A day in Tucson

I didn't awake until 7:40am. Kevin was long at work. He will not wake me up if I'm sound asleep, and he knew I was off today. I didn't get much sleep the night before, always waking up to the sound of Sadie's whine. My original plan was to get up with Kevin, have coffee, and by 9am get ready, pack the van up and take off no later than 10am to meet Lynda in Tucson. Her Vanagon was still laid up at the European Auto Works on the north side. We had plans on meeting at noon and waiting to see if the van would be ready today. It had been in the shop since Tuesday afternoon.

I took Sadie and Zeke this time, leaving a crestfallen Minnie back at the house. Minnie would enjoy the mini roadtrip, but she is unpredictable around smaller dogs and can bark a lot. Both Sadie and Zeke have proven themselves to behave well around other dogs. (Sadie is more aloof, but at least she avoids confrontations with other dogs unless nose-to-nose with them on a hiking trail.)

Both dogs did well on the 100-mile drive to the Motel6 off Ina Road where Lynda was staying. It took me two hours driving, as I stopped south of Benson on SR90 to let the dogs walk for 15 minutes. Our usual rest stop is across SR90 from the Kartchner State Park, where the dogs can poop and pee on a dirt trail, and where even I will sneak a pee under the shade of a palo verde.

Traffic was decent for a workday. I got to Motel6 at 12:40pm, with 20 minutes to spare before Lynda had to check out. She was already waiting by her open first-floor window. She brought her two dogs Gracie and Buster. Sadie met Gracie when I road tripped across Oregon in 2014. The dogs all got along right away. There was no barking, no snarling. Only Zeke seemed a little nervous around little Buster.

For the afternoon we drove around Tucson with four dogs and a full-packed back area. Gracie,Sadie and Zeke sat close to each other in the back of the van. Buster sat up front on Lynda's lap. It was in the 70s and dry. We had a late lunch at Inn-and-Out, walked briefly along the Rillito River Wash, returned to the autoshop at 4pm as the van was ready, and from there decided to spend the night in town, at the Agave Gulch FamCamp (RV Park) on Davis-Monthan AFB. I've been here twice before when visiting Tuscon for the annual book festival in March, but would Lynda be allowed to come stay with me, since she is not military-connected?

Getting a pass for Lynda was quite easy and we were on base within 20 minutes. We didn't have to wait at all. We drove straight to the Agave Gulch FamCamp (RV Park), claimed site P-28 next to the Phantom Court Overflow parking, let the dogs in the dogpark (I took Zeke and Sadie on a separate walk as Sadie gets nervous around unfamiliar dogs), and then opted to have dinner in town, just as the fire red glow of the Catalina Mountains breathed its last colors for the day.

I suggested my favorite Italian place, Oregano's on Speedway, but Oregano's was packed with a 30-minute wait. That was too long with the dogs waiting in the van. We had gourmet pizza at the Serial Grillers on Speedway instead, two blocks east of Oregano's. Pizza was quite good! I had a vegetarian pizza with onions, spinach, tomatoes and feta cheese. Lynda ordered a Mr Brooks with various meats. The place isn't very big and the air was stuffy, but we both enjoyed a decent meal. A size small pizza would have been enough for both of us. Instead, we took the leftovers with us. We just had to keep the food away from the dogs, as both of Lynda's dogs are very food-driven.

It was dark as we got back to the RV park. We parked next to each other. While Lynda got herself ready in her Vanagon, I took the dogs on a dark but quiet walk along the dog path, a dirt road/maintenance road that went along the outside of a family housing area off Mustang Drive, making this a 3.79-mile flat walk on a pleasant winter evening. I cheated and even let the dogs off leash for two miles, along the darkest sections away from the homes.

Weather is expected to start storming tomorrow evening. We are still unsure of where we should go. Lynda's destination eventually is Austin, 905 miles to the east, but we may either make Silver City, NM or the Chiricahuas are destination for tomorrow.