Tubac Art Festival

For the last few days we've been in Tucson while Kate & the ladies

took full advantage of the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show.

In Tucson we've hooked back up with Jim & Kristi,

Stan & Marilyn, plus we've also been joined by Kristi's sister Cath

and her friend Jen who owns a travel trailer and has been getting her feet wet

putting some miles on.

Our timing at the RV park, this year like the last, coincided with an Airstream Rally.

For those of you who might not know - an Airstream Trailer is one of those

shiny metal tow behinds that have been made in basically the same shape for

over 60 years.

We saw this 56 GMC pulling a 56 baby Airstream.

What is interested to us is that we've seen this same rig here last year but even

better is that we also saw it two years ago in West Yellowstone Montana

around July 4th.  Its photo is in the blog then also.

On the way down to Tucson from Casa Grande

(where we made the switch to the Dog House)

We saw this extremely overloaded pick up moving their household contents.

It reminded us of the Clampetts heading to Beverly.

Arriving in Tucson

Meanwhile  back to the Gem Show...

Jim and I went yesterday afternoon for an hour or so which gave me

all the time I needed to select more rocks for polishing and turning into jewelry.

They were boxed up and are on the way home.

With that mission accomplished it was time to start thinking about our impending

journey east and when we should hit the road.

Only 30 miles south of Tucson lies the sleepy little village of Tubac.
Tubac is a well know artist colony and the town reflects this.

From what I've heard I've always been intrigued and have wanted to visit for

some time now, so we decided to head south for one day before we turn the

truck east for the 2500 mile run.

What I did not know when we decided to go to Tubac was that our visit

coincided with the Tubac Art Festival - one of the premier festivals in the Southwest.

Timing is everything!

Today at the art festival

Kate, Marilyn, Kristi, Cath, and Jen

The types of art ran the spectrum.

There was pottery, paintings, jewelry, sculpture...

And a new type (for me) called Kinetic Sculpture.

It has to be seen in action to get the idea,
 but in person it is even more incredible.

The Doodles were a big hit all day everywhere we walked.
Here Lucy is dying to get the toy off of Stans Hat.

The Three Amigos

We moved the DH down to Tubac and are spending the night here.

The rest of the gang were heading back to Tucson to finish up the week

before heading down to Mexico with the RV's to spend a month on the beach.

Tomorrow we'll take a two-lane highway east where we'll hook up with I-10.

The girls posed for one last photo.

Finally I did one last self portrait and then it was time to say good-bye.

Good bye friends…

Safe travels…

See ya down the road

The big Switcheroo

Currently (Sunday) we are back in Casa Grande, Az.

By the time I get this posted we will probably be in Tucson.

Thursday our group started to shrink with the departure of Ron & Maxine.

Friday morning we had another nice sunrise.

Then later Friday morning it was Stan & Marilyn (not pictured)

and Jim & Kristi hitting the road

Our final sunrise at Imperial Dam

Followed later Saturday morning by Johns departure.

Then Curtis & Stephanie

Finally Chuck and Judy & Kate and I complete the departure.

Our little parking area returns to its peaceful norm.

Kate & I drove 2 1/2 hrs to Casa Grande where the Dog House is in storage.

Last night we had a fantastic sunset.

Unfortunately our location in the RV Park prevented getting a real scenic shot,

but you can still get a taste of how it was.

Today we retrieved the DH and parked it in a site next to us so that we could

start moving contents from the Monty.

This evening we watched the not so Super Bowl.

Today I'm ashamed to say I'm a Broncos fan.

Tomorrow I'll feel better and start looking forward to next season.

We will drop off the Monty at the storage yard, load the DH onto the truck again

and head 1 1/2hrs south to Tucson where we will hook up again with

Jim, Kristi, Stan, & Marilyn for a few days.

The gem show is in full swing so I will do some rock shopping.

Ok - its now Monday night and we are in Tucson at the LazyDays RV park

The Monty / DH switcheroo went off without a hitch.

Jim n Kristi and Stan n Marilyn are here.  We just had happy hour and I'm now back in

the Dog House getting ready for our first night of "reduced luxury"

Actually the bed in the dog house is much more comfortable and my

back is bothering me so tonights sleep should be restful.

It is cool in Tucson tonight - currently low 50's and a light rain is falling.

You can really smell the soil here when it rains.

It seems that the rain really brings the the scents of the desert to life.

A wonderful mix of scents that is hard for me to describe.

So between the light sprinkles on the roof, the cool temps, and the wonderful

desert scents…  should be a great night for sleeping.

Tomorrow I go in search of rocks.