Sunday, Jan. 30 

As we drove into Catalina State Park, we started understanding why it was voted the top state park in Arizona. Mt. Lemmon, part of the Santa Catalina Mountains, towered 9171 feet beside the campgrounds. The mountains were so big and beautiful that it was hard not to constantly stare at them. There were times that they seemed fake – like it was a painted mural. 

We took a hike on the Bridle Trail with the girls. The park is in the Coronado National Forest, so it was great to have some shade. The trail is shared with horses and the deposits that horses leave. As Carol was bending down to pick up one of Lucy’s deposits, three horses and their riders approached us. When beside us, one of the horses graced us with his act of nature. I reached into my pocket and offered my last poo bag to the rider. She laughed and rode away. 

Monday, Jan 31

Lucy’s limp comes and goes, and today was a good day. She hiked down the trail like she had somewhere to be, so we followed. Long hikes get all the girls tired, so I made plans for an afternoon adventure. I biked to a short interpretive hike where I viewed Indian ruins and read about their culture. Next, I biked to Romero Pools and started a hike toward the mountains. Soon into the hike, I realized that my legs were still tired from Saturday’s mountain hike. A descending hiker had told me about another group of pools before the steep climb, so that is where I went. It took me down into a canyon where water was flowing from the melting snow. I scrambled over boulders and played in the waterfalls like a kid.  

Click on this link to view the hikes. https://photos.app.goo.gl/7cT83LVGVXjG3FE39 – Romero Pools

https://photos.app.goo.gl/v5oCTrpB8CcaBkwb9 – Romero Ruins

Tuesday, Feb. 1

Today was a day of planning. The weather in the Southwest was going to get cold and windy, so we had to reevaluate the upcoming reservations that we had made. Here in Tucson, Wednesday was only going to be in the low 50’s and at night it was going down to 28. The campgrounds that we had reserved for the next six days were going to be even colder. We decided to drive further south and go back to Organ Pipe.

In the evening, we were arranging things in the Ham for our departure in the morning. The shower is our “catch-all” closet when we travel. When I opened up the door, the shower pan was completely full of water. Evidently, I had not turned the water all the way off from my shower yesterday, the gray tank was beyond full and it had backed up into the shower. No one is allowed to dump water from their RV onto the ground, so I bailed the water from the shower and poured it down the toilet. Unfortunately, the black tank filled up. We didn’t want to break camp and drive to the dump site in the dark, so we decided to only use the toilet for an emergency. Carol did an online order at Walmart for curbside pickup in the morning. An hour after she placed it, Walmart canceled the order for “unusual activities.” She placed the order again and got the same email an hour later. Thinking that there might be a credit card problem, she placed a third order on a different credit card and got the third cancellation. We were going to the desert in the morning for five days and we were out of food. I called Walmart. After talking to numerous people for nearly two hours, we found out that we had been “blocked” because we were spending too much money in too many different places. We are now unblocked and free to roam around the country. 

Wednesday, Feb. 2

We dumped the tanks in the morning, stopped for groceries and gas, and started towards Organ Pipe. The weather got cooler and windier. When I took the dogs out at bedtime, I thought it was winter. The winds were crazy and the temperature was close to 30. We wanted to go further south, but we were five miles from the Mexican border.

Thursday, Feb. 3

We sat in the Ham all day today and looked at the beautiful sunshine. The winds were 28 mph with gusts to 35. We thought we were flying in a jet all day with turbulence. 

Friday, Feb. 4

The weather was a little better today, but it was not worth an adventure. We got hooked on a new online word game today – Wordle. We did get to see Mt. Ajo recolored by the sun this evening.

Saturday, Feb. 5

A near-perfect day. Lois spent the afternoon reading in the sun, Carol did stuff in the Ham and I climbed a mountain.

Sunday, Feb. 6

An even better day. Lois spent the afternoon reading in the sun. Carol did stuff in the Ham and I took a long bike ride in the mountains and desert.