Sunday Morning in the Old Pueblo

Tucson is having record breaking weather.  I feel bad for even discussing this, given what's happening in the parts of the country that are not under this ridge of high pressure.  However, next year is predicted to be an El Nino winter, it'll be cold, so it will be nice to look back at this winter and remember how warm it was.
I took this awhile ago, I was trying to capture the beauty of the sun hitting the Catalinas through a dirty windshield in a truck on a rough road.

We rode the Santa Cruz trail to the Rillito trail Saturday.  This is the golf course at Christopher Columbus park.  All of those little black blobs are ducks.  There were many ducks.  Do they migrate?  Why are they here? 
 

This is on the Rillito trail.  The trail on the north side of the river is being repaved at what seems to be a glacial rate of progress.  Parts of the asphalt have been removed prior to paving.  However, it's still a magnificent trail system and we are grateful for the city of Tucson for making the effort.

There is a new statue at the corner of Mission and Grande.  The side of the base facing me has been painted terra-cotta.  The other three sides are unpainted stone.  One wonders about that.

One also wonders who the models for the sculptures were.  The woman reminds me of a television actress whose name escapes me.  I suppose it makes me nekulturny, but I'm not a fan of representational bronze statuary.  

Later, I had to make run to Safeway while Jim washed the bikes.  Coming back there was a huge plume of black smoke.  One also wonders about this and what caused it.  Local news didn't mention it, so we'll probably never know.

Other than these paltry photos, we don't have much to offer other than the fact that we are really happy to be under the giant ridge of high pressure.

Riding in Tucson

Monday was another glorious day in the Old Pueblo.  We drove over to the Desert Trails RV Park to meet up with Hans and Lisa.  They have scored the perfect site in the park.  This is what they see out the back; there are many birds, there is a turf war going on between the owls and the hawks for a prime nesting spot, and it's just lovely.

This is Rosie, their cat.  She knows that there are birds in the underbrush.  Unfortunately, there are also cactus.  Rosie has adapted well to being a nomad.

We rode the mountain bikes out to the Gilbert Ray Campground from Desert Trails.  This is an area that Jim and I attempted about five years ago when we had hard tail bikes.  We'd been road riders for decades and did not really have a grip on how to ride a mountain bike.  I, in particular, was riding the mountain bike like a road bike, not shifting my weight, not actively steering, and in general not enjoying the experience in the least.  So, we never went back, after scaring ourselves silly in some of the washes.  Our memory of the trail system was not good, so we always went out to Fantasy Island.  I am so glad we went back!  The trails are really fun.  Some of the washes are not rideable by me, but that's why we have feet.  It was a very enjoyable ride and we enjoyed the trails and the company immensely.
I can't believe it's taken me until Wednesday night to get this post finished.   Yesterday we didn't ride, we had to run errands and do stuff.  Today we did the CDO route in reverse which gives us a fair amount of climbing.  Our goal is to be riding 400 miles a month; right now we're not on track with February.  We may have to do a century (not!) to get back on track with mileage.
Other than that, there is not too much to report.

Sunday in the Old Pueblo

Today started out too cold for THE BIG WEATHER BABY (that would be me) to go on the breakfast ride.  I opted to leave about 90 minutes later when the temperatures had risen from 52 to 65.   That was much better, and I didn't have to wear so stinking many clothes.  This is what things look like after a cold ride - clothing everywhere.

Later we went out for a drive on the way to Target and the grocery store.  There were bikes everywhere today.  It was a gorgeous day for it.

 

We went to Food City over on Irvington by I19.  I love this store, it smells really good.  There is small restaurant inside and it's just wonderful.  There is an upcoming holiday that the store was decorating for.

We go for the produce.

It was a good day, it's warmer than it has been and happy we are about that.

Lunch at the Wild Garlic Grill

The Friday lunch ride took us to the Wild Garlic Grill.  It's an amazing restaurant. It's housed in a defunct burger joint.  You walk in not expecting much in the way of decor, but it's really nice.

Really, does this look like the site of fine dining?  It's also bigger than it looks.

We had a big group today.  I think there were 18 of us.  We were out on the screened patio, with infrared heaters.  It was very comfortable.

This is the garlic shrimp salad that Jim and I ordered. I also ordered a bowl of leek soup.  They have an ambitious menu.  Their salmon is wild caught in the Pacific Northwest.  If you click on the link in the first paragraph, it will take you to their menu.  Even though the restaurant is called Wild Garlic, I think they're using too much of it.  The shrimp were so garlicky, that after eating them, I couldn't taste anything else.  And the shrimp were way over cooked. However, it was a big group, and it's difficult to cook for 18 people at a whack, so some benefit of the doubt is given.  One of the group ordered a chicken Caesar Salad and liked it a lot.  I think the jury is out on food goodness.  They do a lovely job of presentation.
 

After lunch there was a ride to a bike shop and then home.  We did Gates Pass yesterday, and I am here to report that it is still hard.  Rest was in order.

Superbowl Wildlife

Sunday was, of course, the Superbowl. Rose and John hosted a party that was a lot of fun.  There were significant amounts of food available for hours of noshing.  I had to force myself to move away from the popcorn and the chips.  Rose and John bought a really cool house last year.  Their backyard is excellent for the viewing of birds.

These are Goldfinches.

I believe this is a Costa's Hummingbird.  It was an overcast day, so there wasn't enough sun to make his iridescence light up.

This is his tree, where he likes to sit.  I could not get a decent picture of him.  Tiny cameras don't have view finders anymore, and without wearing my reading glasses, I can't tell what the camera is focusing on.  I generally just point in the general direction of the subject, take a lot of photos and hope one is good.

This is purloined from the internet.

A rabbit down by the wash.

There was a pretty good sunset, as well.

It was fun and surprising.  When we lived in Seattle, the Seahawks were a terrible team.  To see them win the Superbowl was just surreal.

Wine Tasting in Sonoita

Our friends Jim and Kim are visiting us on their way back to Texas.  Their coach spent some time this winter at Elite RV Repair and Remodel, it's now very beautiful.  They have new floors, MCD shades, carpet, furniture, and the uber sexy Corian entry way steps with LED lights.  Thursday we rented a mini-van and drove out to Sonoita.  Arizona has three main wine producing areas, and Sonoita is one of them.  They grow Italian and Spanish varietals there.  We visited three tasting rooms.

This is the Dos Cabezas tasting room.

I love wine speak. This product write up describes the wine as reminding him of a "bag of blood".  Kim has an educated palate and speaks wine fluently, me - not so much.

 There is an Inn across the street for your sleeping pleasure.

What Sonoita looks like.

Then it was on to Elgin for two more wineries.
 

This is the Callaghan Vineyard,  They're the best of the three places we went.

The tasting room.

Out back, looking at the vines in the distance.  It's fairly desolate at the moment.

The third and final stop, Kief-Joshua Vineyard.  No wine was purchased here.  We look at the size of this building and would really like to see their books.  It's a labor intensive business and we always wonder how they make money.

Then it was on to lunch.  This is new restaurant that just opened, named Overland Trout.  That would be slang for bacon.  Really.  It's a nice restaurant, it's odd to see it out in the middle of nowhere.  The population of Sonoita is 818.
 

 

So, if you enjoy going wine tasting, Sonoita is the area for you.