Prowl'n America: Tuscon AZ and Saguaro National Park

5/14

Our next destination was Tuscon, Arizona to visit relatives and clean the desert dust off everything.

All the rest areas in Arizona were closed, Grrrrr!

The terrain in Arizona was much rockier than New Mexico.

This time our campground is one of those fancy schmancy snowbird destinations, Rincon Country East RV Resort, another Passport America location. We wouldn't have payed full price to stay there.

There were lots of amenities, (Pool, Hot Tub, Gym, Library, Coffee club every morning ) but we seldom take time to enjoy these things. We did find a Western bird book in the Library so we could identify the birds we saw at El Rancho Lobo.

The afternoon we arrived there was a storm brewing over the mountains to the east that made for some dramatic looking photos.

As the evening wore on, the sunsets were pretty dramatic too.

5/15
The next morning was bright and sunny.

While making dinner the previous evening, our microwave died! So, we spent most of the next day investigating and shopping for a new microwave that would fit in our cabinet. We decided to spend one more day in Tuscon so we could visit Saguaro National Park. There’s two sections of the park. One on the west side of Tuscon and one on the east side, about 15 minutes from our campground… OOPS, excuse me, Resort!

We arrived at the East Saguaro NP late in the morning and it was already getting warm... but it was a DRY warm!!! As we pulled up to the gate the ranger looked at the canoe and asked if we planned to do any canoeing today, ha-ha! We all had a good chuckle then she directed us to a short loop trail that gave us a good feel for the desert environment.

After the hike/walk, we stopped in the picnic area to take a break in the shade of a covered picnic table. This little fellow was foraging nearby and as we sat there he kept getting closer and closer. He got so close, I could have stepped on him. Ya think he’s been fed before!?!

House Finch, another visitor to the picnic shelter

The only thing left to do was to take the “Cactus Forest Drive” Described in the park brochure as …”An eight-mile scenic drive winding through a saguaro forest and offers a close and leisurely look at a variety of Sonoran Desert life.”

What looks like a trail in the upper right is actually a river bed.

To all you tree huggers out there... REAL women hug CACTUS!!!

We hadn't brought lunch and when we left the park, we were starved. About 1/4 mile down the road was Saguaro Corners, an oasis to these hungry and thirsty travelers. They had a good beer list and we tried many samples. The waitress was real helpful, we even tried a Scotch based beer and a Bourbon based beer, her favorite. Well, as you might expect, the Scotch and Bourbon beers tasted like... Scotch and Bourbon! We settled on a beer from California, Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat.

We had our usual brewpub food, Joan got the Cowboy burger with barbecue sauce and bacon. I just had a regular burger. My burger was good, but hers was great!

5/17

Our last stop in Arizona was Quartzsite. There's a huge Sports, Vacation and RV show every January along with many other events throughout the winter season. One of the main draws is the free dry camping (boondocking) on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land in and around Quartzsite.

Here's some links about boondocking around Quartzsite...

BLM site

RV Camping Quartzsite

Quarttzsite Chamber of Commerce RV site

Freecamping.net

But, in May, Quartzsite is a veritable ghost town.

We pulled into another Passport America Campground, Kufa Mountain, late in the afternoon. Only staying one night, we wouldn't have un-hooked except we wanted to drive around and scope out the BLM sites.

We found the visitors center and got some good information for a future visit, when it'll be cooler. They even had an Arizona state map, just in time for us to leave Arizona. We visited Hi Jolly and Scaddan Wash because they were the closest BLM sites to town. Not much to see now, but in January, I'm sure it's packed.