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!

Silver City, circa 2018

  The town of Silver City is an old one, dating back to the 1870's when silver was found in the area.  There are many artists and art galleries in and around the downtown area and the old buildings have a lot of character.    Doris and Wyatt stopped in front of the visitor center to look at the map.

 And inside, Micah posed beside a life size photo of Billy the Kid.  He had lived in Silver City with his mother and step father in the 1870's and is rumored to have killed 8 men before he himself was shot and killed at the young age of 21.

 Right outside is a replica of the cabin he lived in from 1873-1875.  It was a gift from Ron Howard and was part of the set for the movie  "The missing".

A few days before we had walked to the town cemetery, which is beside Rose Valley RV Park and located the grave of Billy the Kid's mother.

 One side of the Visitor center displays a new mural created by art students from the local university.

Looks like the group is ready to go across the bridge from the visitor center over to the downtown area.

 Don and Micah stopped to look down below, the area known as the Big Ditch.  During most of the 20th century it was used as a sewer and a dump (yuck) before they cleaned it up.

Guess who is sitting behind the sign, talking on the phone?  If he was trying to hide from me, it didn't work!

Loved the sign in one of the windows on the main street!  Either they are lazy and don't care whether or not they sell anything, or they are rich and this is just a hobby for them!

 As we moseyed along the sidewalk, a group of football players from Western New Mexico University stopped us and offered us free tickets to the game on Saturday.  Their mascot, Rawhide, must have been a bit warm in his suit.  This is the first time that I saw a purple horse when I went downtown shopping!

 He was quite impressive with all of his muscles!

Time to head back to our trucks, which meant crossing over a different bridge.

But before we all got in the truck, the kids all wanted to take a walk along the path under the bridge by the Big Ditch.  Doris and Jerry went along for two reasons: to make sure they found their way back and to be sure the kids were safe.

This is what the part of the path below looked like.  I would imagine it is frequently used by homeless people and vagrants.  Not a place for young children alone.

Mission accomplished!  All made it safely back to the parking lot.  After all, it was lunch time and all of us were hungry.

Doin' the Catwalk!

On Thursday we traveled north and west to the town of Glenwood, NM.  Nearby was the Catwalk Trail that we had been on 8 years ago.  Since that time, the majority of the trail had been washed away by floods, necessitating the complete rebuilding of the Catwalk trail.  Steel beams jutting out from the boulders and paths above the stream bed allow you to go half a mile in.  Beyond that is at your own risk!

At the trailhead is a beautiful picnic area shaded by gigantic trees.

Our group included Don's sisters, a brother-in-law, Don's cousin, a family friend, two great nephews and one great niece.  Ages from almost 11 years old to 79! 

 Norm was at the head of the older group as we sauntered up the first part of the trail.  Of course, the younger kids were way ahead of us.

Doris was goofing off as I took her pic.  Not uncommon for our family!  We laugh a lot and tease each other whenever we're together.

 Across the way, Sandy, Doris, Wyatt and Jerry continue on up the hill.

 Halfway there, I holler at them to stop so I can get a picture of them from the front.  Believe me, I have tons of them from the back!

 I think Doris wore her shirt with them embroidery on the back just so my pictures would be more interesting!

This may be the reason everyone is ahead of me:  I'm always stopping to take pictures!  Doris caught me as I took one looking down at the water below.

 It was a perfect day for walking the canyon, not too hot, no wind, and not too cold.  It was no easy task putting in the steel walkway.  Don and John got to the end of the finished part, which is wheelchair accessible now.

 Half of our group was brave, and clambered down over the huge boulder before they could get to the damaged portion of the trail.  Workers were at this area, bringing in bags of cement and a huge machine that they had a devil of a time getting down this rock!

Doris took the next two photos and captured what the trail looks like now before it is repaired.  The asphalt trail is under the huge boulder in the middle.  You have to go over it in order to get to the next portion of the trail.  Ugh!

 More boulders and parts of trees that were washed down on to the trail.  They gave up and turned around.  It's not worth the risk trying to climb over these.  The hospital in Silver City is an hour and a half away from the trailhead.  Something to ponder in your head before proceeding.

 Norm pumped the water for Wyatt so he could get a drink of water at the end of the hike.  Time for a picnic lunch before John headed back to Phoenix and we headed back to the campground.  There was a slight detour to Dairy Queen before we made it back!