Ron & Deb's Tucson Adventure

[addicted08]

Ron and I are in Tucson for the month of December. We decided we are tired of cold Iowa winters and came south to be warm. However, Tucson is having the coldest weather on record at the moment. Just our luck! We drove through some major weather changes on our way through Texas. We couldn't believe how quickly things changed. We went from dry and sunny to snow covered ground and snowing then back to dry again in the space of about 10 miles. Crazy! Here it looks like the clouds were actually sitting on the hill tops.


Here we are driving through a snowy area.


Then 3 miles later this is what it looked like.

[addicted08]

We took Hwy 10 to El Paso, TX and then took Loop 375 around the city and it runs along the Mexico border. Here is a look at the border fence and at some points the houses on the Mexico side are very near the fence.

[addicted08]

On Hwy 10 east of Tucson there is an area that has some really amazing rock formations. It looks so different compared to the stuff you see before and after this area.

[addicted08]

Once we got to Tucson and all settled in we drove up to Mt. Lemon. We were hoping to get to the top but at the bottom there was a sign saying that 4 wheel drive or chains were required after mile 14. They had gotten some snow up there a day or two earlier. We managed to make it to 7000 feet (mile 19) before we decided to turn around and head back down. There was a lot of snow melting on the roadway and we thought we better head back before it froze again. The drive was beautiful, though.

[addicted08]

On Wednesday we went to the Sonora Desert Museum. If you are ever in the Tucson area I highly recommend you check it out. It is totally worth it! Before we even entered the gate we saw this man standing out front with this little screech owl.


Inside the gate was this gal with a hawk. She was taking it to an area where they were going to do a flying demonstration.


This is a view of the desert grassland that you hike through to see the different plants and animals.




This is the entrance to a cave in the museum.


These are inside the cave.

[addicted08]

Back out side the cave walking through the desert we saw all kinds of neat plants and animals. They had some building here and there with diffent species of snakes, bugs and spiders. But I didn't get any useable photos of them. Oh well, they aren't that cute anyway.
Here is a photo of a black bear. He was too lazy or cold to be up and around.


One of the many forms of cactus.


A Coyote.


Another cactus.


A Mountain Lion. He even sat down to pose for me.


A Javelina or 3.

[addicted08]

Here is the hawk that the lady was holding earlier. He had flown from his keeper up to this tree.


Then back to the keeper who had treats for him.


Then he flew over and landed on the ground near the people gathered there to watch him fly and learn about him from his keeper. I guess he was as curious about us as we all were about him.


Then he went back to his keeper and got another treat and flew off with it. He landed on this cactus and ate it up there.


The unusually cold temps in Tucson make it necessary to help keep the animals warm. This Grey Fox has a fur blanket and a heat lamp!

[addicted08]

Next we saw an Ocelot. He got something to eat out of the wood box next to him.


It must have been peanut butter because he spent a lot of time chewing and sticking his tongue out as though he were trying to get peanut butter off the roof of his mouth.


This is a big copper rock just outside the museum.


And this is just another strange looking rock formation along the road.

[Harold Blocker]

Excellent photos Deb. Have fun "away from" the snow!

[addicted08]

Thursday was a really nice day so we hopped on the trike and went to see the Colossal Cave Mountain Park. It was a nice scenic drive there and the cave was awesome!






I sure think my trike looks good with cactus and hills behind it!


This is the entrance to the cave. It is 70 degrees in the cave year round.


Here are some pics from inside the cave. The pics definitely don't do it justice. You really should see it in person.






Anyone know what Ron was thinking when he was doing this?

[addicted08]

While wandering around Tucson we came across the airplane graveyard. It is truly amazing how many planes are sitting here. There wasn't a real good spot to get a photo from but I think you get the idea.






Here are some more photos of the awesome scenery from our Friday ride.

[hogv8]

Who ?

Jack

[addicted08]

Well, we got a really crazy idea that we should go check out Texas since it was going to be a rainy week in Tucson so we did. Loaded up and headed east. Kind of a cloudy couple of days so far but still seeing some great sites and finding (with help from Darryl and Clint) so awesome roads! We have seen more wildlife here in the past 2 days than I think I have EVER seen!


I have no idea what this is. But luckily for us it was on the other side of the fence. Man they have tall fences out here!



And wickedly rocky ground.


Here is some of the amazing scenery.

[addicted08]

I thought the purpose for the tall fences was to keep the deer and such off of the roads but this young deer managed to get on the wrong side. He must not have been able to jump over it because he stood there watching us rather than running away.


More scenery. Texas in Dec. looks like fall in Iowa.














Ok, it might kind of look like fall in Iowa except for this picture. We Iowans don't start planting or growning anything in the fall!

[V8Bikers]

Who ?

Jack

Seth Chandler, Editor of BHC magazine

[hogv8]

Cool , thanks Mike .

Jack

[addicted08]

Ron and I stopped in Alice, TX on our way towards Brownsville. We knew that Noodles wasn't there but figured we would stop in and say hi to Bea.


We spent the night in Alice then got up and took off towards Brownsville and Port Isabel because Noodles said it was a neat place. The weather was really cooperating with us...see 83 degrees.


Here we are in Port Isabel coming up to the bridge that takes you over to South Padre Island.

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Here we are getting ready to start over the bridge. The scenery around here is amazing.








We got to the Island and there was still more to see.

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Once on the Island we saw a sign for Pier 19 Restaurant and since it was lunch time we stopped.




On the way in to the restaurant there was a photo op so I gave Ron my camera (he wouldn't pose for me).


It even had a really neat pier.


And another photo op for me.


Ron is definitely rubbing off on me!! Ok, really it was his idea for me to pose like this after all he is Perv.

[addicted08]

There were pelicans all around the pier restaurant.




After a very good lunch we drove north up the Island.




Is this a Texas Snow Plow?

[addicted08]

After driving as far north as we could we parked and walked out to the beach to check out the Gulf.


It amazes me how many shells are all over the beach!


This light house is in Port Isabel and was built in 1852.


Another neat view in Port Isabel.

[addicted08]

After walking on the beach, watching the sea gulls and driving all over exploring the Island we stopped at Clayton's. It is billed as Texas' Largest Beach Bar. It was really neat and definitely worth the stop.




Here is the view from the really big deck!




And here is the view from Ron's chair.