Apr 3 Out to Roper Lake State Park

... the last state park in S.Arizona that we have not visited
  Written up as a lovey lake recreational area with a natural spring hot tub, we head off to near the New Mexico border to add this park to our collection. It's nestled under the foothills of Mt. Which is 11,000 ft high and still has snow on top. The campsite is at 3200 ft.
  It's been beautifully (over) developed with amazing facilities, each campsite has an armada with table and there's a lake and hot tub, but all oh so small! As Ted said, 3 kids in the hot tub filled it. We do some strolls around the camp, to the 'island'. But the wind is blowing a gale and there are whitecaps at the little swimming beach. Nobody in their right mind is going in there any time soon. Even the palm trees are blowing horizontally!
  Having run into all sorts of vacancy problems, we booked a site. We could have gone anywhere, it's pretty quiet here now.
  Its another good place for birders and waterfowl. I guess out here in the middle of nowhere, its important as a flyway. We do see flocks of yellow-headed blackbirds which are stunning, especially in large numbers. A great white egret strolls the shore and lovesick frogs and waterfowl chatter away behind our campsite in the slough which runs into the lake. Lots of quail - not close enough to make it to the frying pan.
  We've encountered mosquitos for the first time this trip. A few nailed us but we got them before we went to sleep last night. Yeah. We'll shut the doors earlier tonight.
  There are 5 miles of trails here but it's unexciting hiking compared to around Tucson so 2 nights will be quite enough. It is still cold overnight so we will forego trips into the Chiricahua Mountains or Cochise stronghold campsites as there is no power there to keep our little overnight heater going. Getting soft in my old age.

Apr 2 - Sun is back

  The cold spell is over, but we are not back to 30s so its quite comfortable. OUr last day at /far Horizons, I take in the pool, get more gossip. Last night at our super-safe park - a car, a truck and two bikes were stolen. It is big news in the pool. We find next day that they caught the car thief, he was stopped for some reason and they discovered it then! Duh.
  We chat to the young couple along the row from us in a smaller van - they are from Calgary? Taking 2 weeks of spring break to come here! What a lot of driving in 2 weeks. But I guess we did that too when we were working. Ted tries out their big heavy e-bikes but isn't keen to swap his lightweight touring bike for one of those yet. I must admit, I would like to give it a try.
  WE've arranged to maybe meet a pal of Bob & Pat Allen but he's out of town and can't join us. We finally get to Downtown Kitchen, run by a local celeb chef. I bought his book on Chiles Rellenos at the national park store and am determined to try any of these super recipes. It's Sunday, so parking downtown with a 22ft RV isn't a problem. We are first in for happy hour so pick nice seats to watch the action.
  Aaron the barman reminds us of nephew James. He looks after us really well and insists on taking our photo too. Ted finds his fav local beer (Dragoon IPA) and I try the Victory Garden cocktail, a green affair of muddled cucumber and mint, gin and stuff....loverly.
  We take our time munching on the catfish tacos (Ted declares them the best we've had) with their own salsa, calamari (with mango, ginger, watercress and green chile vinaigrette), mole fries (not a repeat experience) and the delectable chile relleno stuffed with mushroom duxelles and lovely sauces. After we stroll the downtown treed avenues and enjoy the city ambience on a Sunday afternoon. By the time we leave, the restaurant is jumping, an inplace for the locals and the see and be seen people.
  We can't find the ice cream place so pop by Fry's to stock up on Magnum bars instead.

April 1 - rain - is this a joke/?

  Next day we get clouds and see rain elsewhere but none falls on us. WE are off early to meet up in the Catalina foothills with Vollie & Bill from Colorado, who have a house on 2 acres up there now. they have a lovely hike up to a waterfall planned and blankets of flowers all the way up. Not strenuous and very rewarding with yellow and orange California poppies everywhere. WE stop at a nice Mexican place for lunch then have tea and watch the birds and wildlife at their place for a while. It's cold when we get back to I make hot cocoa for me and green chile beans on toast for Ted.
  It's now time to make some serious bookings for the way north as e are running into booking problems all over the place. The camping in Page on the Colorado river is full, as is the camping in Sedona where we plan to stop off this time too. I cover my ass with hotel bookings and keep calling campsites til I get a booking. People cancel out all the time. You just have to keep on it. Bad news when we don't have wifi, I have a phone here but no data.

March 29. Back to the big city

Our 3 days in the desert are up so it's back to town for showers, the pool, Also to contact people we want to see and set up some times to do that.
  It's a day to wander down to the 4th Street shops, restaurants, etc. There is a great bookstore and I find lots of neat things in there. Also some nice gifty souvenir thins too. We stop off on the way home to Poco & Mom's Cantina, where the garden patio in back with a fountain is a welcome sit. I order the best chiles rellenos with Mom's green Chile verde sauce its sour cream, a match made in heaven. Ted tries the pork stew and it's good too.
  Back to the resort, it's pool time with a book and listen to the gossip at the pool!
  There's a shower overnight and it cools things down, 8 overnight and 19 by day. It's a miserable windy start to the day so Ted cooks up eggs, beans/green chile for my version of huevos rancheros, but the tortillas are dry and chewy so we ditch them in favor of the lovely bread.
    Movie night has come around again and for $1 we get p popcorn and "Lion" with the great Dev Patel. But it's long and slow and although a true story, not that exciting really. I can see why it didn't get Oscars...

March 26 Back to the national park and stately saguaros

  It's sunny with a few clouds, a bit of wind and 25 so we are off to the desert with power but no showers so limit: 3 days. We climb up over Grants Pass and the national park is spread before us.
  I bought a small hummer feeder at a bird store in Tubac last week so I am keen to see if I can attract some. Unfortunately it's a bit windy and maybe not enough shade around our rig as none have come so far! Ted saw a little yellow bird at it.
  Next morning we are up early and out to catch the raptor display at the wonderful Desert Museum out here. It's amazing how the birds come out to show us their stuff but the show is being cancelled as more and more of them don't come back, some for 3 days or so, so it's hard to time a show twice a day. Yeah the birds. It's a lovely useful with all the indigenous flora, fauna and wildlife from this part of the world. The cougar is out pacing, we see a baby hummer sitting just out of its nest but not yet ready to fly. Cute. The mama is flying around us picking off the bugs that like humans apparently. We learn a lot about the flora and fauna here and the cacti and flowers are at their prime now.
  The national park runs many many interesting programs but we are happy to do our own hiking trips on our own time. Their gift shop also has lovely things and Ted finds another great T shirt there.
  I am practicing my flute some evenings, getting better, neighbors love it and come by to tell me so. That's inspiring that it's not hard to listen to even when I am learning new tunes.
  We do several hikes in the mountain parks. No Saguaro have bloomed yet but signs are that it will be soon. ?The hedgehog cacti close to the ground and some of the others are already blooming. The star gazing program is on that evening but its too cold for me once the sun has gone down. I am getting settled  in our cosy wee nest.

March 25 Mountains and Mozart

 It's great to be back at Far Horizons  RV resort and Ted can do the morning bakery run. It's Saturday and we have tickets again for the MET live HD opera broadcast. Idomineo by Mozart is playing. Again, very comfortable movie theatre seats, not the huge recliners from Phoenix, and not a lot of people this time.
  After that we drive up along Skyline drive, beautiful views of the mountains and the city below through very nice residential areas to revisit Wildflower restaurant and happy hour. Prices are good, the food is lovely and the price is right. Ted is not so impressed as the first time with his short rib ravioli with wild mushroom sauce. But for tempura shrimp/zucchini, guacamole, the ravioli, 3 $3 beers, a $4 sangria the total is $40. Driving back along the sunset drive as the sun goes down is beautiful. If I were going to stay a month in a condo in Tucson, I think I'd like to be up here.
  This evening we chat to Ursula and Dieter who are leaving Palm Springs shortly, but we may yet meet up with them on the trip north, as we all aim to be home Apr 14 and take a similar route.

March 24 Sabino Canyon trails - and $1 movie night

  Nestled at the base of the 11,000ft Mount Lemmon mountains north of the city is Sabino Canyon. It's stacked with kids and tourists as it's spring break here. The tram ride runs once an hour and the lineup is an hour til the next one.
  We take off along the lovely desert trails and soon lose pretty much everyone. It's a pretty walk along the canyon, following the river which I s running and the cacti are just beginning to bloom. A lovely jaunt til it gets too hot. We then head for one of the 22 brew pubs, a nice little place by the university with a pile of good beers on tap.
  Back to camp, I brew up seafood soup, I'm getting good at this then $1 gets us into Friday Movie Night with a bag of. Popcorn. Its Manchester by the Sea, quite good, a bit depressing, too long, but hey for $1 who can complain.