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You can click here for - Part One
Thanksgiving!
In November 1621, after their first successful corn harvest, the Pilgrims of Plymouth celebrated with a feast of thanksgiving, the beginnings of our annual Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. I'm surprised there was not much mention of this year being the 400th anniversary. Edward Doty was in attendance at the first Thanksgiving. Born on May 14, 1598 in England, he came to the New World abroad the Mayflower. He was listed as a servant to his uncle Stephen Hopkins. Here's a short biography on Doty - Edward Doty. I mention Edward Doty because he is my 9x great grandfather. Thanksgiving is kind of special to me.
We arrived at my cousin Keith & Kathleen's wonderful home in Green Valley Wednesday afternoon. It was very kind of them to want to share Thanksgiving with us. Besides the bouquet of flowers, Julie also brought along her sourdough starter and buttermilk. There is nothing like fresh baked cinnamon rolls!
We had a great time with Keith and Kathleen. We thank them for their generosity and warmth. The dinner and company was grand!
We enjoy accompanying Keith on outdoor adventures. On Friday we hiked in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge near Arivaca.
We walked the riparian area along Arivaca Creek.
We explored the ruins of an old adobe homestead.
We returned down to the creek.
On Saturday we hiked with Keith in Madera Canyon just to the south of Green Valley.
We said our goodbyes Sunday morning and finished off our stay with a family photo at Kathleen's kind suggestion.
What was next for us? More cousins!
My cousin Sherry and her husband Thom live in Oracle, about an hour and a half drive north from Green Valley. Both sets of cousins relocated to southern Arizona around three years ago.
We also had a wonderful time with Sherry and Thom, and are deeply thankful for their gracious and warm welcome.
They live just off of North Mt. Lemmon road, a dirt road up the north ridge of Mt. Lemmon. The last four miles of this road is closed during winter. It turns out they had not yet driven the main - two lane paved - road from Tucson to Mt. Lemmon. That made for a great outing on Monday!
The lower southern flanks of the Santa Catalina Mountains (Mt. Lemmon is the high point) have magnificent saguaro.
The are several vista points along the road. It was great fun to stop and take in the views as the road climbed.
Thom and Sherry look south and down on the vast spread of Tucson. See mores are a must.
Saguaros gave way to juniper as the cliffs continued to rise. We really enjoyed this outing.
Many of the hoodoos looked like
cartoon characters. Julie asks, "Hoodoo that look like?"
At one stop the Lady climbed out to the high spot. She just had to.
Thom and Sherry took in the views from a lower perch.
Julie bought us cookies and hot chocolate at a small shop in Summerhaven, the small village near the top. Each couple shared a massive $7.00 cookie as we sat outside in the beautiful air. Drive to Summerhaven and have a cookie. Add that to your "to do" list.
We took the spur road to the small ski area and took in the view to the north, down toward Oracle.
Most of the northern Santa Catalina Mountains were burned in last year's Bighorn Fire - another on our long list of wildland fires.
We spent Saturday exploring up North Mt. Lemmon Road from their property on "buggies." Our first excursion was up to the top of Peppersause Canyon. They know this area well as they ride their horses throughout it. The road was greatly impacted by last season's monsoons and is very rough. The girls led the way.
We enjoyed the views east down across the vast San Pedro Valley. See mores were put to use again.
I got the group to pose for a photo.
The sky was glorious.
Back down on Mt. Lemmon Road, we headed south. Although not as dramatic as the southern slopes of Mt. Lemmon, the north side has its own character. And, it is always fun when geology pokes its head out.
We were properly dressed and woke masks for the dust.
We came upon a group of geldings from the Goff Ranch. They were strong, well cared for horses. I stepped out of the buggy for taking photos and Star immediately strolled over to say hello and get some attention.
Our stay with Thom and Sherry was wonderful. Thank you two so much!
Wednesday morning arrived and it was time to turn back toward home. We stocked up with food and supplies at a large market in Casa Grande. Mid afternoon we were set up in a campsite with a view in the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge.
This can be a busy place for dispersed camping and we were pleased to find a spot a good distance away from others.
Arizona evening light has a character of its own. We soaked in the grandeur and beautiful light and color.
Deep restful sleep came easy. The morning's beginnings were also excellent.
Our objective for this day was to return to the Mojave National Preserve and get camp set up to further explore that fantastic archeology site mentioned in Part One.
The adventure continues, please click here for - Part Three.
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