(Saturday, 9/24-Saturday, 10/1/16) – We embarked on our fall adventure on an evening flight from Saint Cloud, MN to Mesa, AZ. The flight was good, and after getting our luggage and a rental car, we arrived at our hotel room in Mesa at 1:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. Minnesota time).
Sunday morning we drove from the Phoenix-Mesa area to Tucson for a scenic narrated tour of Sabina Canyon. Sabina Canyon is part of Tucson’s Coronado National Forest located in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. We took a tram for about 4 miles through the canyon that offered spectacular views of scenic desert landscapes. We also viewed a roadrunner up close in the parking lot area (beep-beep).
After our tour of the Sabino Canyon we traveled to our week long destination, the Wyndham Rancho Vistoso Resort located in Oro Valley, AZ. We then headed to dinner at La Hacienda, a nearby Mexican restaurant that was recommended to us when we checked in at the resort. The food was delicious, and we enjoyed sitting and planning some of the fun things that we’ll be doing the rest of the week.
Monday we visited the San Xavier Mission located SW of Tucson. The San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission in 1692, and the building we toured started construction in 1783 and was completed in 1797. We also visited a shop on the mission grounds which is located in the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. The Tohono O’odham are the indigenous people of the region and many of them became catholics because of the mission.
We traveled “back to the ranch” in Oro Valley and spent the rest of the day by and in the pool, followed by the hot tub and relaxed the rest of the evening. What a wonderful day!
Tuesday we had a full day of adventure, visiting the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which is a combined zoo, botanical gardens and museum. It is the number one rated attraction in Tucson and we agree wholeheartedly. We thoroughly enjoyed the animal exhibits, the many amazing desert plants and vistas, and Virgil even touched a stingray, in a special stingray exhibit! We followed up the Desert Museum fun with a driving tour to Gates Pass, which is a mountain pass built through the Tucson Mountains that offers scenic overlooks of the desert landscape scattered with many saguaro cacti. Following a full day of adventure the evening called for some time in the pool and hot tub, where we were able to view a roadrunner up close. We can see why many people retire to Arizona, as it is wonderful here.
Wednesday we had a relaxing pool day, as we meandered to the pool area and did some reading, swimming, drying off in the sunshine, and repeated. Later we enjoyed a delicious meal – the best authentic Mexican food we’ve ever tasted- at the El Charro restaurant in Oro Valley. El Charro is the oldest family-owned Mexican restaurant in the country – having opened in 1922.
Thursday we enjoyed a second consecutive pool day, and it was delicious! We camped at a table by the pool and delighted in reading, swimming, letting the sun dry us off, and repeating. We capped off the evening with some tasty Italian food and planned out our Friday.
Friday, we checked out of the condo and headed to the Phoenix metro area, where we went on a narrated boat tour on Saguaro Lake. It was in the mid-90’s and sunny – a perfect day to be on a lake. We learned that in Arizona there are a total of 81 lakes and 79 of them are man-made. Saguaro Lake was man-made, as a dam was built on the Salt River in 1930, creating the 10-mile-long lake. We enjoyed the desert scenery from the tour boat and took in some spectacular scenery and views.
We had a fantastic adventure to the Tucson area of Arizona – so blessed!