Maeveen Behan Desert Sanctuary, Marana AZ and one violent storm in the evening

It was another day of chores, this time requiring me to drive to Tucson.  I needed to drop off four big bags of aluminum cans and register for a free Yelp Event at a burger joint near Marana, the Blacktop Grill.  I RSVPed for that event several weeks ago, wanting to use that event as an excuse to head up to Tucson. But I had a hard time getting motivated after walking Gretchen for almost three miles at sunrise.  It heated up fast!

I enjoy my time in Tucson, but when it hits triple digits, it's much more unforgiving.  This is too hot for the dogs on burning pavement, so I knew this trip was mostly about the drive.  It's 95 miles one way to the Blacktop Grill.  With gasoline prices slowly dropping again (It was $4.29 at the Speedway off Valencia Road in Tucson), I can make a few trip to the city.  I saw today's drive as a chance to let the dogs cool off in the car for a few hours.  I kept their water bowl filled and had a bowl of Blue Buffalo for them.

I dropped off 37 pounds of aluminum cans on my way to the Grill.  Prices are going back up to  50  cents a pound, but the $18 I got back barely covered the gasoline I paid to drive to the north side of town.  Today, though, was more about staying cool. I got to the Blacktop Grill at 3pm,  then signed in for the  free Yelp Elite meal which I savored outside with the dogs on the patio.  Even the shade couldn't keep us cool.

I'm not a big fan of hot dogs (because I know what goes in them), but my Sonoran hotdog wasn't bad.  I had never had one before.  One hot dog with all the toppings (avacado cream, onions, tomatoes, queso cortija) filled me up for the day.  On a cooler day I would have stayed in the area and explored the neighborhood and walked the dogs for a few miles. 

I wanted to explore some more, but I knew I couldn't have the dogs on the hot ground for long.  The Arthur Pack Regional Park is  just a few miles north of the Black Top Grill and I wanted to check it out.  The Maeveen Behan Desert Sanctuary is part of the park.  (Behan was a local environmental lawyer who rallied to get this part of the desert safeguarded; she died in 2009 at age 48 of cancer).

I parked by the trail head.  Lots of tall saguaros stand here, but there is also ironwood, prickly pear, barrel cacti, creosote and desert grasses.  This would be a lovely place to walk around in the spring  when the flora is in bloom and not when it's 104F.  I turned around at the half-mile mark as I knew it was warm for the dogs.

Gretchen didn't seem to mind the heat. She's turned into quite the desert dog this summer, prancing in this heat without a care, and pulling on the leash whenever she sees jackrabbits.  A yellow zebra-striped lizard darted across the trail a few times, sparking her prey drive.  I don't see yellow zebra-tailed lizards in Hereford.  

Despite the high heat, there were plenty of birds around, surely because the nearby golf course had a water reservoir that was not part of the trail system.  This little Behan sanctuary packs a lot of wildlife!  This is a place I must make an effort to visit later this fall,  when it's cooler and I can enjoy the nature here better.

We only walked for 20 minutes.  This gave both dogs time to pee and exercise a bit before I made it back on the highway for the drive home.

I'm glad I didn't linger any longer in Tucson, even though I was tempted to stay in El Centro until dusk and have a beer somewhere.  Alas, the heat sent me home.  It was 89F in Tucson at 8pm! I arrived back home at 7:20 with eerily beautiful storm clouds moving in from the south.  It was a cool 94F and I wanted to walk the dogs one quick block around before the rain, but the storm beat me to it with just seconds to spare.  The clouds exploded with heavy rain. Both dogs spent the next two hours in the truck while the winds howled, the RV shook, and lightning and thunder blasted all around me.  It was an impressive light show in all directions. 

This was a powerful storm moving in! The rain was coming in sideways into the bedroom!  A flash flood warning came across my phone for the area, valid until 10pm, but the rain stopped shortly after 9pm and the night settled in peacefully.  I'm so glad I was not on any roads during this storm.

I took the dogs on one last loop around the 'hood.  Sweetie only did one block, but Gretchen did the whole square mile with me.  She knows the routine now and does well on leash as long as rabbits or lizards show up.  Sand and debris was across all the streets, but no major damage around my neighbors.  The doggie pool under the RV was overflowing from rain water.

It was a cool night for sleeping.  The wind picked up again at 11pm.