Vacationing in Tucson

January 14th to February 1

We spent the first few days getting ready for a 2 week vacation at the Worldmark Resort in Rancho Vistoso in Oro Valley near Tucson. We had to find a place to board Tiger, our cat, as they don't allow pets. We also needed to get haircuts, stock up on food, and store the motor home. When we moved in on the 17th we brought everything but the kitchen sink! It took 2 full car loads of stuff. As it turns out, my wife did a great job of planning, and our condo was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath place and fully furnished with everything including dishes, etc. One of our first sights was a beautiful rainbow.

We were on the ground floor and naturally we brought our bird feeders to encourage all kinds of birds including a very large covey of Gambel's Quail along with doves, cardinals, gold finches, road runners, brown thrashers, white crowned sparrows, pyrrhuloxia (a member of the cardinal family)and towees. We saw cotton tail and jack rabbits and, although we didn't see them, a neighbor said there were javelinas (wild pigs) and we heard the coyotes at night. The quail came right up on our patio in large numbers.

My sister Kathy and her husband Al arrived on the 21st and we surprised them with our homemade Italian Sausage Soup along with some liquid refreshments. We spent time at the pool and spa and Al & I played golf on 3 different courses, all of them beautiful. The weather was cool but spectacular. The two Kathy's enjoyed shopping, hanging out by the spa, and talking "girl talk." We introduced them to Mexican Train Dominoes - a new fun game.

We took a day and went to Biosphere 2 where a number of people lived "locked in" for 2 years to try and live off whatever they grew to eat. It is now run by the University of Arizona as a research facility. It is quite a place and the tours are very good.

Kathy & Al went home to sunny Seattle on the 30th and the next day we moved back to our motor home. Tiger, who had a great time at the vets, came back to us happy and healthy. We really liked Tucson and will very likely go back there next winter, assuming we are still on the road. The weather is great and there is lots to see and do including very reasonable rates on the golf courses. We loved spending time with Kathy & Al - thanks for coming down to join us!!!

We left Tucson on February 2nd and headed to Yuma and then on to San Diego to the Torrey Pines Buick Invitational Golf Tournament.