Tag Archives: hiking

Day 61 – Thursday – Saguaro National Park West

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Guess what! As you may have guessed, Saguaro NP West looks a lot like Saguaro NP East. So, they are essentially the same but different. The West version seems to have way more saguaro cacti sprouting on it’s portion of the Sonoran Desert. I think that’s true. Yeah, pretty sure. If someone determines that I’m wrong, I’ll deny it. I can do that because I’ve decided to be a politician in the near future, and it seems to be OK if they are not completely accurate when they speak.

We drove through entire forests of incredible saguaros on the way to our destination, but we stopped by Old Tucson first, which is a few miles before the park. Turns out that Old Tucson was closed, except for the Last Outpost. So, while I walked Max around the enormous, empty, parking lot, Diane bought us each T-shirts to commemorate the event. Later, when we got home, Diane discovered that she got an XL for me. She meant to get an M, but the XL was on the hangar. So, we need to go back tomorrow to trade the XL for an M.

From the trinket store we drove straight to the park without mishap. The park visitor’s center is surrounded by millions of saguaros, so it was a good place to put this national park. The variety of shapes is amazing, and they are all unique.

Even Max was interested.

There are many hiking trails throughout the park but those are not for us. We limit our walking from the car to a bathroom and perhaps a gift shop. The exception on this trip was our stop at the Desert Museum.

Museums interest us and we try to visit them when we can, so we stopped at this one. Diane didn’t want to go in so she found a parking spot in the shade, which was amazing, where she and Max could wait for my return.

I went to the entry to see what it was all about and found these brass figures of javelinas.

They stand mostly in the sun all day long so that pink piece of paper you can see on the big one is a warning that says “HOT”. I wanted to make sure that was true, so I touched it. It was.

Then I got to the entrance and saw this sign:

That’s when I turned and went back to the car. Diane and Max were surprised to see me so soon but understood when I explained that there’s no way I was paying $29.95 to enter a museum that was going to close in about 30 minutes. I wouldn’t pay it even if it was going to be open for the next 30 hours. They were on my side. So, we left.

As Diane was pulling out of the parking lot I spied this beauty and convinced her to stop and let me out for a few seconds. We had seen pictures of this kind of saguaro but could not see any in all the fields we viewed. Then there was this one right in plain view.

You have to admit that this is a very stunning cactus. Now one I talked with could explain to me what causes some of them to grow like this. That’s OK. I can live with the mystery. Our stop here was amazing even though neither of us went into the museum.

Then we went home. That’s part of Tucson in the distance.

Now I must shower and go to bed.

Day 59 – Tuesday – Saguaro National Park, East & West

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The calendar today suggests we visit Saguaro National Park. Seeing the entire park requires that visitors travel to two locations, on either side of Tucson, to accomplish that goal. So, that’s what we plan to do. Max is going with us, but we haven’t told him the magnitude of the ride he must endure. I’m sure he won’t mind. He has yet to decline a ride.

It’s 0907 and we just finished breakfast so as soon as Diane gets the dishes all cleaned up (her chosen task), we’ll be on our way.

It got cold last night. When I got up the first time, around 0100-ish, it was 63 degrees, and the wind was blowing pretty hard. What woke us was the awning flapping around so I put it away so we can use it again someday.

About the park with two locations . . . I did a little research about that and came up with the understanding that when it was originally established in 1933 it was a Monument. Then, in 1961 the west section was added. Not until 1994 were both sections declared to be a National Park. So, this place is pretty new in that regard. Still, it’s been around long enough for most of the shiny parts to be dulled just a little. Even so, the magnificent Saguaro Cactus is the draw, and they are magnificent. Check the link and you, too, can be astounded.

Now I will stop and resume this when we return from our journey.

You may nap while we’re gone, if you wish.

It’s 1423 and I’m back, obviously. We’ve actually been back for a little while, long enough for Diane to fill up 5 washers in the laundry room which is a world record for her. She normally only uses 2 or 3.

The trip to Saguaro wasn’t a long one because we wound up at the section near the Rincon Mountains which is only about 9-10 miles away. The hard part, once we got through the gate, was the grueling 8-mile trip around a very small portion of the park. What makes it grueling is that only bicycles are allowed in the park. Fortunately, they have them for rent at the entrance, so I got each of us a bike and away we went.

I kept Max with me so he wouldn’t get all tangled up in Diane’s spokes, causing her to tumble. The added benefit for me by doing that was Max is a strong little guy, and he helped pull me up the hills. I could hear Diane huffing and puffing behind me so knew she was having difficulty. When I stopped at one of the turnouts, it took her about 15 minutes to catch up. Since Max was such a help to me, and he didn’t get tangled up, I decided to take a chance and hooked him up to Diane’s bike. I let her lead so I could be prepared to run to her rescue if he went nuts on her. But he didn’t. He was good as gold and led her the remaining way around that 8-mile loop without mishap. There were times when I thought they were going to outrun me. I kept up, but it wasn’t easy.

Here are some photos I took on that trip.

I should quit trying to get selfies because with these sunglasses I can’t see what I’m taking a picture of. It’s a crapshoot and sometimes OK.

The bike trail was entirely paved and easy on the buttocks for which we were both thankful. Max didn’t care.

I don’t know when we’ll get to visit the other half of this national park. Tomorrow, I see three thrift stores on the calendar, so we won’t be headed west. I must take Max to the dog wash, also. There will be a day free that we can pencil in Saguaro. Hopefully we’ll be able to drive through the other half, of maybe just perch ourselves on a high spot and just look around.

Tonight, we watched game 4 of the World Series. It started off nicely when Freddie hit his 4th homerun in 4 games for the Dodgers. Then the Yankees got busy. At the end of the 8th, the Yankees led 11-4. To get there they hit two (2) grand slam home runs. Quite impressive. I didn’t watch the 9th inning. Call me a fair-weather fan if you wish. I don’t mind.

Oh, ya. All that baloney about Max pulling Diane around the park was pure fiction. Some of you may have figured that out already, but I had to come clean. Max was ensconced in his throne, next to me, while Diane drove us around the park. That’s true.

See you tomorrow.

Hi. It’s me again. Max

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It’s been a hectic time since I’ve had a chance to share ‘stuff’ with all of you. Until yesterday, things were pretty normal. Except for the cat. I don’t know why, but Louie seems to be growing on me a little and that’s disturbing. I’m a professional Cat Chaser and Louie just lays there. He won’t run anywhere except to get under the bed. That’s just no fun at all because I bump my head a lot when I run under there. I’m not as short as some people might think.

Then, the day before yesterday, my humans started packing things into the trailer they parked next to the garage. I’ve seen them do that before and it winds up with me stuck in this little basket they put on the center console between the buckets. They call it my throne. It’s not so bad, really, and it gives me an opportunity to get a lot of sleep unless we pass a herd of cows and one of them says “Look at the cows!” real loud. Of course, it scares me a little, jerks me awake and I can’t help but look out the window to find the cows. No matter how hard I try to ignore things like that, I always fall for it because I like finding cows on our trips. Squirrels are more fun, though.

Seeing what was going on, I figured I might as well get myself in the mood for another trip. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love trips. The alternative is to be left home. Alone. With Louie. The cat. I’ll take the trip every time.

The packing went well past noon so they decided to delay the departure until the next day. I overheard them say that they had originally planned to make it to Memaloose State Park off I-84 on the Columbia River. Instead, they decided to drive straight to Boardman RV Park which was supposed to be the second leg.

After digesting all of that, it makes me wonder why they plan things at all. Doing things when the mood strikes is more fun. There’s more mystery that way.

So, yesterday we got the trailer hooked up and I insisted that I be allowed to wait in the truck where I happily climbed into my Throne.

The trip was OK. They stopped in Scappoose, all of 8 miles away, for a dead chicken sandwich, then we headed east. All I got out of that was a couple of french fries.

The trip through the Columbia River Gorge was very interesting. There were lots of waterfalls that normally aren’t there. Seeing all that water cascading off the cliffs made me want to pee. A lot. Finally, they stopped at the Walmart in Hood River so I could unload. It was very gratifying.

We arrived around 4 pm. I didn’t get to go for a walk until everything was hooked up. Then I got a long one. My human is good about walking with me but he doesn’t keep up very well.

After the walk we ate, they watched TV, then we all went to bed. It was the 1st day and it was good.

Today I got another walk in the morning then they both left me alone for a few hours while they went somewhere else. I have no idea where. So, I curled up in my Serta Perfect Sleeper and stayed there all day. When they got back I was served dinner on the lawn next to the Columbia River. It was very romantic. Then I got another walk around the park. This time, however, I got to go play in the river! Then I ran a bunch of Zoomies at the end of my leash until I got dried off. It was a lot of fun. Not like Milton Creek, but fun anyway. When my toenails get ground off a little more I’ll be able to download some photos Dad (Jerrie) took of my swimming prowess. Right now they are just too pointy and would probably scratch his computer. A dead giveaway that I’ve been messing with his stuff.

I’m going to stop this now because it’s taken me 4 days to get this far and we’ve only covered 1 or 2 days.

To the Beach & Back

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Here I am, sitting in my recliner, Max hanging out between my legs, watching an NCAA Men’s playoff game (Clemson vs. Alabama) while Diane watches a recorded episode of The Bachelor. Living the dream.

In case you missed it, Kelsey (sp) won and got a humungus ring. Also, Alabama won the game. I don’t know who they play next. The game I watched before that one was UCONN vs. Illinois. Quite an amazing game. When the score was tied 23-23 UCONN went on a 30-0 run which kinda sealed it for them.

Now I’m compelled to lean into the goofy side of my brain. You may stop reading at any time and use your time in a more constructive way. I won’t mind at all.

Recently, Diane and I, and Max, spent a few days at Cape Lookout State Park near Tillamook where we didn’t even take one walk on the beach as a complete family. Max and I got out because he made it very clear that if I didn’t take him out he was going to crap in the trailer. That would not have made Diane happy. The weather was crappy so it really wouldn’t have been upset. But, we walked on the beach numerous times to avoid an unwanted nature call on the couch. He’s never done that but sometimes it’s difficult to deny physical needs that are ignored for too long. So, we walked and played.

The tide was out most of the times we walked making the beach appear to be enormous.

I tried to get him to run in the waves, and he did for about 30 seconds before dragging me back to the high tide mark that was littered with thousands of dead velella. They were odiferous and Max found them to be very appealing to his sensitive nose.

Left to his own devices he did his best to roll his little body in the sweet perfume of dead sea creatures but I won that tussle. He still needed a bath which he got when we returned to the trailer.

Those things were everywhere amongst the rocks.

To make the trip a little more enjoyable, we came upon some waterfalls that dribbled themselves onto the beach. They were very pretty and I did my best to get Max under them be he wasn’t having any of that.

Instead of choosing to rinse under one of the waterfalls he wandered toward the incoming tide, climbed on a rock and was promptly washed off into a roiling spin bath. I wish I had had some soap with me. I would have taken a photo but didn’t want to take a chance of dropping my phone into the water. Just trust me when I say he was thoroughly soaked when I managed to get him back to dry ground.