Tucson is such a beautiful place – a desert city surrounded by mountains that erupt to thousands of feet above the desert floor.  What you miss in photographs is the fact that in almost any direction you turn your head, you are exposed to deep blue skies, gorgeous desert views, and staggeringly beautiful mountains.

Tucson is far from the bustle of Phoenix – it seems like a very bike-friendly town – well marked bike lanes, lots of trails, and kind of a cool vibe.  There are many public parks and open common space, although I would also point out there is a large homeless population.  And like any city I am sure it has its share of issues.  It was of interest, though, that the city recognizes the homeless situation and in public signage encourages people to help support homeless families.  Not a simple problem, no simple solutions.

If by chance you are coming to Gilbert Ray Campground and you are towing a trailer or driving an RV, and your GPS suggests taking Gates Pass Road (or Pictured Rocks Road) to get to the campground, don’t do it.  Don’t ask us how we know this.  At a point it is a steep, windy, hairpin type kind of road with no guardrails.

Gilbert Ray Campground was great – very quiet, beautiful views, and located in the Pima County Tucson Mountain Park – just on the edge of the Saguaro National Park.  There is electricity at the sites, water spigots scattered, and a common dumping area.  This is about as low key a campground as you will find – very nice, and with quite beautiful surroundings.

In exploring Tucson, Karen read that Linda Ronstadt spends a fair bit of time in Tucson. Over the years I have had brief romances with Linda Ronstadt, Gloria Estafan, Jodi Foster and Jessica Lange, so Karen tries to improve my self-esteem by coordinating events that reflect on my old flames.  A couple of Linda’s favorite places were listed, which included the Mission San Xavier del Bac, Barrio Bread, and El Minuto Café.  We said, good enough for Linda, good enough for us.  After some iffy reviews, we passed on El Minuto Cafe, but headed straight for the Mission San Xavier del Bac.

The mission, located in Tucson but south of the city, was founded by the Jesuits in 1692, and the current church was built starting in 1783.  While the church and grounds are open to the public, it remains an active parish for the Tohono O’odham.  The detail and quality of work within the church is amazing.

Staying on the Linda Ronstadt theme, we visited Barrio Bread to buy some artisan bread.  They are open until 1 pm most days, but when they run out of bread they close, which is what we found on our first attempt.  On our second attempt we went about 10am, and dutifully got in line with everyone else who was seeking their breads.  Let me just say – fabulous.  There is a reason they run out of bread.  Delicious.

Located south of Tucson in Green Valley is the Titan Missile Museum.  Now this is pretty darn interesting, and lots to learn about the whole program, its history, and its mission of providing deterrence to aggressors who might wish harm to the US during the Cold War.  The Titan Missile program was curtailed beginning in 1982 with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.  There was a total of 53 Titan silos located across the US, with 17 located in the Tucson area.  Definitely worth the drive for a little taste of recent history.

One of our major goals on this trip was to explore new and interesting bike trails.  We spent one day riding an 8-mile loop road in the Saguaro National Park east of the city in the Rincon Mountain District; our biking distance was almost 12.5 miles with side excursions.  The paved road serves both cars (lightly used) and bikes, is one-way, and so far, has been the most beautiful bike trail we have found – ever.  The pictures here won’t do justice, but this is drop-dead beautiful as a ride.  This is not, though, a rail-trail, so it is far from flat (we show about a 900-foot elevation gain, and it took us about 2 hours all in with frequent photo and water breaks).  But if you are in good biking health or have an e-bike, this is a “must ride” trail.

Additionally, we biked on a segment of the Chuck Huckelberry Loop, which is a 54.4 mile in-town paved bike loop that for a good distance runs beside a “riverbed”.  Our ride took us just under 17 miles, starting at the Rillito Park and headed southeast, where we got to as far as we wanted and returned.  It wasn’t nearly as pretty a ride as the one in the Saguaro National Park, but it was in great shape, well used by other bikers and walkers, relatively flat (230-foot elevation gain) and generally was a very nice ride in just the nicest 70-degree weather.

If you have not visited any part of the Saguaro National Park, you are missing something special.  Like a good tourist, we visited the visitor center on the western side of town – just great.  The native people (Tohono O’odham) consider the saguaros like people, ancestors, and in fact when you look through a forest of saguaros that is exactly the impression one gets.  Their view of the world and the respect they have for the saguaros (and all plants and animals) is refreshing.  We could all learn.

This northern end of the Sonoran Desert is relatively young – estimated at about 10,000 years.  Most of the saguaros are in Mexico, but there are areas like southwest Arizona and southern California (Organ Pipe, Borrego Springs) where they are found.  Saguaros can live to be 150 years old, and you may see new growth for one of the arms at about 75 years.  So, as if you weren’t already sick of all our saguaros pictures, here are a few more.

And not to let culinary experiences be left behind, we visited Mi Nidito, a fabulous Mexican restaurant in town that has been around 72 years.  Apparently, we are not the first to visit: there have been visits from Linda Ronstadt (ahem), Bill Clinton, Willie Nelson, Julio Iglesias, Billy Gibbons and many others.  I half expected Dean Martin to stagger in.  This is a Mexican restaurant we would return to in a heartbeat.

Without hesitation, we will be back to Gilbert Ray Campground some time in our future!