After our month in Phoenix, we headed back to Tucson for another week at Gilbert Ray. We definitely like Tucson more than Phoenix – the outdoor opportunities are more to our liking.
On Monday, I set out for a bike ride while Andrea did a bit of work in the morning. I ended up doing 12 or so miles, a lot of it on the more technical side – Andrea’s least favorite. These were in the Starr Pass area, an area we rode last time in Tucson, but I did mostly new trails this ride.
Later in the week we had the special treat of meeting some of Andrea’s extended family, Elizabeth. Now, we spent a while figuring out the proper “term” for the relation, and the best we can figure is she is Andrea’s “first cousin twice removed”. Elizabeth is Andrea’s great-grandmother’s sister’s daughter.
Either way, we went for a nice hike in Saguaro National Park (east side) in the morning, then met up with Elizabeth at Saguaro Corners Restaurant & Bar. It was a lot of fun! She had some fun stories on Andrea’s dad, “little Stevie”, and it was my first time meeting her. We will have to meet up again the next time we are back!
Later that week, we finally headed up Mt. Lemmon – and wow! Mt. Lemmon was spectacular. I did a little bit of a ride on the Bug Springs trail – very technical. I ended up over the bars on a steep section and my knee took out my passive bike bell, leaving a very impressive couple of gashes on my knee.
Andrea decided to skip that ride, but we explored some of the campgrounds on the road to the top and did a nice long walk through Rose Canyon Campground, ending at Rose Canyon Lake. It was technically before the campground opened, so it was nice and quiet walking around before it opened for the season. I would love to stay here, but hauling a trailer up and down these mountain roads would be something else!
And so, another beautiful week in Tucson comes to a close. Next up, we head to Prescott for a couple weeks – our first true “test” of boondocking (no power/water/sewer hookups) for a full two weeks.
Here are a couple bonus shots from the week…
-Kyle