Driving home from Tucson Day 1

Our last day in Tucson we had such a good time visiting with folks. Saw Stacey on her way to the HOA meeting. Then Teresa and Robert came over after the meeting to tell us all about it. They stayed for half an hour talking about issues regarding the complex. I recommended creating a list of all the residents by home number with contact phone number and giving to everyone. Also recommended gating the community and getting a half time property manager to oversee all the repairs and running of the complex. Dave recommended having a monthly cash flow report. We’ll have to write to the board with these recommendations. As Robert put it, we all need to be involved. He’s right.

We went to dinner at Leo’s. Had enchilada mole as our last meal. Ahhhh, it was wonderful. Then we visited with Rosemary and Elliott. Haven’t seen much of them this year. They are leaving the same day we are. Visited for about an hour. Then Jill showed us where the red tailed hawk has a nest on their golf course. We went back after 5pm and saw 22 species in 20 minutes. Quite a birdy place. Didn’t even go to their street where we knew there was a Vermillion Flycatcher. Just stayed right there around that fairway. The best birds were the Abert’s Towhee, Lincoln Sparrow, and Cassin’s Kingbird.

Visited with Lynn the morning we left. Gave her everything out of the frig, but this year we called it much closer. Just a few odds and ends and some fish that Dave overbought. He bought a dozen fillets instead of 2-4. But it made a nice gift. We visited for half an hour. Still managed to leave by 8:30. Then went to the PO since Dave couldn’t do the mail forwarding over the computer. Ate breakfast at Jack in the Box, nice burrito, saw a Cooper’s hawk in the parking lot of a grocery store, dropped a package in the mail and were on our way by 9:30.

What a pleasant ride. We drove to Silver City. Parked by the Big Ditch where a flood came through in 1895 with a wall of water 300’ wide and 12’ deep. Took out the entire town except for 1 house. Subsequent floods took it down to the bedrock 55’ below grade. Now it’s a little park walking along the river. Abby and I walked along for awhile. Then she was happy in the car under the trees while Dave and I walked the length of the town. All the restaurants were closed. We just missed them, forgot about change in time. Found a used bookstore and bought a couple of Mrs. Seeton’s books. Very cute. Had a nice conversation with the owner. He said they almost closed last summer. Usually does $600 per week, last summer less than $200 per week. The day of the election he said business picked up. It’s all perception.

Anyway, Dave got a sandwich at Diane’s Deli and I got soup and sandwich at a vegetarian restaurant. We sat ouside with purple picnic tables, big puffy clouds, under a nice awning and had a lovely lunch. I got a decaf latte and a couple of homemade little cookies and we had a nice dessert. Then off to City of Rocks. Bunch of volcanic tuff rocks apparently spit out in an explosion 175 miles away near Albuquerque, landing in a bundle in the middle of the desert. We drove around them and then Abby and I took a walk through some of them. Saw a roadrunner parked on top of a huge rock surveying his domain. A family group of incredibly furry bushy talked squirrels, no trees around, wonder what type they were. We also espied a jackrabbit with giant black tipped ears, totally unconcerned by Abby. We walked here and there over the rocks, just like walking on a shelf. The rocks sounded hollow when I thumped them. At least some of the outer edges. I wonder if that’s the way it sounds before it sheers off. Anyway we’ve wanted to see this area for years. It was different than I expected. Much more desert scrub and perhaps trees like San Antonio hill country around Silver City. I expected piney forest but not so. Crossed the Continental Divide before Silver City at 6355’. Silver City itself it around 5300’. Continued on to Las Cruces. Lovely drive, wonderful views. Dave and I love this drive. I don’t want to really read in the car, but drink in the wide expanses and think.

We had dinner at a Cracker Barrel in Las Cruces right in back of the other la Quinta. There are two at this exit. Lovely meal although I don’t think Dave will order steak there again. Looked good but was tough and he couldn’t eat most of it. The catfish was excellent. We went to bed early. Great beds, we both slept like logs. The breakfast wasn’t that great, but we got on the road by 8:30am. Perfect day for travel, no wind, sunny but not egg-frying hot. We’re loving the views as we cross through Texas, remembering the trip with Jeffrey where we birded around a little lake. Saw the lake from the road. One of these trips we want to stop at McDonald’s observatory near Van Horn. Another trip we really need to take time and see Big Bend national park and see the special birds they have there.