I was aware when Tom got out of bed this morning and went back to sleep. When he came back it was totally light outside. I looked at the clock and call "5:45?" He said, "Well I was awake so I thought I'd get up." I felt like it by then so I got up too. It is Mountain Standard time. It was 57 degrees outside and 61 degrees in the trailer.
We were up, washed, dressed, fed (Thanks, Cindy, for the walnuts for our waffles this morning.) and out on the road for fuel for the van and to find the church so we don't have to find it for the first time for a 7:45am Eucharist tomorrow.
As we were looking for the church, we found that Tucson is the home of the University of Tucson. It advertises that it is the home of the or an Ansel Adams Collection. It also announces the it has a '"Swede' Johnson something or another." I'll have to refresh my dimming memory tomorrow. But it struck me funny that there was a "Swede" in desert country.
And, of course, Tucson has it's own homeless community who were out on the streets this morning.
We came back to the park to make a few preparations for our afternoon excursion and then settled down to do some computer work. Tom did his stuff and I recreated the blog for yesterday. It came rather easily since I had already written it once!
We decided to have our main meal of the day at noon, wash the dishes that we have been saving and then take off to Saguaro (sah-WAH-row) National Park East.
We told "The Man" (Grandson, Eliot, calls the female voice in his daddy's navigator "The Lady" so we call the male voice in our navigator "The Man.") got us lost. We told him where we wanted to go and we found ourselves in the middle of the Tucson Mountain Park.
We stopped at the International Wild Life Center for directions. It wasn't what we were looking for but they had some wonderful displays that we could see for free. I hope the pictures of the rhino and the cheetah turn out well. I took a picture of a huge sculptured Lion who was in the middle of a tremendous roar just for Richie. I also got a picture of Tom with the lion sculpture. They had steps that people could climb for a photo op with the lion.
With directions we headed off to Saguaro National Park West. On the way we stopped at a place to pull off the road for a photo op of the desert. There was a bench there placed in memory of a young man of 21 years who died in 2000. There was no indication of how he died or why a bench is significant. It was also the trail head for a like up the mountain. The pictures will give me names later.
Finally we found the park entrance for West. There was an admission charge but we didn't have to pay for it because we have a Senior Pass for all of the National Parks. It was interesting that the worker at the desk couldn't enter the Pass into the system. She had to call the Ranger to do it. The Ranger was so happy to see us. We were 5 minutes late for a 15-minute film but she offered to have a special showing just for us. We took her up on her offer. It was about a look at the desert from the local Native American point of view.
We took the short "hike" through the cactus garden. There was so much information there. We had bought sunscreen for being out in the sun but, of course, it was in the van. We did have our hats though and lots of water in the van.
We finally decided we had had enough and should start for home. We also decided the give "The Man" the rest of the day off and head back to the RV Park by what we remembered from the maps that we had seen. It worked. It was on the ride down the mountain that I remarked that I'm going to have to stop taking pictures and just enjoy the surroundings. We also wondered whether the people who use that road every day to go to and from work ever get tired of seeing the desert and just consider it common place. Maybe I'd better start looking at my surroundings in Allentown to see what I am missing.
Back at the trailer we rested for a few minutes and then headed for the pool. We were the only people there at 6:46pm local time. Considering it was going to be dark in 45 minutes I could understand why. The water was just on the cool side at first but then we got used to it. We had slathered on the sunscreen but the entire pool area was in the shade. Soon we left the pool and came back to get our things to get showers and ready for bed. Tom is headed there now and I will be very soon.
Tomorrow, after church and breakfast, I think we will be trying for Saguaro East . . . again!
PS to John: I used the thumbdrive to store the recreated blog for yesterday and was writing today's blog when Dad read your comment.
And on the time differences, you've got it. Arizona does not observed Daylight Savings Time. But get this: the Indian Reservation within Arizona's borders does observe it. And within the lands of the reservation there is another tribe of Native Americans who do not observe it. Go figure!
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