Circling the U.S. Chapter 64:Tucson for Christmas

Looking down over Tucson from about five miles up Mt. Lemmon.

If the spectacular coastline of Oregon was a surprise for Rob, my biggest surprise of this trip so far is Tucson. I had no idea what to expect and certainly had no idea of the stunning beauty of the mountains that surround the city, the incredible bicycle path that circles it, and the friendly, athletic people who live in it. Even without an ocean, I think Tucson has landed on Rob's short list of places to consider as a low-altitude retirement home.

Tuesday, December 24 - Sunday, December 29, 2019

Our ride into Tucson on Christmas Eve included a stop at REI to pick up a new tent, fuel, and new headlamps. Then we had a beautiful ride on "The Loop," a 56-mile bike path tht circles the city, running alongside a mostly dry riverbed. Given the wind and occasional rain, we pretty much had it to ourselves.

The bridges all had mosaics on one end of them but this had one the full length.

Chuck met us on "The Loop" even though it was cold and windy and rain threatened. We were grateful when we followed him through parking lots and alleys on a shortcut to his house that we would never have found on our own.

Just as our timing into San Diego for Thanksgiving coincided with a big storm, our timing into Tucson came with wintry weather om the forecast. Snow in the mountains gave us a bit of a white Christmas that we never expected. We were happy that we only had to ride 20 miles to Chuck and Cheryl's house.

We couldn't have asked for nicer people to spend the Christmas holiday with. Cheryl had hot soup waiting for us. She would have joined us in the athletic endeavors during our stay but for her recent hip replacement surgery.

Christmas was low-key, perfect in its own way. In the morning Chuck took us to Sabina Canyon for a short hike. In the afternoon two other couples came to play cards, eat hors d'oeuvres, soup, and desserts, and enjoy each others' company. Cheryl served a chicken tortilla soup and minestrone.

Cheryl and Chuck are both retired. Cheryl, ingenuitive and creative, has flipped a few houses and outfitted a van with all sorts of comforts for camping. She has recently taken up quilting and makes and sells yoga mat bags and jewelry. Chuck has created a gorgeous cactus garden. He gave us a tour before we went for our hike Christmas morning. Many of his plants are not indigenous to Tucson but come from Mexico.

The following pictures come from our hike in Sabina Canyon. The weather was very changeable, snowing in the mountains.

Chuck may have been pointing out a picnic spot where he and Cheryl got married.

Thursday, December 26, Chuck took us on a bike ride six miles up Mt. Lemmon. At the bottom we rode past a blockade. The road to the summit was closed to all but 4-wheel drive vehicles or those with chains because of ice and snow. Snow in Tucson? We hadn't expected that.

After a lunch of more of Cheryl's delicious soup we said our good-byes and headed closer to downtown Tucson, where we had another Warm Showers home to stay.

Again, our route took us on The Loop around Tucson.

Steve and Heidi were incredibly welcoming. We were only planning to stay two nights with them, but at their insistence we made it three.

With rain in the forecast on Friday, December 27, Rob wanted to take a walking tour of Tucson. We hunted down many of the murals scattered around the city, walking about ten miles.

We took note of some Arizona-style Christmas decorations.

Saturday, December 28, we bicycled around downtown Tucson to try to see some of the sights we didn't get to on foot the day before.

The Bike Church is made up of nothing but bicycle parts.

We visited the Presidio, a recreation of the Spanish fortress built in the late 1700s. But it was cold and windy, so we didn't last long. 

If we expected Tucson to be warm and sunny at the end of December we would have been disappointed. Fortunately for us, we had no such expectations. Sunday morning, December 29, Steve greeted us with, "The coldest day of the year, 29 degrees, and you guys nailed it."

We bundled up, met their friends Linda and Steve, and bicycled a few miles to Frank's for breakfast.

"Frank's: Elegant Dining Elsewhere"

The cold weather didn't stop these intrepid retirees (and one almost-retiree) from bicycling to breakfast and for a longer ride afterwards. Left to right: Heidi, Rob, Steve, Steve, and Linda.

After breakfast, our new Tucson friends accompanied us almost to yet another Warm Showers host, where we planned to drop off our gear before riding to the eastern half of Saguaro National Park.

Christine and Steve live five miles from the national park. We were only going to drop off our gear and visit later, but they invited us for lunch. How could we refuse?

While in Tucson we stayed with three different couples, all our age and older, all active cyclists and extraordinarily interesting people. We absolutely have to return to make sure we continue these new friendships.

Our ride to the national park included views of the snow-capped mountains. Tucson is surrounded by four different mountain ranges.

Following are pictures from the eight-mile loop through Saguaro National Park. The day had warmed up nicely so it turned out to be a beautiful fun ride, the perfect ending to our stay in this magical city.

Christine gave us two clear warnings before we left for the park. One, make sure and stop at any stop signs or we might get a ticket. Two, go very slow on the first downhill. There's a sharp curve at the bottom and if you go too fast you'll crash into the cactus.