The Three T's

Tonto-Tucson-Tubac fit us to a “T”.

Wednesday and Thursday nights in Tonto Basin at Roosevelt Lake's Windy Hill Campground were a great way to get this Road Trip underway. We like to jest that Four Peaks as seen from Windy Hill at The Tonto Tetons. The campground is one of the very best we know. Hot showers are included in the $8 nightly fee. 

We're looking forward to spending one or two more Tonto Nights as this Road Trip nears its conclusion. We visited Tonto National Monument Thursday morning. When we were there early in March 2015, we were told new exhibited were doing to be dedicated only a mere week later. Unfortunately, we couldn't wait to see the exhibits last year. 

We were very excited by the new exhibits. First class job. However, the new exhibits raised some intriguing questions that we may or may not ever be able to answer.

Thursday afternoon we hiked on a portion of The Arizona Trail and enjoyed some unusual views of Roosevelt Dam and Bridge. We also learned about O'Rourke's Camp, a historical footnote we never knew about.

We left Tonto early Friday morning. Our hope-for meeting with Cindy and Don couldn't take place as planned so we did some food shopping, refueled and headed south of Arizona Highway 77. That's a very spectacular route not far from The Gila County Seat. Miles and miles of steep downhills in Apache Acorn Country. 

We arrived in Winkleman before noon and sent a couple of hours there. We briefly thought about spending the night there but decided against it. There's a large free park down by The Gila River but it's just too funky for us.

We tried unsuccessfully to find the confluence of the San Pedro and Gila Rivers. The spot where they join is just far too overgrown with tamarisk trees. It's a tammy jungle. We did get to see Winkleman's historic Luten Bridge which is turning 100 years old this fall. A celebration is planned for October 15.

After leaving Winkleman, it's a pretty much straight shot south to Tucson. We went to the Catalina State Park but it was full. Park Staff told us it had been full for months. We wound up staying a a real dump o an RV park in Catalina. “Any port in a storm,” as the saying goes.

Saturday morning we spent a little bit of time at the Oro Valley Spring Arts & Crafts Fair. It was mostly all crafts and very few true “arts” in evidence. Next we visited the Steam Pump Park Farmers Market and it was a hoot. It's easily one of the best true Farmers Markets we've ever seen. Lots of high quality locally grown produce and home made foods. The highlight was seeing the vegetable roaster guy. For over 37 years, we've always thought chile roaster drums were used to roast green chiles. HA! This guy was roasting anything called “vegetable,” from eggplant to garlic, you name it, he was roasting it. And everything he roasted was a mere $5 for a very large bag. There was also a very innovative brick oven pizza person there, too.

The highlight of the Steam Pump Park for us was seeing an authentic recreation of a pit house in context with a traditional garden. Very amazing work!

Next, we drove to Sam's Club and did a little shopping and then it as off to The St. Phillips Farmers Markets next to the Rillito River on Campbell Ave. There we met with Dear Facebook Friend Cindy and her Friend. They had a wonderful produce booth and is was so fun to meet them face-to-face.

Afterwards we slogged our way through Tucson's famous traffic congestion to get on I-10 and find IO-19 and head south. Exit #92 comes up right away and within minutes we were at the incredible San Xavier Mission. My, my, it would take two or three blog posts to write about that amazing place. So powerful and overwhelming. Words and pictures cannot do it justice. It has to be experienced personally.

After leaving San Xavier we were straight to The Tubac Trailer Tether, checked in around 2:30 PM and vegged out for the remainder of Saturday. Susun went out on the town Saturday evening and had a typically fine time.

Sunday was a very busy day. So busy, in fact, that we decided to stay a third night. You wouldn't think there is all that much to do in Tubac. But you would be wrong. The place is full of stuff to do, especially if you enjoy history AND art.

We started Sunday by hiking a portion of the historic Anza Trail down into the amazing riparian gallery forest of The Santa Cruz River. Then we were to see the Tumacácori  Mission ruins. We returned and found Carmen at the gallery she manages. Until Sunday, we hadn't made the connection that we knew Carmen in Cottonwood back in the late 80's early 90's. It was a fun and wonderful visit.

We found the USGS Tubac stream gage for The Santa Cruz River and then visited the Community Garden. It's the best Community Garden we've ever seen and this is only it's first year. Just one of the many cool things happening in Tubac and vicinity.

It's mid-day Monday as we write this blog post. We did the historical walking tour of Tubac and then visited the Tubac Presidio Museum. This is an incredibly history-rich place. Most of that history has to do with Spanish Colonial and Arizona pre-territorial times. There is one historical aspect to the place which utterly fascinates us both—the production oprf Arizona's very first newspaper on March 3, 1859. Believe it or not, the press that actually printed that first newspaper is now back in Tubac and is part of the Presidio Museum display.

And, believe it or not, the press is fully functional (after a 9-year restoration) and is accompanied by EVERY single item you wold see in a frontier newspaper printing shop. It's amazing. It's easily THE Best display we've ever seen of a pre-Civil War printing press in functional form.

We're doing Traveler Chores now—laundry, cleaning stuff, tidying stuff—you know those chores. Later today we're heading back to Tumacacori to go to a mesquite saw mill. We hope to get a finely milled slab of mesquite with which to create a custom Cribbage board. We also plan to go back to the Museum to take better photos of the Washington Press. We will probably visit the Library to use their WIFI to upload this post and accompanying photos.

Tomorrow, we head to Nogales early Tuesday morning. It's going to be a long day in Nogales. Lots of shopping on the American side and at least a short visit to the Mexican side in search of galvanized buckets. There's a ton of history in Nogales, too, as we hope to visit their museum and learn more. A lot of Nogales history ties in with my Grand Dad's US Army service here in 1916.

We will leave Nogales no later than 3 pm Tuesday as it's a long drive up to Sonoita and then 20 miles south to Parker Canyon Lake. That's our next destination. We plan to spend at least 2 nights there, maybe 3.

After we leave Parker Canyon Lake, we're heading to Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Douglas and then Portal, Arizona via Rodeo, New Mexico. After 2-3 nights in Portal, it's on to Fort Bowie and then Chiricahua National Monument. The NPS continues to say the Bonita Canyon Road will reopen on March 6. We're hoping to surf ashore there on March 7^th. After the Chiricahua's, we might visit Whitewater Draw and/or Cochise Stronghold. Then it's north to Safford and back east to Globe. Hopefully, our timing will be right to see Cindy and Don the second time through Globe.

Finally, after leaving Globe, we get 1-2 nights in Tonto Basin and Windy Hill before heading up over The Rim to home in The Verde. The way things are going now, it looks like we will be back on sometime between March 13-15.

Travel Plan

One of our many mottos is "Plans are made to be changed."  So it has been with planning for this SEAZ Road Trip.  Here's the text of a Facebook post we put up regarding the matter.  The four graphics have captions.

"Ah, the Flow & Eddy of travel plans...

...Whereas we once had a trip laid out to get to Chiricahua National Monument next weekend, we now have had to construct an alternate routing to arrive there after March 6th.

Why? Well, the NPS is essentially rebuilding the only road inside Chiricahua NM. It was supposed to be done in mid-February. Then they moved the date to February 24. Yesterday, the date was moved to March 6th and is still labeled "tentative."

It's utterly amazing to us that the NPS would essentially have the main attractions shut down this time of year....but that's the way it is.

So the plan now is Tonto Basin-Globe-Tucson-Nogales-Sonoita-Douglas-Portal-Bowie-Chiricahua-Cochise Stronghold-Safford-Globe and then home via one of two alternatives. If we get the "horse to the barn" syndrome, then it's straight home from Cochise."

 The new plan involves heading through The Tonto Basin to Globe and then down to Tucson via State Route 77.

Above is the Heart of The SEAZ Trip.  The blue line is simply a general indicator of where we might be.  There  are so many permutations and combinations of side trips.

This is a tentative route back to Globe.

Once we get back to Globe, there are two options for heading home.  A third option is to simply jump the interstate system and and get the horses straight back to the barn,

Who, What, Where, Why, When and How?

The six words of this blog post title are the time-honored underpinnings of classic journalism.  Every  young wannbe reporter had those six words drummed into their cranium early in the Life Of Deadlines.

And, so, whazzup with those buzz words for this Road Trip?

Who?

Naturally, it's Little Yonni and Sweetie Susun heading out on the highway.

What?

Our SEAZ jaunt is another in a long string of lengthy Road Trips we've been lucky to enjoy in our lives together.

Where?

This Road Trip is designed to encompass many of the enduring highlights and icons of Southeast Arizona.

Why?

Well, for one thing, neither of us have seen or enjoyed very much of Southeast Arizona, especially the Chiricahua National Monument.  In fact, Susun's never even BEEN to the Chiricahuas!  Also, this is the genuine 100th anniversary of my Grand Dad's cavalry service in the US Army during The Pancho Villa Campaign.

When?

We plan to leave The Verde Valley February 24 and don't know when we will return.  It could be a week or two or three or more.  This is a Stress Free Road Trip so all dates are tentative.

How?

We will be driving Sharlot (the 2005 Toyota Tundra) and pulling The Ritz, our 15-foot travel trailer.

As always when  we are traveling, we do not know when and where or for how long we will have access to the internet.  Susun will be posting to Facebook with here  phone.  However, we do not have a smartphone so we depend on traditional internet access to create blog entries or post to Facebook.  Suffice to say that updates will be spotty and possibly very infrequent.

One of the primary reasons we are doing such a long Road Trip covering so many miles is that Southern Arizona fuel prices are affordable.  In fact, the Tucson area has the lowest gas prices in The Western United States!

Road Trip Resources

Decades ago when we got into river running, one of the very first things we were smitten with was "The Trip Library."  Every private or commercial trip we ever did had an extensive Trip Library.  We have since carried on that tradition by assembling a similar Trip Library for every Road Trip or extended excursion we've ever taken.  We simply can't leave home without books, maps, brochures and dozens of print outs.  Here's what we're taking with us on this trip.

The stack of printouts is nearly as thick as a quarter is tall.

Finding Two Esoteric Sites

There are two Southern Arizona USGS stream gages that have always intrigued us.  One is the uppermost gage on the US side of The San Pedro down near the Mexican border.  And the other is The Santa Cruz gage at Tubac.

The Palominas Gage has a huge drainage area of over 700 square miles in Sonora, Mexico.  Sometimes during monsoon, it can rain like crazy in Mexico and be bone dry in Arizona.  By and by, a big slug of water barges across the border and rushes down The San Pedro.  It's always quite a phenomena.  Here are four graphics of the Palominas gage.  The Tubac gage is below.

The Palominas gage looks like it should be pretty easy to find.

 Here was the biggest flush of 2015.  It burst upon the scene late the night of August and peaked on August 10.  When the pulse hit, The San Pedro was running 1.2 cfs.  When it peaked about 5:30 AM, it was running 5,520 cfs!  What an awesome event.

 The San Pedro rose 10+ feet in that event.

Here's how it looked every 15 minutes when the pulse hit.

OK, moving on to Tubac.  Here's the location of the gage--should be easy-peasy to find.

The Tubac gage isn't as prone to dramatic spikes as Palominas but it's always very active during a normal monsoon season. Here are the volume and gage height graphs for the July 1-September 1, 2015 time period.

On A Mission

We're finally getting to go to the famous Mission San Xavier del Bac just south of Tucson.

http://www.sanxaviermission.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Xavier_del_Bac

When we put up this photo as a Facebook post, we received two pertinent comments.  Thomas Olsen said, "Check out the fresco restoration story....the Vatican sent artists. Que linda."  And Case Griffing said, "John, before I came out to Arizona, I worked at a series of four Spanish colonial missions in San Antonio, Texas. Seeing San Xavier del Bac was a true pleasure! By the way, if someone tries to tell you they left the tower unfinished to avoid taxes from the Crown, don't believe them."

Sugarloaf

Oh, the stuff ya learn when people find out yer takin' a Road Trip. Last night, we hosted a small party for Dear Friends of newly-retired Jennifer Burns. When Jennifer learned we are heading to Chiricahaua National Monument, that's when she shared that her very first federal job was there back in 1975.

Yep, Jennifer spent a big chuck of both '75 and '76 serving in the old 1930's CCC fire lookout atop Sugarloaf Mountain! Amazing but true. Naturally, the internet helped us learn a lot about that place today. Sure hope we get to hike there.

Tubac Trailer Tether

One of our Biggest Mysteries of this Road Trip has been the answer to this question:"Where are we going to camp between Tucson and Nogales?"  You would think it would be a fairly straightforward, simple answer.  But no, you would be wrong.

The  entire SOAZ RV park business model is now fully adapted to rich people who drive million dollar Class A motorhomes.  These people often tow vehicles behind their Big Rig which easily cost $50,000 or more. Seriously.  So, RV Park managers can skyrocket their rates to whatever stratosphere level they want.  Heck, we've seen some of the nosebleed seats in swanky RV parks go for nearly a hundred a night!  I mean, really.

Well, we're looking for something more uniquely suited to She and Me.  Something Down Home along the lines of which we cherish so much.  And, well, guess what?  We found it!  For our budget it's kinda pricey at $26 a night plus tax, but hey, down there in Baja Arizona, $26 is an gift and Much Appreciated!  Plus, for that price we get to move right into Tubac Culture.   Big Time.

We're booked early next week for two nights....and who knows how many more.

Here's a real fun quote from one of the source links cited  below:

"Pulling into the Tubac Trailer Tether I am notably charmed. I notice beside a covered ramada with a variety of wind chimes dangling from its edges and filed with assorted and mismatched wooden chairs and table, a greeter standing in the crotch of a multi-trunked mesquite tree. The greeter is a female mannequin with dark hair. She is wearing a long skirt of a tropical print that blows in the wind, beach sandals, and a straw hat. On her shoulder rides a red cloth parrot. I smile at the suggestion of a slightly eccentric flavor to the place and walk over to where the sign on the road indicated the office to be."

http://teresa-travel-blog.tumblr.com/page/6

http://archive.azcentral.com/travel/arizona/features/articles/0929tumacacori0929.html

https://issuu.com/tubacvillager/docs/october_2010_tubac_villager_

Grand Dad

Pancho Villa. The mere name evokes emotions a 100 years later.

Good? Bad? In Between? Hero? Villain? Who Knows? History has cloaked Pancho Villa's Life & Legacy in a shimmering tapestry befitting The Legend he is.

If not for Pancho Villa, it's entirely possible I would have never become so enthralled by Arizona.  Here's the story.

My Grand Dad was a grunt US Army Private sent down to be part of General Black Jack Pershing's attempt to bring Pancho Villa to justice. My Grand Dad never rose above the lowest of the lowest rank in the US Army back then because he was a "hand full," as some are wont to say.

Grand Dad got the worst and most despicable duty of anyone. I can't even tell you what it was. Yes, it was THAT bad! Terrible stuff. But he was down there, taking orders, fighting and doing things that US Army people do.

And so it is that we get to revisit Grand Dad's Duty Stations on this Road Trip. I owe a lot to my Grand Dad. First, of course, he sired my Daddy and where would I be without him? But here the other weird twist.

My Grand Dad didn't like me and I can't recall he ever spoke to me face-to-face, actually in person. Whenever my parents would go visit the grumpy old man, they would tell me to "get out of sight" and "be seen rather than heard."

Well, since my Grand Dad served down there on The Border back in 1915-1917, he fell in love with Old Arizona. He got discharged out of some Texas military post and went back to Indiana. (I have his service record  back in Idaho.) As the hush-hush Family Story goes, he got some young lass pregnant and they got married.

But he carried a chip on his shoulder the rest of his life because he never could get back to Arizona. So when Arizona Highways Magazine was born in July 1921, Grand Dad became a Charter Subscriber, almost a year before my Dad  was born.

And so, when I would go to his Old Man Place, my folks would shoo me into a musty bedroom that was filled with EVERY Arizona Highways Magazine printed from 1921 into the early 1950's.  And all I did was sit there in that musty old room and leaf through and through and through those ancient magazines.  I grew so enamored with Arizona my Little Heart was about to pop.  All I could live for was a chance to see those mystical, magical, monumental places that soared so far beyond my imagination.

I can so clearly remember sitting stunned with some of those old magazines on my kiddie lap.  I simply stared in disbelief.   Could such a place exist?  Is this truly real?  How soon can I get there? And when?

And so, there ya go.

Well, we're a goin' back to Grand Dad's Old Stomping Grounds on this here trip. MUCH more to come soon!

What are The Odds?

We were very fortunate to find this particular address still available in the blog-o-sphere,  There are impossibly slim odds than plain ol' "southeastarizona" would still be unspoken for on Google Blogger.