We left you in Tucson, suffering from our first hangover for a long time, we’re getting out of practice but I’m confident that our friends will help us over it on our return.  After a late start we walked into Tucson, looked at the University, which seemed to be populated with young women wearing little clothing, fine for me, not such a hit with Alex.  We had dinner at a so-so Italian and got a call from Sheryl and her posse from her birthday party, which was really lovely and made us think of you all and miss home somewhat although with our current inability to drink we may not have made it through the party intact.

Feeling more refreshed on Sunday we set off for the Desert Museum as recommended by a couple from Chicago (the randoms we meet!), big disappointment as although the cactus garden was excellent and informative it was depressing to find they had examples of the local wildlife caged for people to gawp at, including a very sad looking black bear and an ocelot that was pacing backwards and forwards in a small area.  To cheer us up we decided to walk up another mountain!  We popped into the Saguaro (pronounced sah-wah-ro, and is the name of the majestic Cactus that everyone recognises from countless John Wayne movies) National Park Visitor Centre and were suggested we do the King Canyon Walk up to the top of Mount Wasson.  Quite a long hike but the views were spectacular, acres and acres of canyon and slopes with thousands of Saguaros (they only grow their ‘arms’ after the age of 75 and live to between 150-200 years) and a grand panoramic view of the whole of Tucson across to the Rincon mountains on the far side of the city.

We drove through the evening and into the night to reach the Lost Dutchman State Park, eating our first Sonic burgers on the way and where Alex petrified the staff by walking into what she believed was the restaurant but is their food prep area, we think they may have thought she was attempting to hold them up!  Sonic’s claim for your dollar is their large selection of ice cream milkshakes and slushy drinks, you wonder why Americans are so fat?

We woke up at the Lost Dutchman to the sight of our own Saguaro outside Reg’s door and an Ocotillo (you’re on your own for the pronunciation of that one) which had beautiful red flowers on it and was visited regularly by at least two hummingbirds very pretty (Shaun, we’re just rubbish at identifying what type they were we couldn’t see if they had black throats, they just were tiny and green to us!).  Really stunning setting underneath Superstition mountain, which is a volcanic plug pushed up from the earth (we’re learning geology on our trip too).  Obviously the first thing we do on spying a mountain is to walk up it these days, Alex checked at the visitor centre and they said the path was marked to the basin and it was an extra 2,000 feet to the summit from there and a hard scramble.  We walked to the basin, it was steep enough and the views of Apache Junction (not as romantic as you might think) were great and the old gold mine train (tours on the hour we believe but can’t certify) was tooting away in the distance.

The park is named the Lost Dutchman for the German (don’t ask) gold prospector who discovered a major gold lode but after returning to civilisation could never find it again, they did find some gold and hence the tourist attraction across from the park but it wasn’t the one he alleges is out there!

The next morning, we rose early and took the Thompsons for a spin into the Tonto national forest, the highlight of which was we saw two coyotes running across the path, more ticks in the fauna section of our travels.  We drove to Scottsdale, right next to Phoenix, to a campsite near the centre of town parked Reg and walked to the ‘river’ for some lunch at the Olive and Ivy.  Can be heartily recommended for both the food, I had a posh kebab (or kabob as they’re termed here) Alex had the tortellini, and the atmosphere and it was all washed down in the beautiful sunshine by a bottle of sauvignon blanc.  In the evening, we wandered around the clubbing district which was quiet on a Tuesday but we suspect worth a whirl on a Friday and Saturday night if anyone’s ever in the vicinity.

Wednesday was culture day as we had discovered that Frank Lloyd Wright had a house and architecture school in Scottsdale called Taliesin West which he used as his ‘laboratory’ for trying new styles and processes and where he taught students architecture.  These students had to pay for the privilege and along with studying were also expected to help build the house (including two theatres), clean the buildings, cook meals for everybody living there and after all of that entertain Frank, his wife and any guests they may have.  You might think exploitation but most seemed very happy to be near him and learn from him.  The setting is beautiful, when Frank bought the land at a knock down price, there was only one ranch building on the horizon, unfortunately there are many more buildings now and what made him particularly furious was the power utility put a line of major pylons across his favourite view.  In a huff, he refused to install electricity to the property for another four years after the lines were installed.  Needless to say, we loved it so much we signed up as members of the friends (or whatever) of Frank Lloyd Wright that gives us access to discounts and tours at a ranch of buildings he designed through his life, most of which seem to be in states that we aren’t going to visit!

Thursday, after a night at the Dead Horse Ranch (the children of the owner who donated it to the state named it that), we drove up to and through Sedona.  We’d visited once before and really liked it and we wondered after having viewed so many natural beauty spots whether we would still love it.  We weren’t disappointed, the natural red rock of the area combined with the erosion of water and wind over millennia mean that it still stands out as an incredible sight.  Found a mountain, Mount Wilson, and raced to climb it before it got dark.  Guess what?  Another amazing walk through changing landscapes and vegetation up to a high plateau which had snow melt still on it from the winter.

After another late drive, Friday found us in Homolovi State Park which contains the ruins of thousands of Pueblos created between 900-1300 AD.  After breakfast, rather than investigate these ruins, we went to the Petrified Forest National Park.  Very different park, created to stop people stealing the petrified wood, which was created over 225 million years ago when trees were trapped on a sandy river bank and through  #he ages the wood is replaced by minerals.  The petrified wood is multi-coloured and popular with tourists for keepsakes.  The landscape is very different with the Painted Desert that surrounds the wood having a range of colours to reflect the different strata of rock laid down over history.

Saturday morning, we visited Homolovi II, the most extant of the pueblos in the park, quite interesting, more for the insight from the Ranger at the visitor centre that the Hopi tribe, who are descendants of the original pueblo Indians who build the site, provide financial support to the park to keep it open.  Shows that people are more interested in lakes, mountains, trees and killing things than in the history of the country before the arrival of Europeans.

And on that controversial note we’ll end this weeks entry and look forward to telling you next week about Santa Fe, Georgia O’Keefe, the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley!

M