Trunk or Treat

We joined about 40 other St Andrews people and hosted a Halloween "Trunk or Treat" in the church parking lot. We did a "Wheel of Fortune" theme, had the older kids guess the missing letters, then they could spin to determine which of three bins they could pick a candy. The little ones went straight to the candy. It was a fun night. Maybe 250 kids showed up.

My costume was as a pumpkin. Will was the farmer that grows pumpkins. He had a farmers coverall on but it was too hot, so his costume was his hat!

Catalina Sunset

One of those "nothing special" Saturdays, not much out of the ordinary. Come late afternoon we decided on the spur to pick up a Subway sandwich and drive out to Catalina State Park for a short hike and picnic supper. Sun was going down and turned the mountains a glowing pink. Nice ending of the day.

One of those "nothing special" Saturdays, not much out of the ordinary. Come late afternoon we decided on the spur to pick up a Subway sandwich and drive out to Catalina State Park for a short hike and picnic supper. Sun was going down and turned the mountains a glowing pink. Nice ending of the day.

We were out with the mobile shower unit today at a huge event called Tucson Homeless Connect! There were so many agencies giving help and hope to those who are homeless. It took place in Santa Rita Park in Tucson and was a welcome event for so many who are looking for resources and don't know where to turn. Not only people who live on the street, plenty of people falling through the cracks that could use some help up.

That's the mobile shower

All us volunteers. . .

Kevin, Tom and Will. We were all set up to begin at 9am and the water heaters would not kick in. These guys set to work to figure out the problem. An hour later it was working but they were still scratching their heads to figure out what actually fixed it.

Faith that Works!!

Looking like Halloween

Got a chuckle out of this -- in our church parking lot!

This is in our neighborhood. They put a lot of work in this front yard. They also have a mock cemetery that  looks super scary at night! I am always amazed how much people decorate for Halloween.

The landscape around Patagonia is the landscape of the border region.  It's mountainous and upland Sonoran Desert. But there is San Rafael Grassland here too. 

Huge old Arizona Sycamores in the riparian areas, it's about the best you can get here for anything like fall colors.

And the grasslands this year are amazing with all the extra rain this summer. This is historic cattle grazing early 18OO's, and before that this was Spanish land grant. Still ranches here and cattle, although not the historic numbers.  But the grasses are waist high and stretch for miles.

And then Sonoita Creek Nature Preserve for hiking and a perennial stream in the desert.

Remnant of a railroad bridge that crossed that creek years ago when water was more like a river. It is all melting back into the desert.

Looks like he caught a nice fish!!  Until the camera angle is true and you can see it's just a little one. Good laugh.

Morning guided bird walk out of the State Park campground.

Short trip to Patagonia

We can be away from our RV only so long. . .so we took it out to Patagonia State Park south of Tucson.  Beautiful spot on a lake which in itself is pretty unusual in this high desert of Arizona along the border.  It's a great birding location (well, better in the spring) but we brought our canoe so maybe try a bit of fishing and hiking around.

Went into to funky little town of Patagonia for dinner at the "Velvet Elvis." 

Out of the kiln!

Probably the main reason I was ready to come home from this summer's travels is because I was missing my playtime with clay!  Here is my first kiln fire this fall. Few things were started before we left in May, most is new. Painting is fun but I need lots of practice.

I am kinda into "trees"

Sculptures to use up clay scraps.  The pig was suppose to be pink but that is a hard color to fire. More a maroon pig!!

Second day at White Stallion

More pictures around White Stallion Ranch

They house a special breed of cattle. They are an ancient breed that was found around Copper Canyon in Senora, Mexico. They are directly related to the original herds from Mexico named Criollo, that  in turn descended from animals brought to the Americas as early as 1493 from Spain. These are the original cattle that populated the West before European breeds were introduced.  They do well in arid and scrub land so were perfect for the Southwest.

That is Twin Peaks, a familiar Landmark on the Northwest side of town, within site of the ranch. But there is only one peak, you say, where are the twin peaks! Well, at first they mined copper but that didn't last long and in the 40's a cement company started to mine limestone. In fact they have mined so much limestone for cement that they have taken that second peak all the way--gone! Still called Twin Peaks but only one left. Word is that the second peak is not rich in limestone so guess that one is safe.