.  John was the happiest and luckiest, as the last game we played gave him an extra point, even though he lost that game, because we went to 14 -12 it gave him the winning point he needed.  Very close second, third and fourth were myself, Dennis and Lorne.

But really we were all winners today... it was just a lot of fun to play in this fun tournament. After the games we all came to the clubhouse for cake and coffee... or whatever one prefers to drink.

We parted with our new friends and exchanged goodbyes saying "we have to do this again."

"The only way to have a friend is to be one." -Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Fort Bowie Part II

These ruins have seen many moons since activity flourished at this fort.

There were numerous plaques along the trail to help identify plants and trees.This was once the Trading Post.

Riding out below the Trading Post... this really brings this site to life!

The foreground foundation was the Quartermasters Storehouse and the Infantry Barracks immediately behind.

The Quartermaster Storehouse... the hub of this community.  The Quartermaster was responsible for supplies, construction and maintenance of the buildings, contracts for forage and firewood, and all forms of transportation.  He also hired all civilian employees... teamsters, blacksmiths, carpenters and masons.

Soldiers drew equipment and clothing from this office and received work orders for post construction projects.

The infantry barracks appeared to be the largest building here.

Privacy was not a feature of barracks life.

The barracks were delightful to photograph... such interesting shapes remaining with windows and doors.

The Commanding Officers Quarters... an elaborate Victorian style duplex style structure had 13 rooms and cost a whooping $4,000 at the time.  This was the nicest rock foundation at this site.

This foundations was where the school was located.  On the left behind the new building is a Visitors Centre... a small museum maintained by the park with staff to answer question and sell memorabilia.

This Trading Post provided for sale items not supplied by the army... and provided a place for the women to satisfy their need to "shop."

I really enjoyed all these signs on each foundation here.  It helped to bring these ruins to life.

The capture of Geronimo marked the end of hassles with the Apaches... and soon after this fort was wound down.

This was Shirley's capture of the barracks ruins... we just loved coming to this place.

There were numerous plaques along the trail to help identify plants and trees.

The Yucca does not flower every year... but when it does the fruit yields black seeds.

This is a Soaptree Yucca before growing the stalk.

And here is a Yucca that has died.

The Engelmann Prickly Pear Cactus

Close up as we were heading back to the car and the sun was setting.

We saw a sign for this viewpoint of Fort Bowie on our way to the trailhead... it said 200 feet to the viewpoint... but we wisely passed it by until the end of the day on our way out.

If one had not been there first, how would you ever see Fort Bowie unless you had some powerful binoculars.

But with full zoom on the telephoto lens one can see the fort in the centre of this photo.  When you know where to look you can also pick out the original fort site and Apache Springs.

It was amazing to see the land that we walked to get to and from this incredible site... an unforgettable day.