MichelleIn mid-March, I arrived at the Pima County Fairgrounds in south Tucson, where I would be attending the Escapees RV Club Annual Rally called ‘Escapade’. This was a 5 day gathering that included seminars, evening bands, crafts, dancing, social gatherings, a vendor marketplace, and so much more. This was my first time attending and I had a good time. Everyone was so friendly! There were 1600+ people that attended and 870 RVs! About 50% of those were first time attendees like me so I didn’t feel alone. I went to quite a few seminars where I learned all sorts of stuff about RV’s. It reminded me of going to work conferences, including having to get up early for classes! Anyway, I won’t go into detail, but it was fun to finally get involved in the RV Club.
The last week of March I explored an area south of Tucson near the cities of Sahuarita and Green Valley. There was a lot to see and do in this area. Madera Canyon is rather short, about 11 miles, but has picnic areas to stop and enjoy green trees and a year-round creek. Being an area that has lots of free-flowing water, there was quite a bit of wildlife. Especially deer and birds. This entire area is a major migratory route for birds and Spring is the time for birds to fly back to where they came from originally. In the canyon, the Santa Rita Lodge has a large bird feeding station with a viewing area and a small gift store. There is a flock of wild turkeys that frequent the feeding area along with many types of birds. I saw quite a few that I had never seen before like Yellow Eyed Junco, Arizona Woodpecker, Vermillion Flycatcher, Mexican Jay, Costa’s Hummingbird, Lesser Goldfinches and so many more. The canyon offers many trails of different lengths and difficulty. I walked one trail that went along the creek and through grassland areas where I saw quite a few deer. I never get tired of seeing them with those big beautiful eyes and graceful elegance.
There are so many trails to choose from in the area, one of which is the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail that starts in Nogales, AZ (at the Mexican border) and travels 1200+ miles through Arizona and southern California, then along the California coast to San Francisco. This was a land route established in the later 1700’s by Spanish Commander Juan Bautista de Anza. The goal was to establish a mission and presidio on the San Francisco Bay. Enough history… you can walk portions of this trail all through the Green Valley area.
One beautiful day I took a drive further south to the Tumacácori National Historical Park. The park contains ruins of Tumacácori Mission, and other buildings built in the early 1700’s by Spanish Priests and Native American converts (to Catholicism). What I found interesting about the mission was the architecture. Different parts of the outer façade had designs / styles from many different countries, like Egypt, Spain, Italy, and others I can’t remember ☹. It previously had frescos painted inside on the walls, a few which you can still see. The grounds here were pretty with lots of trees and again, more trails you could walk, and more birds to see.
After visiting Tumacácori, I went into the small town of Tubac. It’s an artsy community full of galleries, yard art, and gift stores. And, of course, restaurants to fuel the tourists for a day of shopping! This town is adorable! I happened to be there on the weekend of their Art Walk so many of the shops had outside displays. Having a Spanish and Adobe style to the town, everything was very colorful. One of my favorite arts is tilework with it’s beautiful patterns and colors. Someday I would like to have tiles as a backsplash maybe, or outside on a courtyard wall. Ha-ha, that’s assuming I ever have a courtyard to put it in! One can always dream!
I turned 62 on March 31, and was so excited to pick up my Lifetime Senior America the Beautiful Pass. In fact, I walked up to the visitor center desk and announced… I just turned 62! The Ranger threw up her hands and said ‘WooHoo’! Now I can get discounts on National Forest Campgrounds! On April 1st, I drove back to Ironwood Forest Nat’l Monument for just the day to visit with my friends Tom, Theresa, and Jeff. We chatted for several hours and had a little birthday celebration on a beautiful day (Theresa is a wonderful cook!). Thank God for the blessing of friends!
