Arizona Journal
A partial journal for our trip to Arizona in 2006.Wednesday
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Arrive in PHX. Rent Dodge Stratus and head south on I-10. Stop for lunch at
Lucy’s Cafe. David: Pepperoni and Sausage pizza and Widmer Hefeweizen;
Sarah: Chicken Ceasar salad (and wine?). Purchase bottle of Encore 2001
blended red for Tina and Mike. Start heading south again. Trash along
Interstate. Rooster Cogburn’s ostrich ranch. Arrive in Tucson. Meet Mike
and Tina at condo. Geoff and Colleen arrive later in rented HHR. Head out
on hike up Ventana Canyon trail from back of development. Geoff searches
for bighorn sheep. After hike, a swim in (warm) development pool and some
soaking in (hot!) spa. Dinner at Gaazi’s Italian restaurant. Decent, but
not spectacular. Huge servings. Dessert at Cold Stone Creamery. Not worth
the money. Sarah and Geoff drive to Tucson airport to get Geoff put on
Stratus’ allowed drivers list. David nods off while they are gone. When
they return, David and Sarah push aside sofas, strip them of cushions, and
make bed on floor.
Thursday
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Sarah and Dave walk over to nearby resort to purchase newspaper. Geoff and
Colleen pack up their stuff and say their goodbyes. Off to Pima Air and
Space Museum for AMARC tour. While on grounds, see Sikorsky Skycrane, Super
Guppy, Vomit Comet, variety of unique and not-so-unique aircraft. Use the
walkie-talkies that came with the condo to communicate while at Pima Air and
Space. AMARC tour is on an air-conditioned bus. See numerous aircraft,
including many B-52s and Titan missiles. F-4′s are being turned into target
drones. Numerous A-10′s soar overheard during our time on the base and at
the Museum. Dinner at El Charro. David has draught Dos Equis Amber and
Carne Seca: dry meat; house specialty; it’s okay. Sarah has fish tacos;
they were good. Back to the condo to watch the Olympics. Sarah and David
go for late night swim and quick soak in hot tub before bed.
Friday
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David and Sarah start morning with 1 hour hike on Ventana Canyon trail.
Find a better path to resort to buy newspaper. After breakfast, drive to
west side of Tucson and visit Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Watch Raptor
Free Flight demonstration with Harris’ hawks. See pumas, gray wolf, other
desert cats, no desert tortoise (hibernation), no desert reptiles or lizards
(probably hibernating), javelinas, cacti too numerous to count. Eat lunch
at picnic area. More Desert Museum after lunch. Cloudy day, so Kitt Peak
observatory night viewing canceled. Stop at Wild Oats Market and buy
catfish, eggs, yams, and whatnot for dinner. No decaf coffee, so buy coffee
from Ike’s Coffee instead. Next to Basha’s for mangoes.
David and Sarah make corn-meal encrusted catfish fillets, yam fries, and
mango beverage for dinner. Also serve bottle of Encore wine. After dinner,
Sarah has dark chocolate bar while everyone else eats frosted brownies.
Watch Olympics after dinner.
Saturday
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Up early. David finds new newspaper dispenser in condo development.
Because condo only has place settings for four, dishes are an issue.
Dishwasher soap dispenser failed to open the previous night, so David washes
all dishes by hand before others awake and while Sarah runs on Ventana
Canyon trail. After breakfast (including strawberries from previous day’s
shopping trips), off to Rincon Farmer’s Market (Sarah’s pick). David buys
five AZ-grown grapefruit. Sarah buys dog treats for Dalla and Maya.
Discover that morning that Sarah’s sunglasses are broken. David and Sarah
share tomale and chile relleno. Tina shares her egg and chorizo burrito
with Sarah and David. All browse the cactus dealer behind the market. The
market was held in a large white barn that has a green roof. David and
Sarah are sorely tempted to purchase some nice furniture but lack a good way
to get it back to Wisconsin, so pass. Meet a Rottweiller-Mix named Milton.
His person sells supposedly hollistic dog food and treats. After Farmer’s
Market, visit Colossal Cave. Nobody is keen to pay for the cave tour (it is
relatively expensive), drive deeper into the park and spend some time
visiting the historic ranch. Visit an original CCC structure which is now a
museum. Take picture of fabulous painted French doors. Pile back in car to
seek lunch. Have lunch at bar along Old Spanish Trail (road). David and
Sarah both have a mesquite-smoked chicken breast which is really good. It
actually tastes like it was smoked with mesquite. After lunch, drive to
Tucson Electric Park to see if we can see any of MLB spring training
(pitchers and catchers had reported). Nothing is going on, so we head
South to visit the Titan Missile Museum.
Sunday
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Monday
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