Our Friends Skip & Nancy came to visit us here in Tucson on Saturday. It was great to see them, the last time we saw them was when we all were volunteering at John Pemmekamp in Key Largo.

They haven’t taken the scenic Catalina Highway the drive to Mt. Lemon, so we were happy to show them the 25-mile paved National Forest Scenic Byway. As it is always listed as one of Arizona’s most beautiful drives and you always see something different.

Our 1st stop by the creek

2nd stop The Prison Camp, now the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area.

The 3rd stop where all the huge boulders are.

It snowed a few days ago in Tucson so even though it was in the upper 60s, Summerhaven on top of Mt. Lemon still had snow.

Another reason to go see Mt. Lemon besides it being so scenic, is the fudge they have at the Mt. Lemon general store, it’s so good!

Soon Nancy & Skip will be on their way to Alaska in their RV, we enjoyed seeing them and wish them the best of luck and safe travels, until we meet again!

On Sunday we went to El Charro’s authentic Mexican Restaurant with Sharon & Garth who live at Voyager.

Established in 1922 by Tia Monica Flin, El Charro Café of Tucson, Arizona is The Nation’s Oldest Mexican Restaurant in continuous operation by the same family. Tia Monica, a true entrepreneur chef, came to Tucson via France in the 1800’s when her father Jules, a famous stone-mason, was commissioned to build the city’s pristine St. Augustine Cathedral. Jules, whose signature work can be seen throughout Tucson’s Historic District, also built the families residence in 1896. This same building is now home to the Original Downtown El Charro Café location on Court Avenue.

They celebrated their 100 year anniversary in 2022.

Tia Monica Flin, is well-known as “The Inventor of The Chimichanga.

image of the restaurant & cocktail area

I know what the restaurant looks like doesn’t matter, it’s how the food tasted and it was very good.

On Tuesday we went to The Gaslight Theatre to see Two Gun McGraw a musical western.

The theatre originally started out as a drama production in Alaska started by Tony Terry Junior, a former U of A student. Terry and his friends soon got tired of the cold and headed back to the southwest. They then moved into an old barn on Tanque Verde Rd. Their next move ended up in the old Jerry Lewis Theatre doing most of the work themselves. They renovated the theatre and also built “Little Anthony’s Diner” from the ground up to become a very popular local entertainment area.

Dave was happy that they had popcorn on the tables and kept on refilling the baskets. He enjoyed the show too.

It starts  in the frontier town of San Pecos, Texas. It seems no one can stop the local cattle rustlers and crooked officials. Until one man, with his six shooters at his hip and guitar on his back, rides into town on his trusty horse, Ranger, and vows to clean up the town. That man is none other than Two-Gun McGraw, a cowboy who faces down desperados when he is not persuading the ladies with song.

It was a lot of fun with singing, jokes and audience participation.

After the play ended they had the cast imitate different country stars. The one above was Johnny and June Carter, they did different stars like Hank Williams, Billy Cyrus, Patsy Cline and others. They all sounded really good. It was definitely a fun time.

The cast

Monday was a good day too just chillin.

When you think of Arizona you think of the beautiful scenery and the hot temperatures

We woke up to see . . .

Not just a dusting but about 3 inches.

These three pictures were taken out our RV’s window. We didn’t think to bring a snow brush or scrapper.

Across the street where we walked last weekend when the weather was in the 70’s.

Have you ever seen a picture of a Saguaro or palm trees with snow on them.

Snow on Mt. Lemon, I know their happy to get the snow for the skiers and the people who try to go sledding.

The snow around the RV park.

Everyone is telling us it’s very rare in Arizona to get snow, it’s already melted, and this weekend it will be in the 70s!!

They did close the schools and some government offices. There wasn’t any snow on the ground because it’s to hot, so everyone was driving ok. Glad it wasn’t icy.

While driving around we saw some people actually throwing snow at each other. Nobody told them your suppose to make the snow into a snowball first… it was funny

Across the street from Voyager is a lot of trails you can take in the desert. We went on the Rock Art trail and saw some great Rock Art.

Cow Boy on a horse

The path you take has stones showing you the way

Half Moon / Bow Tie

An old Indian art is a creature from the American Indians, they are described as part human and part bird.

Bobcat / Modern Art

Deer / Dinosaur

Roadrunner / Indian lady

Bird / Heart

Snake / The snake’s rattler

Man / Coyote

Arrow / Indian playing the flute

Sun /

Saguaro Cactus

Coyote

State of Oregon

Antelope / Indian Design

Buffalo

Snow on the top of the mountains, 9,000 ft. above sea level

Symbol of a male / Symbol of a female

Peace

Voyager had a quilt show in the ballroom so we went to check it out.

I haven’t been to a lot of quilt shows but this one really impressed me so I took pictures to share.

These two quilts have Arizona all over them.

This quilt makes you thirsty

This quilt would look great in a big room with a wall to hang it up.

One of my favorites

Two of my favorites

This quilt is extra special because she had to sew the flowers on too.

I never made a quilt but I can appreciate all the work and time that goes into making one, but the results are incredible.

It’s were the hip crowd gathers and have a bash, heck even the squares hang out here.

Little Anthony’s Diner is a fun 50’s themed restaurant at Broadway and Kolb in East Tucson. The diner features sparkly red seats, checkered floors, and servers in costume. Not just limited to a simple meal experience, Little Anthony’s also hosts a DJ on the weekend to take requests of classic hits from the golden era of the diner, as well as host music and pop culture trivia and they also have live bands. Every other Saturday, the tall fins and the pointed side-view mirrors roll into the parking lot when the diner hosts its classic car show. Dave & I ate here last week, the food is really good, we are definitely going back to check out this cool gig.

Come on Daddy-O you will really dig this cool place where all the cool cats hang.

This week we checked out historic 4th Avenue

This section became popular in the 1920s when a family had a market here, soon everyone started to come to this area and sell whatever goods they had to sell, It was known as the city.   This lasted into the 50s when they started to build in the area that is now The City of Tucson.

The Thrift Shop was mostly had customs that looked like they were worn by actors. Some old some new, it was a neat store and a great place if you needed a costume.

A few of the murals that are on 4th.

Now local artisans and boutiques offer selections of vintage clothing, jewelry, furniture, artwork, antiques, handcrafted and imported wares, hard-to-find books, and anything else you might want to look for.  We had fun going into the shops and we bought some souvenirs. 

Some of the cities best-loved eateries are here on Fourth, from old-school Mexican spots and classic pizza joints to gluttonous burger joints and straight-forward sandwich shops and a famous Italian restaurant.  We didn’t eat here but we’ll come back and check it out.

Dave & I went to both Mt. Lemon and Sabino Canyon in the Beginning of November when the temperature was in the 80s.

My sister Jennifer and her husband Doug came to visit at the end of January. Everyone is telling us that January has been 10 degrees colder than normal. The first part of their visit it was cold in the 40s and 50s. Finally a couple of days before they left the weather got much better in the low 60s & 70s.

We took them to both Mt. Lemon and Sabino Canyon, Dave & I were surprised at what we saw at both places.

Here are some pictures of when Dave & I were at Mt. Lemon in November.

There was only us and a few other people here at Summerhaven , on the top of Mt. Lemon. Because at 9,000ft. the weather was cold at 50 degrees. 50 degrees is cold when you have shorts on.

The weather got cold here in the 40s and since it’s always much colder at Summerhaven, we were surprised at what we saw!

Pictures of Jennifer & Doug and me & Dave at Summerhaven.

Definitely hard to go down a hill like this.

Before we came to AZ we didn’t know it snowed here. On the drive up to the top of Mt. Lemon we noticed a bunch of cars going up the mountain too. We didn’t know why so many people were going there. We thought they all can’t be skiing if there was snow. We didn’t see the snow until we very close to the top where it’s the coldest and there it was snow in all it’s glory! People were all up here taking advantage of the snow. People were finding areas they could get into where there was snow and they had sleds or saucers going down hills with them and only going about three or four feet. It was fun watching them as we couldn’t believe so many people were there enjoying what little space they could find. We were saying man these people don’t know what it’s like to go sailing down a real hill like back in Western New York.

Same with Sabino Canyon, here are some pics of Dave & me in the beginning of November.

Pictures of us four in January

Everywhere we’ve been in the West it’s all been dry, even in the nooks and crannies, so we were both shocked and happy to see all the water that came in from the mountains. When it rains in AZ it’s not enough to really help, so snow is a good thing. When Dave & I were here we only saw this one small area of water so we were shocked to see all the water now. We never know what to expect in Arizona.

We’re here at Voyager RV Park where the friendly Gate Keepers always welcomes you with a smile.

The layout of Voyager RV Resort.

Taking Cooper for a walk from 7th street where the RV is parked to the dog park at Voyager and back again to the RV

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Right next to the dog park is The Voyager baseball diamond. The baseball team plays on Thursdays, we’ll have to see a couple of games.

“As a kid, before I could play music, I remember baseball being the one thing that could always make me happy.” Country Singer, Garth Brooks

We played shuffleboard a few times, we like playing it, it’s what I always thought was an old persons game, well we’re definitely getting older.

We ate at Fat Willy’s a few times the food is good and it’s right inside the park.

Right across Voyager is a huge piece of desert, we saw others go into the fenced area so we thought we’d go too. It’s a great place to walk, and Cooper likes it too.

Another beautiful Arizona sunset

Today I drove 30 miles to Voyager Rv park, which is in South Tucson. This is a 55 and older park, 600 Rv spots, and 1100 park models. This is a true resort, many many things going on. We have a nice pull thru site.

This however is the hardest post I have ever had to make. I had to make this trip by myself , Cooper is at a day care back in Oro valley, and Melissa sad to say is in the Hospital in Oro valley. Wednesday afternoon I had to take her to the Hospital, she was very confused, agitated, and lost, with manic episodes. In the ER they did blood work, and again for the second time in three weeks her INR level, from her blood thinners was in the dangerous level, an INR of about 3 is normal she was in the high 8 range, which means your blood is like water. They also did a cat scan for any brain bleeding, which thankfully was not. They then finally gave here a plasma treatment, which only contains your white blood cells, a few hours later her INR was back down to 3 or so, so that was good. We spent the entire nigh of Wednesday and all of Thursday morning waiting, they really did nothing, which made her even more agitated. They did finally give her a sedative which helped. All the while they were looking to get her in a room upstairs, in the Behavioral unit. This way they can see what is up. Finally about two they got a room, she really did not want to go, but, there for sure is something going on. This is the second time after getting that bad flu, early last month, that her INR level has spiked. Whats interesting is after the first spike we cut out her blood thinner and in a few days she felt normal, we even had her blood work done Monday and the INR was at 3.5, but by Wednesday un Benoist to us at the time it went way up to over 8 again. Just in two days, so something is going on.

So, she may be there a few days or it could be a week or more, so they can see what is happening. It was the hardest thing I have had to do, was sign her in, but it is for the best. If all of our friends and family could say a prayer for her, she would really appreciate it. If anyone wants to call me, please do. In a few days she will be able to receive phone calls, so let me know and I can give you the number.

Our spot below.

Wow, is right, the last two weeks have been a blur. A few weeks ago, Wednesday, Melissa got up in the middle of the night and threw up. Yep, the fle bug hit, lasted pretty bad for two days, putting her right down in the dumps. That’s why we stayed one day later at Crazy Horse. By the time we left for Karthchner Caverns, she was feeling a tad better. As for me I felt fine, that was about to change. That Saturday evening I got it, it hit me just as hard, for two days Melissa took care of me, still not feeling that well. For the rest of the week, we both felt like we were totally exhausted, stressed, dehydrated, not sleeping and all that. What the heck happened. Last Friday we arrived here at Catalinia State park, We have now been here four days, and just today we both feel a little better, Melissa has gotten a good night sleep. We still just don’t feel right ,though. Not sleeping sucks, it wears you down and your mind thinks of the craziest stuff. Hopefully in the next few days this will be behind us. I have not ruled out that we maybe had Covid, as it lasts about two weeks, but who knows. For now where has all the time gone, I know right down the toilet. Ha,Ha

We are now on the western slope of the Santa Catalina mountain range, just north of Tucson. We will be here two weeks. Have a nice long pull thru and views of the mountain range. Drove 71 miles today from Kartchner Caverns State park. It should be pleasant here, unlike what it was like at Karthcner. We did not have a good time there, which I will talk about in my next post. Our spot below.

View out our kitchen window.

We are now at Kartchner Caverns State Park. The park is about 45 miles southeast of Tucson and about 9 miles south of Benson, where we have been before. We drove 45 miles to get here, not far at all. The park has a big campground area, we have a giant pull through site, surrounded by Miscite trees. Yes there are cave’s here, we will be going on two tours this coming week.

We canceled our fist week here and stayed at Crazy horse a week longer. Also we should have arrived here yesterday, but that’s a blog story in itself for later.