Tucson, Day 7
Tucson, Day 6
And we finally saw another Vintage Cruiser, and it was a Woody, like ours. Theirs was a lot bigger and it had a slide. The owner said she loved it. And then we came back and had a fire. Scott's going to watch some tv with Thomas and when that's done, I'll ask for my birthday present, more cards!
Tucson, Day 5
Tucson, Day 4
Our hike was back in Saguaro National Park. We walked all the way to Bridal Wreath Falls this time, on the same path we started a couple days ago: Loma Verde to Squeeze Pen to Carrillo, then onto the new trails of Three Tank, Douglas Spring, and Bridal Wreath. It was a 12.5 mile hike, and it took us 5.5 hours. It was an absolutely beautiful day, the temperature was mild (low 70s), the sky was bright blue, a few puffy clouds were floating above the peaks, and there was a light breeze. The paths wound through a hilly terrain at the base of the mountains, so there was always something different to see. Very beautiful.
Very little wildlife was visible. I saw two phainopeplas as we started walking, and another hiker pointed out a squirrel on the rocks beneath Bridal Falls. Other than insects, that was it!
We came home and went straight to the hot tub. The water wasn't turned back until 4 pm, so it was a good day to be away.
Tucson, Day 3
By the way, why no photos or news of the the White Ingrate? We didn't bring him! My friend Ruth is watching him. This trip has been a LOT more pleasant without him. I am a little sad when I see other people walking nice and pretty dogs, but the White Ingrate was not fun, so traveling without him is, in the end, much better.
Tucson, Day 2
So we googled it. Google maps said 20 minutes. We started and went down a road for a mile or so and hit "road closed" signs. The road looked washed out. We turned around and went another way. Finally, we got to the entrance. It was swarming. There was no available parking at the visitors' center, but a ranger at the entrance gave us a map and suggested other places to park, so we had what we needed.
The park has an 8-mile loop road, along which there are a few trail heads. There are many trails in this part of the park (there's an eastern area and a western area; this is the eastern), and it would be a long hike to get to most of them. I guess that's why AllTrails shows you how to get to them by parking along city streets, which out here means remote, narrow, and possibly washed-out dirt roads.
Anywho, we parked at the Loma Verde trail head, got on that trail but quickly switched to Squeeze Pen, and then got onto the Carrillo Trail. It was a fabulous trail, and the day was beautiful, sunny and warm. It was probably mid-70s at least; in fact, I got a little hot. Scott carried plenty of water for us, still, I got so tired. There was a fair bit of climbing; maybe that was it. On this trail, we crossed a stream with running water! Maybe coming from Bridal Wreath Falls? We are planning on going on this trail again and making it to the falls so we'll find out. We hiked for 3 hours, probably about 7 miles.
Tucson, Day 1
Oh, but before heading out, we hopped on our bikes to check out the hot tub. Occupied, but by just one man, so we went in. We stayed about 30 minutes. It was awesome.
So then we started our chores. First, we went hunting for the propane fix. We went to one RV store, then to Camping World, then to a hose and fitting store, where the super helpful guy made Scott a new hose and assembly. Then we headed to BestBuy for a new hotspot. I waited a loooong time for help (they were short staffed). After I got the hotspot, we got lunch. Then we went shopping at Walmart.
Back at the site, I realized that the hot spot was the wrong thing as soon as I read the packaging. It only works on its service; doesn't work on ATT. While I was still trying to set it up just to make sure (I never got it to even connect to anything), Scott was attaching the hose to the propane tank. But something was going wrong and it took him a while to figure out. He got it working, and then we headed out to the ATT store, which happened to be near the BestBuy. The rep was super nice but ATT is so screwed up. He said he couldn't really help and that I should go to BestBuy. OMG. I pressed him to give me other options through ATT, and they were just plain astronomical. You have to buy the device—okay, not a problem—then you have to pay for service. A lot. And you have to keep paying for the service all year; you can't just use it when you need it. So I said no thanks.
On my way out, I saw a Verizon store. I went over and in 15 minutes had a hotspot that I can use as often as I want. It's a prepaid plan. I buy the device ($80) and then a service plan. I chose 25 gigs for 30 days for $60. When I don't pay next month, the number is deactivated, but when I want to use it again (next December), I go back to Verizon, they give me a new number, and I prepay for service. Unbelievably easy and sensible. I don't know what ATT is thinking. Oh, and then I called and canceled the extra line I was using for the ATT hotspot. That felt good. Then I tried to return the wrong hotspot device to BestBuy and they took it! That felt amazing!
So in the end, it was a successful day. No hiking, no tennis (but I did talk to a man at BestBuy who recommended some courts to us), but at least these issues worked out in the end. We have wifi, we have fire, we have food.