12/18/2014 – Golf, Sabino Canyon and Mount Lemmon – The week started our really great with golf at Sewailo Golf Club at Casino Del Sol Resort which also happens to be the home course of the University of Arizona, and of course to took the challenge of playing the U of A tees and happily shot an 89 which could have easily been 4 – 5 strokes better with a bit of better luck.  It really is tough to hit out from behind these giant cacti.  Later in the week we hiked Sabino Canyon which is in the Coronado National Forest, and it was absolutely beautiful with flowing stream, waterfalls, desert vegetation and the cliffs of the Santa Catalina Mountains.   We also enjoyed the 23 mile ride up the Sky Island Scenic Byway of the General Hitchcock Highway to Mount Lemmon.  The trip up can be compared to driving from Mexico to Canada, with vegetation ranging from the giant saguaro cactus in the lowland deserts (elev 2500) to pine, fir, and spruce at the highest elevations (8500+), with a change of temperature of 30 degrees from bottom to top.  We also found a dusting of snow at the Sun Valley ski resort  on top of Mount Lemmon, which could be in full swing by Christmas since we have been getting some rain this week in the valley, which means snow up top.  Hope you enjoy these pictures which really don’t do justice to the natural beauty of the area….

Sewailo Golf Course

 

Sabino Canyon

 

 

 

Mount Lemmon

 

 

Saguaro National Park East

12/8/2014 - Saguaro National Park East – Spent the day in the Saguaro Park East and it was amazing, here are some pictures, but none do it justice.  Loving this warm weather….

 
 

 

 

 

Mission View RV Resort – Tucson AZ

11/29 – 12/6/2014 - Traveled from Arlington TX to Tucson AZ (940 miles), stopped overnight at Camp Walmart in El Paso TX and arrived at Mission View RV Resort on 11/30 at 2:00 pm.  Very nice campground that we will call home for the month of December.  The scenery here is amazing as we are surrounded by mountains and open desert.  We have been warned about the wild Javelina’s that roam in packs who are not very friendly to your pets.  They are a hooved animal that looks like a pig and weigh 40 – 60 lbs and stand about 19 inches tall and can be vicious when confronted.  So far we have not seen any in a week, but are still cautious at night when walking the dogs.  The campground is also a mobile home community with about 300 homes and 150 campsites and has a ton of activities from water aerobics, trips, dinners, BBQ’s and so much more, and the people are very friendly, we give this campground a very high rating, with the only negative being proximity to the local Air National Guard airbase.  We get a wakeup call each morning about 8 am when they begin maneuvers, but we are up long before that, so not a big deal for us.  Of course I have sampled the local golf which is really an experience with the amazing mountain backdrops and desert rough.  We also visited the Pima Air & Space Museum which was amazing, and Chippy finally had to drag me out after six hours, will have to return solo to finish up…LOL.  Spent the other day at “Old Tucson”, a film studio which was built by Columbia Pictures in 1939 on the edge of the Saguaro National Park and has been the set to over 300 movies, TV shows and commercials over the years including Rio Bravo, Young Guns, Little House on the Prairie, Gunsmoke and many more.  It was a very enjoyable day filled with shows, narrated tours of the town and the movie history, stunt demonstrations, and gunfights.  

Golf

Old Tucson

Air & Space Museum