Staying in one place

Tomorrow marks two full weeks at the Agave Gulch “FamCamp” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ.  And for the first time since we started our RV trip 5 1/2 months ago, we aren’t thinking about where we're going next. 

It was interesting/exciting to always be planning the next move:  Looking at maps, reading on line reviews, gathering tourist information.  But after a few months,  I wanted to stay put.  I didn’t want to have to worry about hooking up the tow car, about triple checking driving directions, about unforeseen problems with campsites and roads.  (Just because those problems were almost nonexistent doesn’t mean I won’t worry about them. Got to break that habit.)  I just wanted to be somewhere new. And stay there.

So here we are in Tucson, and here's our routine:  We get up about 7 a.m., take Cooper for a two-mile walk, have breakfast, and look at each other and say, “Well, what are we going to do today?”  Here are some of the things that got the nod:

--Hiked in the Santa Ritas, about 40 miles southeast of Tucson in the Coronado National Forest.  We saw snow on the highest peak, Mt. Wrightson (9,453 feet) and the bark on many trees looked scorched; turns out they were alligator juniper and the bark gets deep, square, dark cracks.

--Driven around Tucson to get a feel for the city.  Tucson does not have a freeway through it or a belt route route around it.  Instead, its streets are laid out at right angles, so its fairly easy to get around even for the directionally impaired like me.

--Gone back to Saguaro National Forest to watch two of their movies about the desert and to add to Jim’s t-shirt collection.

-- Visited two beer pubs for lunch and so Jim could try out the IPAs

--Eaten twice at a Mexican restaurant called El Charro, which claims to be the oldest Mexican restaurant in the USA continuously run by the same family. The food is great. 

--Went house hunting just for fun and found a great development with actually affordable houses.  

--We’ve also explored the Air Force Base, walked in a city park and along a river parkway, and enjoyed consistently warm, sunny weather (even though I wear my parka every morning while Jim often has on shorts.)

It’s fun to leisurely explore a new city.  But if I were going to be here -- or anywhere -- for the long haul, I’d also be looking for a meaningful part-time job or volunteer work.

They Sting, Stick, or Stink

The title above is what our "Ranger Judge" (see post dated January 6, 2012) told us about plants and creatures of the desert.  As for the plants:  Below are photos and info about the new-to-us flora Jim and I are seeing in and near Tucson.

We first saw the ocotillo, which at this time of the year just looks like a bunch of stick, in New Mexico.  It's supposed to leaf out in the spring with red flowers at the tips of the branches.  When settlers used ocotillo branches for fences, the fence would sprout.

Saguaro cactus, the iconic symbol of the desert, blooms at night and each blossom lasts less than 24 hours.  In most cases -- and the saguaro is included in this --  it’s a myth that you can cut into a cactus and find drinkable water.  In fact, eating the pulpy insides of some cactuses can make you ill or even kill you.  Besides, the skin is tough --- how would you cut into one without a machete?

Prickly pear cactus.  It’s everywhere; people make jams, jellies and wine from it’s fruit.  And as hard as Bev tries, she can't touch the flesh between the needles without getting stuck.

Purple prickly pear.  Used a lot in landscaping.

Barrel cactus.  They they look a little like young saguaros, but don’t get beyond 6 feet tall; a saguaro can get to 50 feet.

The Paolo verde tree.  Palo verde means “green stick” in Spanish, and these trees have green bark and very small leaves.  During droughts they shed their leave and even smaller branches to conserve water. 

Teddy Bear Cholla.  From a distance they look soft.  Again, Bev keeps trying to touch them unscathed but has not been successful.  They are not soft.

Chain fruit cholla.  Also called the “jumping cholla” because the joints break off so easily they almost seem to leap out at you.  Our hiker guide told us a story of a young girl who touched one.  When it stuck to her hand, Grandma tried to pull it off.  They ended up with their hands painfully stuck together.  Rangers pulled granddaughter and Grandma apart and used duct tape to get out the needles.

Creosote tree.  Our Ranger Judge told us to cup the Creosote leaves, blow on them and inhale -- and then we'd experience the smell of the desert after a rain.  To me it smelled like burning sugar.  Think almost burnt marshmallows over a campfire or sweet potato drippings in the oven. 

Brittlebush.  It’s everywhere.  in early spring it's supposed to have a big display of yellow flowers.

The rosette shaped succulents are Agave, and are used a lot in urban landscaping in Tucson.

First:  Season (Jim's daughter) had her second little boy this morning.  His name is Connor James and he is so precious. Congrats to Season, Lee, and big brother Owen.  And welcome Connor. 

After Bev was done compulsively checking Facebook to get word of Connor's birth (thank you Lee for sending out message shortly after 9 a.m.) we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, just north west of Tucson.  It’s a zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden all in one.  Jim is not a big zoo guy -- he thinks animals should be left alone in the wild and not caged for people’s enjoyment. I empathize with his viewpoint but think good zoos are educational and encourage kids toward careers in conservation, nature and the environment.  However, we’d heard good things about the Desert Museum, so we made the trip. Jim liked being able to see animals in a relatively natural habitat.  We both are trying to learn the names of desert plants.  And the scenery was gorgeous (can’t get enough of those saguaros).  And the prairie dogs... well, see photos below.

A large prairie dog town was separated from humans by just a tall glass partition.  The prairie dogs were going about life as if no one was on the other side.

Another prairie dog photo.

Landscaping at the zoo was beautiful and many of the plants were marked.  The blue/green succulents are agave; prickly pear is in the middle.  Many dessert plants are toxic, but agave is edible.  

 Javalinas look like pigs but we were told that they are not pigs but peccaries.  When I looked up peccary, it was defined as a "pig-like animal."  But here are a few of the differences:  Javalinas are more social and live in groups; pigs are more competitive.  Javalinas are smaller than pigs and usually don't weigh more than 50 pounds.   Javalinas have a straight tails; a pig tail is curly. Javalinas don't have gall bladders; pigs do.  Bottom line:  they look like pigs.

One of the lovely views from the Desert Museum.

Jim pondering.

Where we had lunch after our Desert Museum visit.  

Adventures in acupuncture

My right shoulder hurts.  I’ve been doing stretching exercises and saw a physical therapist  when I was in Salt Lake City for the holidays.  But today I tried something new:  acupuncture.

An on-line search for acupuncture in Tucson lead me to Tucson Community Acupuncture.    You set your own price, the 8 online reviews were all positive and ... my shoulder (actually my entire right arm) really hurts.

When I got to the clinic, I filled out paperwork and the receptionist asked me what I wanted to pay.  I said $20; lower than my insurance co pay (if this were covered by insurance, which it's not)  but more than their lowest suggested payment.  Then the accupuncturist -- a young man named Josh who reminds me of my son (lanky, cute, fashionably messy hair) talked to me about my shoulder, suggested I try 4-6 sessions, and took me into the treatment room -- a 20 by 60 space with 12 Lazy-boy-like loungers at the edges, pale green and purple walls, dim lights, and soft, new age-y music. 

One of the reasons TCA can offer acupuncture so inexpensively is that it really is “community” acupuncture.  That is, all treatments are given in a group setting.  While I picked out my Lazy Boy, I looked around and saw 6 other people already seated.  Most looked my age or older, including a guy in a “wife beater” and two totally tattooed arms.  But with the exception of wife beater/tattoo guy, most looked pretty much like me.  

I’d imagined myself with something like knitting needles sticking in my shoulder, but the needles were very slim and about two inches long.   Josh stuck 5 on the back of my left hand.  The rest went in my ankles, knees, right hand ... and two in the top of my head.

After several minutes, I remembered something about myself:  I figet.  At a movie, for example, I watch Jim just sit.  Meanwhile, I cross one leg and then the other.  I fiddle with my wedding ring.  I take off my watch and put it back on.  I push my hair out of my eyes.  I scratch my nose.   Can I do all that with pins in?  Crossing my legs is out of the question with pins in my knees. So I make a fist, and a pain shoots through my hand.  After that, I sit very, very quietly.  For 40 minutes.  Until both my arms --- not just my right one -- seem numb.

Josh pulls out the pins and I make another appointment for Thursday.  And tonight my arm actually seems better.  We’ll see.

Cacti. Cactuses. Whatever.

I’m having a hard time getting back into the blogging mode.  But it reinforces my memories, so here goes:  What we’ve been up to is learning about the saguaro forests, home to those amazing cactus. Cacti.  Cactuses.  Whatever. 

Earlier this week we hiked at Catalina State Park just north of Tucson.  Thursday and Friday we went to Saguaro National Forest, only 10 miles from our camping spot at the Air Force base.  We’ll be going back to both but will probably be making more trips to the National Forest; it has guided educational hikes, films, and we get in for free because Jim has his $10 National Parks “Old Guy” pass.  Plus it’s an amazing place. More info and many photos below.

Bev at Catalina State Park, just north of Tucson and on the western slope of the Catalina Mountains. In the early 1970s the area was slated to be golf courses and housing development, but there was so much opposition that the plan was put on hold.  After a lot of hassle, law suits, etc, it was opened to the public as a state park in 1983.

At Saguaro National Forest we took a guided hike.  Our volunteer guide was Neil Travis, a retired municipal judge from Montana.  He did a great job.

We were told that saguaros (pronounced sah-WAW-rows) grow best on slopes.  The cactus have acordian-like pleats that expand to hold water and their root system is only about three inches below the ground and stretches as far as the cactus is high.  This photo was taken at Catalina State Park.

More saguaros at Catalina State Park. Saguaros only grow wild in the Sonoran Desert, which covers parts of Nevada, California, Arizona, northwest Mexico, and Baja California.

Jim, Cooper and the saguaros.  A saguaro begins to grow branches (arms) when its between 50 and 100 years old.   The saguaros seen here behind Jim are probably between 100 and 150 years old.

It takes a saguaro 5 to 10 years to reach one inch in height; it may get as tall as 50 feet. They sprout and grow near what are called "nurse trees" that provide shade needed by the baby cactus.

Another shot at Catalina State Park.  There is a proposal to change the overnight use fee (with electric hook ups) at Arizona state parks from $25 to $50.  That would be the highest state park fee we've encountered.

Jim getting creative. 

This giant cactus at Saguaro National Forest was was hit by lightening last summer.  Prolonged frost -- frost that lasts longer than 20 hours -- can kill them, too.  

There are about 1.8 million saguaros at Saguaro National Forest.

A saguaro with a newly sprouted arm. 

One in every several thousand saguaros sprouts a "crest" at the top for unknown reasons.  This crested cactus was at Saguaro National Forest; a  bigger shot of the same cactus is below.