Saguaro National Park

Before leaving Tucson for the drive back to Fresno we wanted to have a chance to see Saguaro National Park. This park is broken up into two sections - the Rincon Mountain District on the east side of Tucson and the Tucson Mountain District to the west of Tucson. Since we had a full day of driving ahead of us (11 hours back to Fresno) we knew we would barely scratch the surface of this unique park, but opted to visit the west side of the park since it was more or less in the direction that we needed to travel. We started at the visitor’s center, but once again, because of Covid-19 restrictions, it was closed. We were able to grab a brochure/map and decided that the Bajada Loop Drive would give us a good overview of the park. This 6 mile loop was great! We were able to stop and wander around the Saguaro Cacti and take a bunch of pictures. Many of the cacti were beginning to flower with a pretty dark red bloom. By 9am we had completed the loop and were back on the road headed home. 

Chiricahua National Monument

Jim finished his consulting work in Willcox, Arizona yesterday, so we were ready to begin our exploration of the area. One of the few things to do near Willcox is the Chiricahua National Monument. Not really knowing what to expect, we headed the 35 miles south of town to the entrance of the park. Because of the Coronavirus, the visitor center was closed but the trails were still accessible. We chose to hike the Echo Canyon Loop which is a 3.3 mile trail through very unique rock formations. This was a great hike with interesting rocks around every turn. 

Chiricahua National Monument

Doesn't this rock look like the Black Lives Matter fist?

The Echo Canyon Loop trail

After our hike, we drove on to the copper mining town of Bisbee. We would have liked to take a tour of the Queen Mine but unfortunately it was closed due to the pandemic. Instead we settled for lunch along Main Street.

Main Street in Bisbee

After our stop in Bisbee, we continued on to Tombstone where we saw the site of the gunfight at the OK Corral. We watched the somewhat hokey re-enactment of that fight, before wandering through some of the shops in town.

Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday

Tombstone, Arizona

After a full day of sightseeing, we headed to our hotel in Tucson. Eating dinner on the hotel deck we could see the Bighorn Fire raging in the Santa Catalina Mountains.

The orange glow of the wildfire burning in the mountains

Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Jim had to be in Willcox, Arizona for one day of consulting and because of Covid-19, he decided it would be safer to drive. Seeing an opportunity for an impromptu road trip, I talked him in to tacking on two extra days so that we could do a little exploring of the area. On our way to Willcox, we stopped for about an hour in Lake Havasu City where we walked along the river walk and admired the London Bridge. This bridge originally spanned the Thames River in London and was sold to Robert McCulloch Sr., the founder of Lake Havasu City. McCulloch paid to have the bridge dismantled in London and reconstructed in Lake Havasu speculating that the bridge would become a tourist attraction. He obviously was right as Lake Havasu’s bridge ranks as Arizona’s 2nd most visited tourist attraction behind the Grand Canyon.

Along the Channel Riverwalk of Lake Havasu

The London Bridge

Nassau, Bahamas

Every other year the Sukup company, which manufactures grain bins and grain dryers, offers a sales incentive trip to its salesmen/distributors who reach a certain level in sales. Jim is a consultant who earned this trip for two to the Bahamas. We arrived in Nassau the afternoon of January 12th and were escorted to our hotel - The Atlantis at Paradise Island. We spent the first afternoon exploring the hotel property before joining the Sukup company for their welcome dinner held out on the Royal Deck. Each morning, breakfast was provided followed by a short Sukup meeting or presentation. The rest of each day we had free to explore the island.

Standing on our hotel balcony looking across the Atlantis property

Looking up at the hotel from the Sukup welcome dinner

The Atlantis at night

One of the days, we reserved a historical tour of the island. There are three forts in Nassau with the earliest dating back to 1725. Our first stop of the day was Fort Charlotte which is the largest of the three forts and was named after the wife of King George III. We saw its water-less moat, a drawbridge, and dungeons, as well as a beautiful view of Nassau Harbor. Next up was Fort Montagu which is the smallest of the three forts. It was built is 1725 and is best known for being the site of the US Marine Corps’ first military action when, in 1776, eight ships carrying marines were sent to Fort Montagu to capture a large supply of British gunpowder which was supposedly stored there. The last fort that we visited was Fort Fincastle erected in 1793 to protect Nassau Harbor from pirates. Adjacent to the fort is the Queen’s Staircase which consists of 66 steps built by enslaved laborers to connect Fort Fincastle to the town of Nassau. Later the staircase was named to honor Queen Victoria’s role in ending slavery in the British Empire. 

Jim at Fort Charlotte

The harbor view from Fort Montague

The Queen's Staircase

On our last full day in the Bahamas, we decided it would be fun to get out on the water, so we reserved a 1/2 day catamaran and snorkeling tour. It was the perfect way to enjoy sunshine and the gorgeous blue waters of the Bahamas. 

snorkeling

Palm Desert, California - Day 3

Today was another day in which we split up to enjoy what interested us most. Jim opted to stay back at the hotel to spend some more time at the driving range. Katie had made plans to meet a grad school friend for brunch who resides in Palm Desert. So Brooke and I set off to do some shopping. We started at the Westfield Mall and then headed to the El Paseo Shopping District where Katie met back up with us for more shopping and lunch.

During the evening, since it was New Years Eve, we got dressed up and enjoyed the festivities in the lobby of our hotel. It was a fun way to ring in 2020!

The JW Marriott at night

Palm Desert, California - Day 2

Originally, we thought we might take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway to the top of Mt. San Jacinto to enjoy the view of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, but we didn’t realize that tickets sell out in advance and there were none available for today. It was probably just as well, as the weather was a bit overcast and drizzly at times and probably was freezing at the top of the mountain.

Instead, we decided to split up for part of the day. Jim and Brooke went to the driving range at the hotel, while Katie and I headed to Salvation Mountain located about 75 miles to the southeast of Palm Desert. I had never heard of Salvation Mountain, but Katie was eager to see it as Kesha filmed a music video there and it has become an Instagram mecca.

Salvation Mountain is a man made mountain/art installation that was created over the course of 28 years by Leonard Knight. It is said to be covered in half a million gallons of latex paint. Knight’s mission in creating Salvation Mountain was to share the message - “God is love, accept Jesus into your heart, repent your sins, and be saved.”  Katie and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this quirky masterpiece.

Later in the afternoon, we rejoined Jim and Brooke back at the hotel and got ready to go to dinner with a fraternity brother of Jim's and his family who live in Palm Desert. We met them at a teppanyaki restaurant and enjoyed getting to know them better.

Palm Desert, California - Day 1

Although Jim has lived in California his whole life and I have lived here for the past 35 years, neither one of use had ever been to the Palm Springs area.  Katie and Brooke were up for the adventure, so we decided it would be the perfect spot to explore for a few days at the end of 2019. We arrived at our hotel, the JW Marriott Palm Desert, late on the evening of December 28th. The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, before venturing out to Joshua Tree National Park which is located about 40 miles from Palm Desert. The Forty-Nine Palms Oasis trail was our destination for a hike. It is a 3 mile round trip hike that leads to a collection of palm trees that grow around a rare desert spring. It was a nice hike with a little bit of elevation and interesting desert landscape - lots of barrel cactus and boulders (but no Joshua Trees - we found those later in the day).

A Barrel Cactus

The Oasis

Katie posing next to a Joshua Tree

Next we drove about 15 miles to Pioneertown which was a town built in the 1940’s as a themed live-in Old West movie set. It was designed to provide a place for production companies to enjoy while also using their homes and businesses in movies. Hundreds of westerns were filmed here and it is still used as a movie location today. We wandered through the shops on Mane Street (not Main Street) and were hoping to have a late lunch at Pappy’s and Harriet's, a very popular BBQ spot in Pioneertown. Unfortunately we weren’t the only ones with that idea - the wait was going to be more than 1 1/2 hours long, so we opted for fast food on the drive back to Palm Desert.

Pioneertown

Back at the Marriott, we spent a quiet evening watching movies.