Ted wasn’t feeling his best today because he’s beginning to catch a cold. It’s a mystery how that happened, but that doesn’t keep it from being a fact. His energy level was low, so we opted for easy sightseeing in the Tucson area.
Yesterday, we were at the Desert Museum and saw a little bit of Saguaro National Park West, so today we went to Saguaro National Park East. There is an 8-mile loop drive with lots of turnouts for viewing the desert landscapes. We considered hiking, but Ted didn’t really feel like it and I was tired too, so we chucked the hiking idea. After all, this is our vacation, so we get to do what we want (or don’t want) to do.
After the national park, our next activity of the day (following a lunch break) was a narrated tram ride through Sabino Canyon, northeast of Tuscon. There were beautiful views throughout the canyon and both of us felt it was time well spent.
You can see the two stone railings of a narrow bridge in the lower right center of the photo. It was about six inches wider than the tram, but the driver got both tram cars safely across all eight water crossings on our journey. The rocks at the top of the center mountain are called the Acropolis Ridge because of their shapes.
Saguaro cactus are growing among the red rocks. The tree on the right is a palo verde (green stick) because everything on the tree is green, including the bark.
Another pretty view of the Sabino Canyon.
Ted and me, having fun on our tram tour viewing stop. We’re getting pretty good at selfies, aren’t we? How about those two guys you can see between us at the back of the tram?
We hoped to drive the Catalina Highway along a mountain ridge for some spectacular views, but we ran out of time, so we checked into our hotel and freshened up for dinner. We had a special dinner in Tucson with my cousin, Bob Lorenzen.
Both Bob and we thought he might have visited us once in St. Charles, prior to 1979, but none of us could remember for sure. If not, the last time we’ve seen each other was at Ted’s and my wedding in 1969. My youngest brother (Russ), Bob, and our cousin David were all born within a year, so they hung out together at Ted’s and my wedding. They also signed our wedding guest book as Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Superman. If I had the book with me, I’d scan the page to show you this wedding artifact. It’s been a fun memory for Ted and me over the years. Bob is more mature now and we had a great time together for several hours. As soon as we saw each other, both Bob and I said, “You look just like you used to.” Of course, we look older, but yes, it was easy to recognize each other, even after nearly 50 years.
Can you believe that–even without planning it–we all wore blue shirts?! It was so good to see each other and to catch up on all kinds of extended family news.