We arrived in San Francisco on Friday, Dec 13th, in time for Eric’s Graduation Ceremony for his MBA from the University of San Francisco. The ceremony was held at the old St Ignatius church with it’s magnificant interior spaces. He worked very hard for 16 months to come to this moment on the stage with…
Category: 2013
Trip Up Coastal Highway 1
Sunday, Dec 8th we left Palm Creek Resort in Casa Grande, Arizona at 7AM and headed for San Diego where we are setting down roots for 4 months, waiting for the arrival of our first grand baby. We went to visit Kevin and Ericka after we arrived spending the evening with them in Del Mar…
Phoenix AZ, Desert Botanical Garden
On Friday, Dec 6th we visited the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. It is huge and sits on 145 acres and has more than 50,000 plants in its collection. The Garden has five thematic trails that exhibit cactus and succulent species from around the world. It has been opened since 1939 and has an amazing…
Picacho Peak State Park
On December 5th we drove south to explore Picacho Peak State Park and climb the 1500 ft to the summit on the Hunter Trail. The 2 mile “Hunter Trail” is named in honor of Captain Sherod Hunter – Confederate States of America who lead Confederate forces against Union forces under the command of Captain William Calloway…
Asarco Open Pit Copper Mine
After leaving the Casa Grande Ruins we headed further East into the mountains towards Asarco’s Ray Mine; one of the largest open-pit copper mines in the world. We travelled on a gravel backcountry road through some spectacular desert terrain. Along the way we passed the Boulders, a large collection of massive sandstone rocks. This area…
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
On Dec 3rd we left Palm Creek Resort and drove east 19 miles to the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument which preserves the remains of the largest known structure of the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People, the Great House. It was built in 1350, and stands four stories high and 60 feet long, with a platform…
Scottsdale AZ, Taliesin West
On Dec 2nd, Monday, after a great Thanksgiving weekend with Kevin and Ericka, we drove to Scottsdale to view Taliesin West, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and school in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959 at the age of 91. Taliesin means “a shining brow” alluding to the scenic location…
Tombstone, AZ
When we left the Caverns we decided to drive to Tombstone, not far away. Tombstone was founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin who prospected the nearby hills in 1877, and found silver. Throughout the past 140 years it has survived two major fires, the loss of the mining industry, and countless violent encounters at the…
Kartchner Caverns State Park
Today, Nov 21st, we went to explore the Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson, AZ. We left early to drive about 50 miles south from Tucson, and arrived at the Caverns to take our first tour. These caves formed over 200,000 yrs ago, were unknown to humankind until 1974 when Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts…
Tucson AZ, Sabino Canyon Recreation Area
Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, located only 30 minutes from downtown Tucson was our next adventure to explore on Wed, Nov 20th. Sabino Canyon is Tucson’s own Grand Canyon at the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. We took the tram, 3.8 miles to Upper Sabino Canyon, and from there we hiked up a switched back…