Wednesday, November 28, 2018 (Travel to Picacho Peak State Park, AZ)

Another beautiful sunny day...certainly not getting tired of this! By 11:00, we had packed up and were ready to pull out. We walked over to say goodbye to Dale and Ruth...see ya in Q!

Dave and Leslie pulled out ahead of us and went to the sani-dump...we pulled in behind them. When it was our turn...and as Steve was waiting for the tanks to empty...he noticed a black streak on the drivers side fender and the trailer seemed low over the wheels. Great!! It appears the leaf-spring had broken...and we had just had the entire trailer suspension replaced a year ago on our way down! Sheesh!

We told Dave and Leslie that there was no point in them waiting around for us so they continued on to Picacho.

We finished up at the dump and pulled over near the gatehouse and went in to see if they could recommend a mobile RV tech. The Ranger gave us a couple of options...suggesting we try Arizona Road-Runner RV first.

After a couple of phone calls with them, about an hour later, Wayne, the tech arrived and had a leaf-spring with him. It took awhile, but he managed to get us fixed up.
Only the top leaf spring is still holding, the rest have twisted to the side.

The new leaf spring with a pretty flimsy looking leaf spring band. Wayne pounded out the plastic bushings and replaced them with bronze ones...

You can see how badly bent the upper leaf spring is from holding all that weight on it's own. Wayne said it was a good thing we didn't drive any further because we would have most likely punctured a tire!  Wayne was very professional and gave us great service!

In the meantime, Dave had texted saying that the potable water at Picacho Peak had a high nitrate content and suggested we fill our (drinking) water containers here if we can. And that's when Dale came to the rescue! He stopped on his way back into the park to see how we were doing...and took our containers to fill with filtered water at their site. Sweet!

When Dale returned with the water containers, he had Ruth with him...it was nice to have another chat with them both. Thanks very much for filling our containers!

Three hours later...and $432 poorer...we pulled out of Catalina and headed to Picacho Peak.

Now remember this picture and that tallest peak...Steve and Dave are going to attempt to climb to the top!

Thankfully, it was only about a 45 minute drive...

We got our passes at the gatehouse and continued on to the sani-dump to fill with water.

Dave and Leslie met us at the dump...they were concerned that we wouldn't be able to make the sharp turn into it, but we managed okay. Dave warned us that the dump was full of bees around the potable water but weren't aggressive. Alrighty then we'll have to trust you on that...and they weren't thankfully. Now...getting into our site (A16) was another story...it was at the start of a curve in the road making it a challenge but we made it. The site only has power hook-up...50 amp, which is nice!

It was after 5:30 by the time we were all set up. We had planned on cooking dinner for all 4 of us tonight but after our day, Leslie and Dave suggested they take the burger patties and salad over to their place and they would cook...thanks guys!!

We relaxed at their place with a couple of drinks before dinner and then Dave grilled the burgers while Leslie put the salad together....delicious dinner!

After dinner, we all went over to our place for dessert...sharing 2 mini pies that Leslie and Dave had and adding our frozen yogourt. Yum!

It was Wednesday...Survivor night...so we gathered in front of the TV to watch the 2 hour show...by the time it was over, it was bedtime. What a day!

Tuesday, November 27, 2018 (Catalina State Park, Tucson, AZ)

Another gorgeous sunny day today! A perfect day for a drive up Mt. Lemmon! This will be our third time up here...gotta show it to all the newbies :) We headed out shortly after 9:30 and had a fabulous drive up the mountain...I had forgotten how beautiful it is!

We stopped at all of the viewpoints along the way to take a look.
Frog Mountain
The name "Babad Do'ag" is Tohono O'odham for "frog mountain." From the Tucson valley, the Santa Catalinas look like a giant sleeping frog. Tohono O'odham pronounce the word "bah-bahd-do-ahg."
The word Tucson also comes from the Tohono O'odham lanuguage: it roughly translates to "at the foot of the black hill."

Looks like lots of nicely spaced  properties below...

 Molino Canyon Vista...

 Lots of leaves on this Ocotillo...

Thimble Peak Vista...
Thimble Peak
The distinctive landform you see from here is Thimble Peak, which separates the Bear Canyon watershed (below you) from the Sabino Canyon watershed (behind and to the right of Thimble Peak). Resembling a giant sewing thimble. Thimble Peak has an elevation of 5,031 feet and is composed of gneiss....

 Windy Point Vista up there...

We know what you're thinking...LOL!

 The road above...

Approaching Windy Point Vista...

 Border Patrol agents practising...

Distant view of their practice area. As luck would have it they have been here every time we've been here...

 What a view!

 Of course, a group selfie...

The road below...

 Dave and Leslie...

 Steve walked to the point...

Looking back...

This was as far as Steve could safely go...

 I sat and watched as the others ventured further out...

 You can see the road below...

 A rear view of the Border Guards doing their thing...

One of the many hiking trails on the distant ridge. There are also quite a few campgrounds on the way up here...

 

At first glance we just thought the bark on this tree had a neat design then realized all the dark spots are carved into it...

The end of the line...Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley. We had planned on lunch at the Iron Door, across from the ski hill, but it is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays...

 So we headed back down into the village of Summerhaven...

 And lunch at the Sawmill Run Restaurant...

 A table on the patio in the sunshine!

The drive up the mountain took us 3 hours with all of the stops. We enjoyed lunch and then started our trek back down the mountain, stopping at another couple of viewpoints on the other side of the highway...

That dark object way down below is a van, from it's rust colour it must have been there for years...

Back in the Oro Valley, we stopped at Fry's for a few groceries and Dave fuelled up with diesel. And when we got home, it was our turn to take our truck to Fry's to fuel up. It was about 6:30 when we finally got home.

We went over to Dave and Leslie's for a couple of drinks and snacks...great guacamole, Leslie! The end to another fabulous day!