Saturday
Saturday morning Steve and I found a little bakery/donut shop that had Cream Puffs! I have been on a quest to find a cream puff in Tucson since I got here. We have visited several bakeries and had no success, so when we went to Le Cave’s bakery Saturday morning I was delighted! They had donuts, empanadas, and cream puffs. I got mine and enjoyed it with a cup of coffee on our way to Kartchner Caverns State Park.
This was recommended to us by several folks so we have been excited to go. We’ve tried to go several times, but the tickets were all sold out. I ordered the tickets a while ago to ensure our visit.
Kartchner Caverns is about 50 minutes away from where we are staying in the city of Benson.
We arrived and found a hike called Foothills Loop. It was about 3 miles around the foothills that hold Kartchner Caverns. We enjoyed hiking, but boy was it HOT!
We have gotten really good at hiking in 90-100 degree weather. We pre-hydrate by drinking water before we hit the trail, bring more water than we think we will need, I have a “cooling cloth” I wear around my neck, dress appropriately, wear sunscreen, wear hats, hike in the early morning, and turn around when our water is half gone.
These things have helped us continue hiking when it’s, so very hot outside.
On our hike we came across a sign that said to go down the trail a ways and see an ancient “bedrock mortar.” So we did and saw a round, smooth, depression in a large rock. This was where people long ago would grind the beans of Mesquite trees into flour to make bread, tortillas, etc.
You can check some photos and a video of our hike HERE.
Steve and I didn’t know you could eat the beans of Mesquite trees so this was very interesting. Of course the first thing we did was to grab some Mesquite beans off a tree and try them. They tasted like a sweeter green bean to me. I guess you dry them out and then grind them into the flour.
Mesquite trees are plentiful around here and Steve has told me on a number of occasions how much he likes the look of them. If we ever get a property with them on it we will have to try out the process and make something with the flour.
After the hike we visited the discovery center there and learned some about what we were going to see. The exhibits were interesting, interactive, and informational. We enjoyed trying on bat ears, crawling through small openings like the cavers who discovered the caverns did, and learning about an ancient sloth that once inhabited the caves.
Then it was time for the tour. This tour in unique in that it is accessible to anyone, even the disabled whIch I thought was pretty cool. Steve had his shoes sprayed down because he wore them in Queens Mine a few weeks ago and I guess there is fungus that can be transmitted that kills the bats.
We didn’t see any bats because the main room was closed due to the bats having babies. However, the tour was not lacking!
We learned all about how the made the access, cave ecology, and the geology behind what we were seeing.
We saw the original sink hole the men who found the caves went down through, we also saw the waist deep mud the had to walk through once we were inside. The guide said it would take them 3-6 hours to get to the place we took about 5 minutes to walk to today.
The formations were AMAZING!!
Stalagmites and stalactites, soda straws, popcorn, bacon, cave milk, columns, etc..
If you don’t know what some of those terms are you should really go to Kartchner Caverns and learn about them!
The tour ended with Kubla Khan and a light show highlighting the different aspects of the Throne Room.
Then we took the little tram ride back down to the discovery center.
There is another cave in Tucson called Colossal Cave that you can tour. Steve and I are definitely going to try and get into that one before we leave.
The rest of Saturday was spent working on projects on the computer and hanging out at the campgrounds.
Sunday
Sunday morning Steve and I went to a church here that I wanted to try out. It’s called Passion Church and is about 10 minutes away. We really enjoyed the worship, and the teaching was thoughtful and had depth to it. The folks were super friendly and we both really missed our Starting Point family as their warm genuine welcome reminded us so much of everyone in Prescott.
After service we headed downtown to Lemongrass for some Nepalese food. We thought we were going to get Thai, but once we got there the owner explained that he is from Nepal and his menu reflected that cuisine. We were game to try it and we were not disappointed.
Then we did groceries for the week.
We came back and hit the pool/hot tub to cool off in the 107 degree heat! We did laundry while hanging out at the pool and Steve made some phone calls to catch up with family.
The monsoon rains that we have had have made the flowers come out in such a beautiful display! Walking around the campgrounds is like walking through a botanical garden. The colors are vibrant, and the fragrances are carried by the breeze.
We still have plenty of grapefruits on one of the trees next to “Airy.” The other tree has lemons, but they are still green and I really hope they ripen before it’s time for us to go! There will be a bounty of them! I have been envisioning making county fair style lemonade with them and hope I will get to do so.
We are half way through Steve’s contract. The folks he is working with tried recruiting him to come on full-time. He said he was honored to be asked, but we have an RV and really want to travel.
He is working with a recruiter on his next assignment and we will keep you posted on where that will take us.
The Rest of the Week…
If you have been reading the past posts you know that I am trying to get my body in gear to be able to run around the campground at least twice. It is a struggle!
I came up with a new plan this week.
My new plan is to walk/run around the campground two times every day this week.
Monday I did it and ran .8 miles, Tuesday the same, Wednesday I did it and ran .7 miles, Thursday I hit .8 miles again and on Friday 1 mile.
A lady commented to me that she wished she could run and that has fueled some of the motivation fire for me.
I see a window of opportunity right now- I have the time, I have a safe, flat path to run on, it’s sunny weather every day, my body CAN do it…even though it dislikes it greatly. So I am trying to seize the opportunity while I have it.
Blessings to you friends!