Day 9: Tucson: Agua Caliente and Sabino Canyon

Today was a nature day.  We packed water and protein bars and headed east to
Agua Caliente County Park.  T and I remembered the park from our last trip as a beautiful oaisis.  Anything with water is a big attraction out here in the desert.  They are definitely having a drought.  All the riverbeds and washes are dry now.  Evidently the rainy season here is in July and August, described as monsoon season.  There are plenty of signs near the dry wash areas warning not to enter the area if wet.  I guess the rains can get intense.  But this is the dry season.

Agua Caliente is an old ranch that was originally located near the source of two springs, one hot and one cold.  One of the series of owners wanted to increase the flow in the springs and blasted into the rock,  The result is that now the property has one warm spring.  Because of the water, this area was a stopping off point for many humans and animals during the years.  It is now a park with the spring feeding into 3 ponds.

Because of the drought, only one pond had water and the level was quite low.
One of the previous owners planted a number of date palms around the ponds and property.  They are not native because they need too much water, but they seemed to thrive here and were very beautiful reflected in the pools.  Ducks and water birds were active in the shaded areas and we saw some woodpeckers pecking on the tall palms.  Sign of note : " Beware of venomous creaturees."

After taking a hike around the dry and wet ponds, touring the ranch house with a guide, and a little bird watching we headed back west to Sabino Canyon.  R's "golden pass" got us into the parking lot and we bought tram tickets for the ride to the top of the canyon.  There are 9 stops and you can get on or off at each one and take the road or various trails back down.  We trammed to the top with an informative guide/driver.


R has been looking for a Red Cardinal since we left California (they don't have them there.)  Immediately after we got off the tram, we saw one.  And then another.

We walked down to station 2 where R and I sat down to wait for the tram.  T walked on down to the visitor center. We planned to meet there.  In the meantime a tram came by stop 2 going up and informed us that the tram coming down was full (due to a tram breaking down).  He suggested we get on his and go back up, then down.  So we went on the tour for the second time -- it was still interesting.  We tried to call T but had no reception in the canyon. So T became a little concerned as 3 trams emptied and we weren't there.  Finally as we were in the home stretch, my phone rang.  "Where are you?"  I told her we would be there soon.  "I have a Dr. Pepper for you," she said.  And there she was on a bench as we pulled up.  We spent some time in the Visitor Center and Gift Shop and headed home.

We went out to a local restaurant for dinner.  The food was excellent, but we had to wait nearly an hour for our food.  They apologized and offered us a free dessert.  Turned out they meant one free desesrt and not a free dessert for each person inconvenienced.  So after two hours and two deserts we didn't expect to pay for, we left for home.  We did get enough in our takeout boxes for dinner tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are off to the big Convention Gem Show.