Judy. We’ve been taking our 15-year-old grandson Parker traveling
with us every other year since he was six years old. It has been eye opening
for all three of us, and Ted and I love seeing the world through his eyes. So
when five-year-old Cade began talking about his desire to see the Sonora Desert
in Arizona, taking him there was a no-brainer.
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| Blooming cactus |
To be honest,
Cade’s interest stemmed from a YouTube video Ted showed him last year about
jumping cholla, a cactus that, if you brush against it, even slightly, sticks
to you. He was convinced that the plant could see you coming and send chunks of
spiny cactus into you, and he really wanted to see that.
To say that he was
excited is an understatement. The boy was obsessed, and so were we about taking
him. We flew from London to Atlanta on a Monday, spent the night at an airport
hotel, and the next day Leslie met us at the airport with Cade and his
suitcase.
We arrived in
Tucson at night, and Cade, who had slept most of the way, was ready. As we
stepped outside the airport, he spotted several cacti lining the sidewalk and
immediately began naming them. He was very clear we should avoid the jumping
cholla.
Some background
here: We lived in Tucson, Arizona, for a
couple of years in the early eighties. We truly loved the city, and were both
working in jobs we enjoyed. The kids quickly learned about living in the
desert, making sure to kick a rock before picking it up (to avoid scorpions),
and when to get back into the house to avoid midday sun or sudden lightning strikes.
We left to be near my family in the south, but were sure we’d return. This trip
was a bit for us as well, even though Cade’s dreams were high priority this
time.
Time zones and jet
lag woke us each morning about five—just as well, since temps were already in
the nineties in April!
On our first
morning, after an hour or so of exploring the desert behind our hotel, we
rented a car and drove to the Sonora Desert Museum, a great orientation to the
life present here. If you EVER come near Tucson, it is a must. Our kids loved
it in the eighties and it’s even better now. Well-trained docents are
everywhere, some holding
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| Blooming palo verde |
birds or snakes and talking about them, others poised
near exhibits to explain desert plants and survival. There are animals from
bobcats to river otters to stingrays, as the Sonora Desert encompasses a vast
territory in southern Arizona, Baja California, and well into Mexico. Cacti,
succulents, and desert trees have their own exhibits. You can
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| Boy and blooms |
stay on close
trails that lead to exhibits, or take a longer trail through a small portion of
the desert. However much you do, you’ll know and respect more about the desert
than you did when you arrived.
Next stop was Aqui Con el Nene (Here With the Baby), a
funky and delicious restaurant on the south side of town, known for their
Sonora hot dog. Seems that Tucson has been named a UNESCO World City of
Gastronomy (first in the country) and one of the recognized foods is the Sonora
hot dog, a hot dog wrapped in bacon, on a bolillo
with beans, tomatoes, melted cheese, and who knows what else. Not a thing
that’s good for you, but absolutely delicious. Ted ate two. Cade stuck with
cheese quesadillas.
After all that, it
was time for the pool and a nap. And that was the end of day one.
The second day we
left early for the Saguaro National Park, and were able to get in a short walk
around a “discovery trail” and a very brief hike up the Hugh Norris Trail,
where Cade experimented with jumping cholla (no 5-year-olds OR cacti were hurt
in this experiment), we explored rocks and saguaro, and I spotted a scorpion.
We also
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| Beautiful desert lizard |
heard absolutely beautiful bird songs as well as the buzzing of
thousands of bees in the blooms of the desert. It’s a true gift to be here in
the spring when the cacti and trees are blooming. Saguaro blossoms are only
open for 24 hours, during which time birds and bats feed on the blossoms and
digest the seeds. There are few places as lovely as a desert in the spring.
On the way back,
we stopped by my favorite place in Tucson, the Mission of San Xavier de Bac,
known as the “White Dove of the Desert”. This mission was built for the Todono
O’odham tribe in 1783, and is the oldest structure still standing in
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| San Xavier |
Arizona.
The beautiful Moorish-style building can be seen from miles away, and truly
sits like a white bird in the brown desert. The interior is a fascinating
combination of styles, and the statue of Mary is dressed in clothing
reminiscent of the Todono O’odham styles, embroidered with the “Man in the
Maze” symbol. This deeply spiritual Native American symbol, known world wide,
was first discovered here.
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| Todono O'odham Virgin |
In the plaza in
front of the church are food stalls and a more permanent crafts market. No
visit would be complete without Indian Fry Bread. Cade was not sure at all
about that, but we ordered one with honey and one with powdered sugar. One
bite. That’s all it took. He announced, “You didn’t tell me it had powdered
sugar,” as he devoured his.
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| Fry bread |
Back at the hotel,
we took in an Arizona sunset. There is nothing in the world like it. The sky
turns the most amazing vivid colors, then settles into a pink and lavender
afterglow. We laughed at the Arizona flag when we first moved here
thirty-some-odd years ago, till we saw our first sunset. Now it’s absolutely my
favorite state flag.
On our final day,
we rose early again, and headed to Sabino Canyon, a lush cut through the desert
in the Coronado National Forest. At 8:30 AM, it was already hot, so we chose to
ride the tram up the canyon and stop at one of the pools of water to play. When
we arrived, there was no one else there, so Cade chased fish and we clambered
over the rocks to find the hidden
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| Sabino Canyon |
waterfall. This time of year there’s not much
water in the canyon, just the leftover runoff from the snowmelt, but after the
monsoon season, there will be a rushing river there. As the crowds arrived, we
decided we were ready to move on and left for lunch.
Trip Advisor calls
Baja Café the number one restaurant in Tucson. There are several of them now,
all located in funky locations in strip malls. The one we visited was between a
carpet store and a barbershop. It specializes in breakfast foods, especially
the “benedicts”. My favorite on the menu is the “Welcome Home Benedict”, a huge
breakfast that’s $15.99, unless you’re a returning soldier, in which case, it’s
free. I had the “Wyatt Earp” with a corn
cake base, pulled pork and bacon, and a guacamole-type sauce over the poached
eggs. Tasty, and too
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| Wyatt Earp |
much. Ted had the “Anomaly 2.0”, whose base was a mac ‘n’
cheese waffle, with brisket and pulled pork, plus eggs. Cade stuck with the
chocolate chip pancake, eggs and bacon. Because it’s our first visit, we were
given a snickerdoodle pancake. As Cade said, “Oh, snap!”
One more spot
remained to visit: Mt. Lemmon. When we
lived here years ago, Mt. Lemmon was our respite in the summer during monsoon
season, when the heat was all but unbearable. At over 9,000 feet, it’s an oasis
of pine trees and cool air, and the ride up affords views of hoodoos, rock
formations, distant
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| Mountains and desert floor |
mountains, and the desert floor. Once we arrived, Cade led
us on a chase for adventures over dead trees, rocks and slippery pine
straw. No surprise that he slept on the way home.
Mission
accomplished. We returned to an area we really enjoyed, and Cade learned to
love the Sonora Desert even more after he experienced it. On the day we went to Saguaro
National Park, he said, “Guys, this is the best day!” He also announced he's moving here when he's ten.
They say you can’t
go home again. In our drive past our old house and Ted’s plant, not much was
recognizable. It all looked great, but different. Then again, it’s been a long
time, and it is exciting to see this city, which we loved so much, grow,
expand, and be recognized for its contribution to our country. No, it’s not the
same, but it’s truly wonderful.
