Today we are driving north through a beautiful part of Arizona. We left Tucson after a few days where we parked in a casino parking lot (with about 20 or so other RV's). The first night we had an amazing sunset...in the casino parking lot of all places.
We did some sight-seeing when there and had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with old friends, Rich and Lisa Atkinson at Lisa’s parent’s house. (Don and Rich have been great friends since 1978.)
We spent last Thanksgiving with them as well, and they were kind enough to invite us back again this year. After dinner, we all looked pretty much like you probably did, sitting around like slugs rubbing our bellies, while Lisa’s mom kept offering more pie…ohhh! And I promised I would not do this to myself again this year…maybe next year I’ll do better…or not.
We spent last Thanksgiving with them as well, and they were kind enough to invite us back again this year. After dinner, we all looked pretty much like you probably did, sitting around like slugs rubbing our bellies, while Lisa’s mom kept offering more pie…ohhh! And I promised I would not do this to myself again this year…maybe next year I’ll do better…or not.
When in Tucson, we took a drive up to Mt. Lemmon. We had not been there in many years. It is a beautiful drive up a wind-y mountain road to beyond the 9000 foot elevation point.
There are a lot of interesting rock formations along the way. You get a great look at the entire Tucson valley from various points on the way up there.
Saguaro cactus grow like weeds in this part of the state, so there were lots of them along the way till we got to the top where there were pine trees.
In my now-so-often-fading-memory, I seem to remember previously, several little shops and restaurants in the tiny village at the top of the mountain.
There are only three there now plus the ski area as they and 90% of the village was leveled due to a large forest fire in 2003. Those three have rebuilt, one cute little gift shop, a general store and the Cookie Cabin where we purchased one of their $5.00 chocolate chip cookies.
It totally covered the seven-inch paper plate it was served on and was still warm with gooey chocolate chips. We shared it and still left some behind. After thoroughly licking our fingers, we headed back down hill.
There are a lot of interesting rock formations along the way. You get a great look at the entire Tucson valley from various points on the way up there.
Saguaro cactus grow like weeds in this part of the state, so there were lots of them along the way till we got to the top where there were pine trees.
In my now-so-often-fading-memory, I seem to remember previously, several little shops and restaurants in the tiny village at the top of the mountain.
There are only three there now plus the ski area as they and 90% of the village was leveled due to a large forest fire in 2003. Those three have rebuilt, one cute little gift shop, a general store and the Cookie Cabin where we purchased one of their $5.00 chocolate chip cookies.
It totally covered the seven-inch paper plate it was served on and was still warm with gooey chocolate chips. We shared it and still left some behind. After thoroughly licking our fingers, we headed back down hill.
The next day we went looking for some petroglyphs that I had seen posted on the web that were near Tucson in the Saguaro National Park.
The only problem is that there are two totally separate Saguaro National Parks, both with the same name. One is on the east side of Tucson and the other one on the west side. My search of the national park’s web site had no mention of petroglyphs.
Putting the park's name into Google Maps showed us only the park east of the city as did my GPS.
Then I noticed on the posting I had originally found said, “west,” again with no other real details except, “Signal Hill Road.” Google Maps and my GPS both easily found Signal Hill Road, so off we went.
After several miles of, “Turn right here,” ”Turn left here,” numerous times, the “Turn left for 5.3 miles,” was onto a single lane, dirt and very rocky road that eventually became a sandy, and somewhat soother, road.
There was no other traffic except for a couple of bicycles. Since we were in the car and not the motorhome, and the scenery was nice, we continued on.
The only problem is that there are two totally separate Saguaro National Parks, both with the same name. One is on the east side of Tucson and the other one on the west side. My search of the national park’s web site had no mention of petroglyphs.
Putting the park's name into Google Maps showed us only the park east of the city as did my GPS.
Then I noticed on the posting I had originally found said, “west,” again with no other real details except, “Signal Hill Road.” Google Maps and my GPS both easily found Signal Hill Road, so off we went.
After several miles of, “Turn right here,” ”Turn left here,” numerous times, the “Turn left for 5.3 miles,” was onto a single lane, dirt and very rocky road that eventually became a sandy, and somewhat soother, road.
There was no other traffic except for a couple of bicycles. Since we were in the car and not the motorhome, and the scenery was nice, we continued on.
As we approached the end of the road, the sign said only, “Signal Hill Picnic Area.” Don commented, “Well, this has been a fiasco,” because we obviously had not found the petroglyphs. But we decided, at least it had been a nice drive and we like driving back roads. This was definitely a back road!
We stopped at the picnic area where a little sign said there was a ½ mile long trail which we decided to take.
We stopped at the picnic area where a little sign said there was a ½ mile long trail which we decided to take.
The trail was a series of rock steps down and then up and around again with really nice views. Ahead was a small hill with a big pile of rocks on top.
Looking up, we were surprised to see the petroglyphs and then a small sign mentioning them and telling people to not go onto the rocks.
It was all very low key. Probably to keep peole from destroying them.
Now piles of rocks in Arizona tend to also come with...ah…critters….so there was a sign warning of rattlesnakes.
Looking up, we were surprised to see the petroglyphs and then a small sign mentioning them and telling people to not go onto the rocks.
It was all very low key. Probably to keep peole from destroying them.
Now piles of rocks in Arizona tend to also come with...ah…critters….so there was a sign warning of rattlesnakes.
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| Petroglyphs at the top of the pile of rocks. |
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| Oh, no! Not again! Watch where you step! |
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Here we have a house with a door, a guy lifting weights and...goodness know what else... |
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| And this means, what??? |
There were several that were spirals, which I would guess refers to the sun…or maybe just that the people who did them were lost and running around in circles.
Anyway, the Signal Hill Petroglyphs are one of Tucson’s best kept (and well hidden) secrets and we were very glad we found them.
As I said at the beginning, we have been driving through a beautiful part of Arizona today. The scenery has been pretty the whole way, but then we came on the Salt River Canyon.
You drop way down into this canyon and then go back up again. It is so big, I could only photograph snippets here and there. It is a spectacular area.
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| Approaching Salt River Canyon |
Besides the smaller pieces, and there are thousands of them, in some areas there are also some huge long logs still all in one piece.
Colors of the ground and hills in the Painted Desert area are breath-taking. It is a smaller area, but we thoroughly enjoyed driving through it.
There was a dusting of snow in some areas which added to the beauty.
Tomorrow we are headed out to Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. It is an amazing place that if you have never been there, you will enjoy hearing about.
It is an Indian village that is located on top of a mesa and has been lived in continuously since around the year 1000, and that is without any services, no water, electricity or sewer!!
Don has gone there since the '60's and we have been there two or three times and have several pieces of Acoma pottery from the Pueblo.
In the meantime, here is tonight's sunset picture...we are sitting beside the I-40 in a small truck stop...the sun is setting behind a big rig truck. All sunsets are pretty...
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