Arizona - Tucson - a local day of exploring

Settling into life in Tucson, in our RV park, has not been easy.  We keep thinking that we should be planning for another trip… but the reality is we need to stay put for a while.  We left for our adventures this year with a list of projects and acquired a few more along the way. It's time to check a few items off of our project list and set aside the bucket list!

And,we’re still adjusting to being ‘retired’.  We are trying to dedicate a bit of each day to a project, or a portion of one, a bit of exercise and some fun.  So far, I think we're doing ok.

 

Figuring out how to get the arm out of the frame.....

The biggest project, that we chose to tackle at this time, was to get the hydraulic arm/ram out from under the bed that operates the bedroom slide out.  We think it has a blown seal so it needs to be repaired or replaced.  This involved disassembling the entire bed and the frame under it to get to the arm.

 

The temporary home for the bed.. and the tools and stuff......

From an earlier stop at the mechanics for the truck, he recommended a hydraulic shop for the fix. It was a good connection, and they now have the ram and we should be able to pick it up later this week.  We’ll then, disassemble the bed, again, put the ram back in and put it all back together again.

 

Check out the shiny surface... under the awning.  Tom's racing the sun before it bakes the wax on!

While that project was at least underway, we decided to tackle the wash and waxing of Eagles Nest, now nicknamed the ‘monster’.  While it’s quite a bit shorter than the boat was, there’s more of it!  We got both sides done, but still have to do the ‘bow and stern’.  We need a cloudy day for the stern….. and we are in Arizona…. Might be a day or so! Or an early, early morning before the sun hits it!

We did get some play time in between playing bocci ball, attending a yoga class and music in the evenings…. LOL. The park has a very full schedule of activities should one choose to participate. The activities sort of reminds me of the activity schedules on a cruise ship!

We headed back up to the Desert Museum to do some early morning photography and to see what’s going on.   They have a ‘free’ flight raptor show twice a day now that the weather has cooled down for the birds.  We were able to watch the birds in flight at very close range.  At this particular session they flew a Great Horned Owl and a Ferruginous Hawk.  

This is a free flight demo – no tethers, but radio transmitters are attached.  After the hawk did its one or two stops for treats it headed off into the desert to find something bigger!  They will track the bird and make sure it doesn’t go too far, but most come back on their own.

And I don't always 'get' the shot! LOL

There are several avid birders here in the park, and many have given Tom tips and hints on where to go to find ones he doesn’t have.  We set off to explore some of the local ‘in town’ hot spots in Tucson – the Sam Lena park and Reid Park.   

Both spots were good, although quite different from each other.  Sam Lena is a more natural area with a 2.5-mile trail all around and through it.  A play area or two are located on the corners.  

Reid park is quite large and has a zoo, an experimental rose garden, several large, lit ball fields and stadiums, a couple of ponds and lots of picnic and strolling areas.  At Reid park, we were on a ‘twitch’ – specifically looking for a rare or unusual bird that was seen in the area.   

While Tom was off hunting for it, I enjoyed watching the remote-controlled sailboats race around the marks on the pond.  Unlike the ‘Duck Dodge’ series of races in Lake Union, Seattle, these guys didn’t have to make any penalty maneuvers if a duck changed its course because of the boats.

Tom and I did spot the bird that he wanted on the list – a successful twitch!

We also did an early morning trip to Madera Canyon, located a bit south and east of the town of Green Valley, about 35 miles away.  This canyon is in the top ten hot spots for birding in the US, according to Tom.  Do you think he’s just trying to convince me to go with him?

It’s a beautiful canyon full of hikes, and picnic areas.  As the road is at the bottom of the canyon, and at 5400’ elevation, all the hikes go up!  We spent the early part of the morning following a trail by a stream.  The leaves are turning yellow and gold on the sycamore trees.  

We spotted the Elegant Trogan and about 8 others that were on his ‘list’ for the day.  So, it was a successful day of birding!

We did a portion of a hike, before we headed off to do some more exploration before the 45-minute drive back to camp.