I say our destination was Sycamore Canyon, but in fact we did not reach our planned destination as the recent heavy rains in the area caused a couple of washout of the road. We got as far as Upper Thumb Rock park. Not as interesting as Sycamore Canyon would have been but when you travel on the roads less traveled one has to be prepared for the odd disappointment. I have included a couple of pics from our short lunch stop at the park. As you can see it is quite mountainous. I should point out that although there has been some heavy rain of recent, this area has been in a drought for about 3 years.
An interesting feature of this area of Arizona is that due to it neighbouring Mexico there is a heavy presence of U.S. Border Patrol. Without exaggerating you can't drive more than a few miles without seeing a Border Patrol truck or car, or both. On the highway returning to Tucson we had to stop at a Border Patrol check stop. This was about 30 miles north of the border. This isn't our first encounter as there are Border Patrol check stops on all roads near the border. Normally the officers see the B.C. licence plate and just wave us through. One time we were asked what we were doing so far from home. Boredom must be the biggest issue facing these men and women.
Also on the return trip we stopped at the small town of Tubac, Arizona. "Artsy" is the word I would use to describe this small town. In some ways it reminded me of some of the Alaska cruise ship stops. Lots of jewelry, paintings and sculptures. We did however find a store that sold Navajo and southwest indian rugs. We ran out of time and want to return to browse the rug collection, which is very interesting albeit pricy....
We ended the day with a visit to a local Mexican restaurant that has a Mariachi Band. What a treat. The food was delicious and the music authentic Mexico. The band asked us if we had a request. When I said, No, the band member asked us what we preferred, romantic, traditional or Mariachi hard core music. Of course being MBHC (Mt Baker Hard Core) ourselves we chose the hard core music. It was fantastic. They really revved it up. Very fun! Dana wants to go back and enjoy the music and food another time.
That was our day. I think we made up for the quiet day yesterday. Tomorrow we plan to take a walking tour of downtown Tucson.
Naturally, this is "Thumb Rock".
The local terrain.
One of the local inhabitants, a Mexican Jay. Click on the picture for a better look.
Dana and some new friends (Ravens) outside a shop in Tubac, Az.
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