Tucson 2022

I'm writing this a year after our first visit to Tucson, and so I can say unreservedly - I love Tucson. In fact we're back in Tucson now; we arrived April 1, and I love it so much we're looking at a condo tomorrow night. Dorian's on board. We love a lot of places, but Tucson is really high up there.

On our below-pictured first trip to Tucson, we visited friends Ben and Louann in their beautiful home and LONG driveway (where we parked our rig!), and they showed us the sites including Mt. Lemmon, the Saguaro National Park (there's an east and west side of this park), and some neat local eats. 

More in our second trip to Tucson blog coming soonish...

The San Pedro River Valley can be imagined (seen, were it not so hazy) in the distance... a ribbon of green at the base of the mountains.... the most significant migratory flyway remaining in the SouthWest. 

View from the scenic drive to Mt. Lemmon

The rare crested or cristate saguaro - To date it's not known what causes this formation!

 

Whatever caused the cristate formation didn't affect the fellow saguaro on the right, both seen in the Saguaro National Park

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

 OPCNM (or, as the military call it: OrgPiCacNatMon) is one of our favorite parks in Arizona. Which is a pretty high bar since Arizona has such amazing geographical features.

From certain parts of the campground, you can see parts of Trump's wall. Also, when you hike out into the desert from the campground, particularly in the southerly direction, you start to see Border Patrol vehicles parked surreptitiously beneath junipers or any other bush that might possibly provide cover to an entire vehicle.

By the way, I doubt that the military call it OrgPiCacNatMon. I was attempting to mock the long and awkward name of Organ Pipe... Ah, it's too long to type again.

Looks like a painting, no? Every evening seems to be like that.

This particular hole in the rock isn't visible from the campground. Right across Highway 85 is a long, scenic drive with plenty of stopping points and side-hikes along the way. The hole in the rock is visible from that scenic drive and there's also a hike that gets you much closer. We've never done the hike.

Looking towards Mt. Ajo. Not sure if that's Mr. Ajo specifically, though

Stick cholla, I think

Organ Pipe Cactus

Barrel cactus or fishhook cactus

Prickly pear

Ocotillo

Arizona has so many amazing places that you might think we'll never get back to OPCNM but... if we ever go down to Rocky Point/Puerto Penasco in Mexico, we'll almost certainly stay a night or two at, at this place, the one with the long and awkward name. 

Honolulu

 We've taken a significant pause in blogging, as a careful observer might notice. Thanks if you still care!

We're lucky to have family and friends in Honolulu, giving us the opportunity to make this destination more than a once- or twice-in-a-lifetime thing. Dorian's sister Gwen and her family live there, as well as our friend Paul & his sweetheart Deb. We stayed at the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel towards the end of the Waikiki waterfront - and were lucky to have the above view! Ramona snorkeled on the strip in front of the hotel and saw a lot of different fish - the area is protected by a seawall and while it certainly wasn't "outstanding" snorkeling by Hawaii standards, it was pretty cool to just walk out there & snorkel.

Diamond Head seen from Gwen's neighborhood


Paul turned us on to the Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop, where you can eat great food AND feel like you're doing good at the same time (see the site). In addition, the environment is extremely zen, with garden seating and amazing flora and fauna.

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Orchids at the bakery

Heliconia Rostrata "Red Lobster Claw" at the Waioli Kitchen

View at the Kaiwi State Scenic Shoreline

Diamond Head from the Puu Ualakaa State Park

An AMAZING mother's day cake - baked with love by our amazing and very creative niece Lucia! It was every bit delicious as it was beautiful.

View from the Kuliouou Ridge Trail

Dorian on the Kuliouou Ridge Trail