Tucson – Arizona – Part 3 – Road Trip and Friends

I was so impressed with our partial Loop ride that I decided to do the entire Loop — a big 55 mile route around the entire city and suburbs. 95% of the route was on off-road, paved, bike path. I call that bike path bliss 🙂 It is so nice to cruise on paths without having to worry about vehicle traffic. The weather was a perfect, sunny 70 degrees. Life doesn’t get much better.

Our friends, Nate and Martha, bought some land in Parker Canyon, Arizona, and are in the process of building an off-grid cabin. We had to go check it out for ourselves. This part of southern AZ is perfect for an all-day excursion. We kayaked on Parker Canyon Lake, hiked the trail around the lake, saw some deer, stopped at a nano brewery in Elgin, stopped in a craft brewery in Sonoita, experienced a Department of Homeland Security Checkpoint, all in a day’s trek from Tucson. We had never been to this part of the state. I was blown away by the natural beauty — mountains on both sides of the valley, grassy ranch lands as far as the eye can see, wildlife, a high desert lake, even vineyards and wineries. We see why Nate and Martha wants a vacation spot here.

Seth and Veronica, another set of good friends from Phoenix, made the trek down to Tucson to have lunch with us. We went to a Tucson landmark — El Charro Cafe. Table side prepared guacamole, chicken mole enchiladas, prickly pear margarita, I was in food nirvana. We showed them our trailer and the RV park. They are city slickers so it was the first time they had seen an RV park 🙂 I think it was a bit overwhelming for them but I think they could see how it is a fun lifestyle. We miss our Phoenix friends but are happy when we can re-connect.

Tucson has been amazing but also amazingly expensive for us due to some costly repairs. Not only did the trailer need some work, our trusted steed, the 4Runner, had to go in to the shop. The rear brakes were completely gone, metal on metal, rotors shot. Weird because the pad wear indicators were completely gone so we never went through that period of squealing as a friendly reminder to get the brakes checked. So I’m wondering if they were never installed when those pads went on several years back. Sucks but at least that would explain things. Oh well, at least we were able to get it taken care of while we are in a good sized city and it didn’t result in a breakdown or accident or worse. All is well.

With only a few days left in Tucson, I wanted to get in one more ride and I wanted to make it special. A cycling buddy, Steve, recommended I do Kitt Peak. It is about a 4000 foot climb. Yikes 🙂 But I like a good challenge so I decided to give it a go. The climb was spectacular! The views incredible! And at the top is the Kitt Peak Observatory Complex funded by several universities across the country. A really good thing to see up close. The ride was almost perfect — except for the descent. I knew it was going to be cold because it dropped nearly 30 degrees between the bottom and the top of Kitt Peak. I wasn’t totally unprepared – I did bring my windbreaker. But windbreaker was not enough for that freezing descent. At one point, I stopped and even put on my surgical mask to keep some of the cold wind off my face. It helped a little 🙂 Usually descents after big hill climbs are the payoff for the hard work, but by the time I got to the bottom my toes and fingers were numb. At least it was a pleasant 70 degrees back at the bottom so I was able to warm back up on the final leg of the ride. What an experience!!

We went out to dinner on our final night in Tucson. The mechanic that worked on our 4Runner told us the Mexican food we thought was pretty good is not “real Mexican food” and that we had to try Guadalajara Restaurant. When we arrived the menu looked just like any other Mexican restaurant, but when the food came we could tell this was something different and special. We ordered the Molcajete — a volcanic rock bowl filled with chicken, beef, shrimp, onions, peppers in an amazing sauce that was still boiling. And the fresh, hand-made tortillas. A great way to end our Tucson stay.

Time to hit the road again…next stop San Antonio by way of Willcox AZ, Las Cruces NM, Carlsbad NM, and San Angelo TX.