Arizona 2

Thursday, April 26, 2007
Moving day. We enjoyed our four days in Benson at Pato Blanca. Very reasonable price with good amenities. Only drawback was being close to I10 and the rail. We are two hours south near Patagonia, NM in a AZ state CG. The sites are OK, but the baths are just OK and the price is $22. The attraction is a lake, one of the few in the south end of the state. Most of the sites are taken for the weekend. There is supposed to be good birding here. There were dozens of birders coming back from a walk when we arrived.

The plan for here is to veg and paddle the boats.

Friday, April 27, 2007
We paddled around the lake for an hour or so. Not having sense enough to have put on SPF, we decided to come in. Decent lake, cool water.

After lunch and a nap we drove to Nogales and crossed over. This is an old border town and a major crossing point. Not many restaurants, but scores of street hawkers. It seemed to us that more were crossing north to shop than the other way around.

I forgot to mention we heard a 18-string guitar at Pato Blanca. He said he was world’s best, as it was a one of a kind. Great bass sound and wonderful harmonics.

Saturday, April 28, 2007
We went birding the morning. Lots of small yellow and red birds - Finches and Summer Tatingers. After lunch we drove up to Patagonia to find wi-fi, ice cream and hummingbirds. We found the first two, then a thunderstorm came through and we went back to the CG. We should have hung around as it cleared up quickly.

Sunday, April 29, 2007
Moving day. We drove two hours north to Catalina SP that is just north of Tucson in the shadow of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The elevation is only 2,100 and the area has been warming for the last week, so it just below hot. We are glad to be able to run the A/C. It would be not fun without it.

There are several malls with all the big box stores within five miles of the CG.

As usual on moving days, we don’t do much. Getting groceries is enough to do. At dusk, we will explore a trail and take some pictures of the cactus. The big ones you see in the movies. It has taken me a month, but this is the cactus trip. We have been eyeballing them since Big Bend. After we see the Shuaraw catus here, we are going to stop at Joshua Tree in CA. We have seen farms of them elsewhere, but we will not pass up a NP, especially one that is on the way.