The Elusive Saguaros

Have you heard of the Adopt-A-Saguaro Program at Catalina State Park?  For a nominal fee each year, you pick one of saguaros on the list.  The website gives you a picture of the cactus and  the GPS coordinates.  Doris had 3 different cacti picked out that were located off the Romero Trail.  Off we went to find at least one of them.

Strategy is very important.  Doris discussed the "game plan" with Sherry before we hiked up the hill.

 The Romero Trail had a few more steps than I remembered.....and they were built for people with much longer limbs than mine.  I think the trail was built by guys who were over 6 feet tall and had long strides. Each step up for me was either two little steps or a big stretch for my short legs.

 You do get a gorgeous view of all the saguaros with the mountains in the background once you reach the top of the steps.

Doris pointed to the direction she thought we should go.  Hmm, in a "forest" of saguaros, it's really hard to find the right one.

 So, at this point, is Doris tired, or re-thinking the reason for our being out here?!

 After traipsing around for over an hour, we gave up and headed back to the campground.

Maybe next year we'll have better luck.  Even though we never found the ones Doris was looking for, we enjoyed the nice hike and walked off some of the calories from breakfast.  It's always a great day when you are able to enjoy walking in the desert while thinking of friends in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota or Michigan who are dealing with slick icy roads and freezing temperatures.

Fram-ily

Friends and Family=Framily!  And that perfectly describes our group at Catalina.  This year we even made up an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of who was coming and going!  Over the years, friends have become members of our extended family,  We look forward to gathering together to tell stories, eat wonderful food, drink good wine, and basically enjoy ourselves. 

This year, the gathering spot was at Doris' site.  The group changed slightly every few days, as some people left and others arrived. 

But one thing remained the same:  good food!  It's not just hot dogs and hamburgers kind of camping.  No way!  One morning, Allen and his friend Roberta fixed us an excellent breakfast of buckwheat pancakes with whipped cream, fruit salad, sausage, OJ and coffee.

 
Other mornings, we had beignets made by Jerry; and peanut butter pancakes with prickly pear jelly and blueberry pancakes made by Gay.  Don and Jerry made fried Spam, which we even convinced Sandy to try again.  Let's just say she's not a fan of Spam.

 

Gay likes to turn the tables and give Don a hard time.

Patty picked a cooler day to make homemade beef vegetable soup, a pot of chicken soup and biscuits that would impress Colonel Sanders!

One Sunday was cloudy and overcast, with occasional sprinkles.  None the less, Jerry did a shrimp boil.    Jerry and his son Jeff were in charge of cleaning the shrimp from Rocky Point.

 The women worked in their outdoor kitchen, chopping vegetables for the shrimp boil.  It was all hands on deck, so to speak.

 Can you tell Doris got a bit cold?!  LOL

 It's supper time!

 Steam was rolling off the hot shrimp, Kielbasa, and veggies and Jerry ladled it on to the table. 

Last, but not least, was the peach cobbler made in the Dutch Oven.  Jerry was the supervisor while Roberta fiddled with the pot and charcoal.  Sandy had prepared the mix, so it was a team effort.

By the end of the 11 days, it was time to go home and go on a diet!

Catalina State Park Circa 2019

Here we are, at the parking lot of In-N-Out, right across from Catalina State Park.  It seems the park rules changed this year, and it said we couldn't get into our sites until 2 PM.  No problem.  It gave Ron, Patty and their son Jeff their first chance to eat at In-N-Out, and they all loved it!

We headed into the park, with Ron and Patty following us.  It's time to do some camping!

Catalina State Park never disappoints.  Each night the mountains change colors, looking ominous when the dark clouds roll in, and absolutely beautiful when the sun sets and they turn into softer shades of purple and violet.

Below is what it looked like early one Monday morning, looking southeast towards Sandy and Jerry's 5th wheel.  So much better than being in the Midwest and looking out at dead trees and dirty snow.

Looking north towards the Catalinas, you can barely see Doris behind her truck.  We were both out early to watch the sunrise that changed the clouds into pinks and golds.

.  Besides that, we enjoyed many amazing sunsets, such as the one below:

The park is peaceful and quiet, except for the occasional coyotes yipping during the night.  I could have sworn one was right by us at 3:15 AM one morning.  It woke me right up!