Another day in (a snow covered) Paradise with a good friend

One of the trail signs

Today (Meaning Tuesday, Feb. 19) we returned to normal, or what passes for normal in our lives. With the return to Arizona we returned to our Mountain Time existence where everyone else in the country watches television shows one hour later than we do.

The first thing we discovered when we arrived home was that the unseasonably cool weather in Tucson had drained both of our propane tanks while we were gone. So last night when the temperatures dropped into the 30s, we had no heat in the trailer. So we cuddled much of the night to stay warm, so it wasn’t all bad.

In the morning I headed off to the hike I signed up for before I left and left Joan behind to call both the propane company and the Internet company because along with no heat and propane we returned home to find that the Internet was down. Hopelessly down.

One of the seven stream crossings

To read my e-mail I have to truck my laptop under my arm to the resort restaurant and then sit in an uncomfortable metal chair long enough to clear my mail. The propane folks arrived in the afternoon and the Internet folks promised to be here Wednesday, or Thursday.

While the weather was beautiful today there were indications and high winds indicating we are in for a change tomorrow. There is snow down to lower levels predicted for the area. Leave it to the Smiths to bring the most unusual weather possible to a winter hot spot.

Last night when I checked my e-mail from our return trip from California I found a note from a Flint police officer that was a friend of mine back in my reporting days. Harlon, who retired from the police department, and is now a long haul truck driver said he was stranded in Tucson while repairs are made to his truck.

Me sitting next to the sixth (of seven) falls

I immediately called him and set up a time we could get together today and then we made plans for Wednesday. The plans include a trip to the Pima Air and Space Museum and then a home cooked dinner in our trailer tomorrow night.

A few words on today’s hike: The challenging hike group took on the Bear Canyon Trail to Seven Falls, a round trip of six miles.

The scenery was outstanding and fortunately there was plenty of water flowing over the Seven Falls. The trail was narrow in spots and included seven stream crossings and plenty of large stone steps both up and down.

A couple ducks joined us for lunch at the Falls

When I arrived home from the hike, Joan and I went grocery shopping (we pretty well cleaned out the frig before heading to California) and then headed to the weekly pot luck dinner at the resort. Joan made a great Southwestern salad that was devoured. We met some new folks and I heard Joan talking education with one of them.

Following dinner I headed to the local Quality Inn and picked up Harlon and he returned with me to our trailer where we spent a great three hours catching up on old times, good times and recent times. It was great fun.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Our travel weather is becoming a joke, and not a funny one either. For the first time since 1988 Tucson experienced a snowstorm. Imagine that, last year we broke the drought in Texas and this year we are part of a record setting cold snap in Arizona. Yuk, yuk.

Arizona locals taking pictures of the snow

The daytime temperatures never got out of the 30s which made today one of the top 20 coldest days in Tucson history. For the local children who got to play in snow for the first time in their little lives, feel free to thank us. You’re welcome.

When I left the trailer at 11:45 a.m. to pick up my friend Harlon the temperature was 48. By the time I arrived at his hotel room, seven miles away, the temperature had dropped to 33 and it was snowing and snowing hard.

People at the hotel, many of them local employees, were outside happily snapping pictures of the snow and themselves in it. I was taking pictures of them taking pictures of the snow.

With Harlon aboard we headed to the Pima Air and Space Museum for a wonderful day of touring that great museum and boneyard.

Me and Harlon at the Museum

Harlon, as I mentioned yesterday, is a retired Flint police officer who I covered when I was a reporter for the Flint Journal a number of years ago. I used to ride with him during drug raids and we became friends. In his retirement, Harlon is a long haul truck driver and happened to be in Tucson with a broken down truck when he learned that I was here.

Reaching out to me on Facebook we were able to get together and enjoy some touring while his truck was being repaired.

The Pima museum is a wonderful collection of vintage aircraft and on the nearby Air Force Base is the largest storage of obsolete and surplus military aircraft in the country (heck, maybe the world).

In addition to touring the museum we got tickets for an afternoon tour of the boneyard and made a full day of the museum.

In the Saguaro National Park

When we were done at the museum, Harlon who has stayed pretty much in walking distance of his hotel since he got stranded here was hopeful to get closer to some of the beautiful – and now snow covered – mountains surrounding Tucson.

So we headed to Saguaro National Park near our RV resort and we took the 8-mile loop drive that hugs the mountains. We snapped some photos of snow covered cactus and then returned to our trailer where Joan had a wonderful spaghetti dinner waiting for us.

What a great surprise it has been having Harlon here in Tucson. If you would like to see more photos of the hike and my day with Harlon at the museum simply scroll down. (You will also find a few photos at the top from our last day of travel home from California).