It’s were the hip crowd gathers and have a bash, heckeven 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
.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It’ been awhile since we visited a cave so we checked out Colossal Cave, located in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains, at the end of Old Spanish Trail.
The cave has about 3.5 miles of mapped passageways. The park the cave is in covers over 2,400- acres with hiking trails, primitive camping and horseback riding.
Views of the park.
The cave was formed a couple hundred million years ago, the cave system was used by native tribes about a thousand years ago, where there’s still evidence of a fire pit and smoke residue near the cave entrance.
Around 1879 the owner Solomon Lick discovered an opening that he thought was a mine, upon further investigation it was a cave, a Colossal Cave.
According to cave’s history, three men robbed the same Southern Pacific train twice in a four month period. They escaped with thousand of dollars in currency, gold and silver. The sheriff and his posse tracked the bandits to the cave. After a shootout, just one of the train robbers survived. As the legend goes, he served almost two decades in prison in Yuma and never confessed to where the treasure was.
What happened to the stolen money is unclear. People are still looking for it today.
Colossal Cave had a few owners over the years, one of them Frank Schmidt. He became the owner in 1922. He and his family lived in a house in the winter months but in the heat of Arizona’s summers, the family lived in the cave. After all the cave has a constant temperature inside of 70 °year-round.
By 1930 Colossal Cave was well known and the public – especially the Arizona Daily Star newspaper – demanded its transformation into a National Monument. Schmidt agreed to hand everything over to the state and the CCC in 1934, if he and his family could still stay in the cave. The state agreed.
More stalactites, stalagmites, columns and draperies.
Between 1934 and 1937, two different CCC corps built the first roads, picnic areas, and buildings in Colossal Cave Mountain Park. The cave received stairs, paths, handrails, ladders, and a lighting system, as well. Frank Schmidt was hired by the State of Arizona as a director and held this job until 1956. I wonder long he got to live in the cave?
Trail around the cave we took.
” It doesn’t matter if a cave has been in darkness for 10,000 years or half an hour, once you light a match it is illuminated.”
Paramahansa Yogananda
Cheers to our friends the McHenry’s as they are on the road again! Safe Travels.
Just North of Tucson we drove through the Coronado National Forest up in the Santa Catalina Mountains to the Catalina Scenic Byway. The Catalina Scenic Byway also known as the “Mt. Lemmon Highway” is a 28-mile scenic drive that begins at the base of the mountain and peaks at 9,157 feet above sea level.
You start the highway in the desert amongst the saguaro cacti, and go through mountain passes with fields & meadows, rugged cliffs and hoodoos with spectacular outlooks then end up in an alpine and aspen forest.
This part of the drive you get to see saguaro cacti, the nearby Rincón Mountains and the city of Tucson.
Driving up the scenic highway you start to notice that the cacti are no longer and your seeing fields and scrubs on the mountain.
We stopped and hiked at the Molino Canyon Vista. It was a deep canyon with a creek running through it. This area was a fabulous spot and a great place to boondock, as someone had setup a yellow table cloth and their tent was close by. A really neat place for sure.
This site is also known as Prison Camp. The site was a Federal Honor Camp beginning in 1937 to house federal prisoners who worked to build a road for access into the Santa Catalina Mountains. The Prisoners had been convicted of federal crimes ranging from immigration law violations to tax evasion to bank robbery.
During World War II, many of the prisoners of this camp were conscientious objectors whose religions prohibited them from serving in the military. Some were Japanese Americans, as Gordon Hirabayashi was. After WWII Japanese Americans and many American Citizens, were imprisoned in these camps for fear they would conduct espionage and sabotage along the west coast. Gordon later fought that he was imprisoned wrongly, he won the case and after that the area is become known as The Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site.
What’s left of the prison today.
At this point the elevation being 5000ft. it was just a tad chilly.
The Scenic Highway is windy & curvy as it goes up the mountain. Dave had fun, plus now he has experience in driving these roads.
This picture shows the windy road from Windy Point Vista.
Windy Point is a scenic view point on Catalina Highway, on Mt. Lemmon. The overlook provides a a great view of the Catalinas and the Tucson valley below to the east and the Rincon Mountains to the west.
We never thought we would see hoodoos here, but it was great to see them, the huge tall rocks that look like statues.
Windy Point’s elevation is 7000ft. it was windy and felt very chilly. We noticed we started to see taller trees.
There are a lot of people who also bike up the mountain because it’s one of the highest roads in the state. 28 miles going up hill, I gotta give them a lot of credit, plus some of them looked older than us.
We kept driving higher and rolled up our windows because now we were 8000 ft. elevation, and it was about 45 degrees. All we were seeing is some leaves that changed color and pine trees.
We knew there was skiing on top of the mountain and signs told us so.
As we drove by the Ski Valley and kept going up higher we came to Summerhaven?
It was definitely chilly up here at 9000 ft elevation.
It was like we were on a mountain top in a small town somewhere in Vermont … Not Arizona. We drove thru the town and the road turned into a dirt road so we turned around and started back down. We did stop at Mt. Lemmon General Store to get some fudge, boy was it delicious! You can rent a room, get a bit to eat, there is a couple of restaurants, stores and a post office.
Little did we know that Summerhaven was even at the top but it’s popular both in the Winter & Summer. In Winter they say Mount Lemmon ski resort is the number #1 local ski hill for residents of Tucson, AZ and claims the title of the southernmost ski resort in the United States. In the hot summer months when it’s 100 degrees or more, people come to the top of the mountain where it’s 20 to 30 degrees cooler.
Some pictures of our trip back down Mt. Lemon.
All we can say is that we saw breathtaking views and a climate change that people say is similar to driving from Southern Arizona to Northern Montana. Each thousand feet up is like driving 600 miles north offering a unique opportunity to experience 4 seasons in one trip. It was a really spectacular drive and we feel it’s up there with one of the neatest things we’ve done.
View of the Santa Catalina Mountains and Mt. Lemmon from the campsite we’re at.
ROADS OF DISCOVERY 