We are camping in one of our favorite places – Picacho Peak State Park. We decided to spend some time in the Tucson area during the winter months. We are thawing our bones after the cold wet weather in Portland. We also wanted to spend time with our family here since we don’t know when we’ll be back here. Yesterday we played with our sweet Sawyer who is almost 11 months old. He’s happily scooting from one toy to another and will be walking soon. We caught up with Josh and Liz and we’re planning some times together while we are here. Amy and her little dog Selena will come to visit us today and that makes them the first official guests in our RV home. Next weekend Amy, Selena and our granddaughter Sarah will spend the weekend.
It’s great to be at Picacho Peak. This is where we have spent 17 out of 18 Thanksgivings since we moved here. This park is a beautiful desert with sharp peaked mountains to look at. As the sun starts to set the shadows on the closest small mountain look like owl eyes and so, our first year here we named it Owl Eye Mountain. It is really just a small outcropping of volcanic rock. Amy and Julie and the friends they met here would climb it. One year a man we named George had a bad fall and had to be helicoptered out which made for a very exciting Thanksgiving dinner. Our dinners here were always cooked over the fire pit. I prepared the food at home, wrapped it in foil and laid it in and around the fire to cook. The pies I baked at home but everything else came off the fire. Doug was always the fire master and he perfected the art of the perfect temperature fire. Most years we had a second dinner on Friday for more family. Some years it was so warm during the day that Doug really got hot tending the fire. Other years we appreciated that nice hot source to warm our hands and bodies. We took our pop-up every year and often also took a tent or two. A few years back we purchased a canopy which solved the problem of bees joining our dinner parties. The best part of this place is watching the sun set, reflecting its light on the peaks and turning the sky brilliant shades of pink and orange. My favorite time is when most of the light is gone and the sky turns shades of navy blue. It just serene to see the black mountain shapes and the beautiful saguaros against the paler parts of the sky. Then when all is black, the stars come out and all the constellations are there. Throw in a soft desert breeze and the occasional train whistle and you have the perfect place to camp.
The State Park limit on reservations is 2 weeks and it was hard to get a site this time of year so we’ll be moving to the Voyager RV Resort after this. There is lots to do in Tucson now- the largest gem and mineral show in the world, the rodeo, and craft shows in every shopping center. So we’ll keep busy here with family fun adventures.
The perfect selfie!!