Tucson Vacation – Day One

Our first full day in Tucson began with a lovely breakfast outside on the patio. The sun is already nice and warm. We were given the recommendation to hike Pima Canyon from Mike Richards’ brother and it turned out to be a great one. Just a short drive from the house we reached the trail head in what appeared to be a residential area. My mom’s place is in the Catalina Foothills, which is a really pretty part of Tucson. We started out on our hike and immediately felt that we were no longer in Seattle. With temperatures reaching the low 90’s that day, we were friggin hot! So, off we went.

It didn’t take long before we were rewarded with substantial views of greater Tucson at our backs. Once rounding a bend, we lost sight on the city and were in this fabulous forest of Saguaro Cacti. It was so hot. We stayed strong and made it in 3 plus miles. Both kids were such troopers.
There was no loop or specific destination here. We could have gone on and on. We learned from returning hikers that the damn was dry and therefore there was no water. We stopped for Jolly Ranchers at a popular hiker stop and then made our way down.
We decided to run back (as we often do on our hikes) and it was so hot that I thought I was going to pass out. Turns out that when you run down a mountain and it is 90 degrees outside, you get over heated.

Okay, so a great start to our vacation. Lindsay’s and my favorite part of the hike were the giant Saguaro forest. Scott’s favorite was the view of Tucson. Jackson’s favorite, had to be the sprint back to the car! He was done with that heat. As promised by the internet, the canyon was truly beautiful and the cotton wood groves deep in the Pima Canyon were stunning and a welcome respite from the intense sun.

Now that we were back in La Paloma it was time to go to the pool! We spent the afternoon horizontal in a pool lounge chair. Linz, Scott & I read books while Jackson splashed in the pool. Scott and I drank cold beer. What a fabulous pool and it is located right across the street from my mom’s place. Dinner was barbeque ribs, baked beans, melon, and corn bread. It was all a perfect end to a perfect day.