Traveling to the American Southwest - Thanksgiving 2023

November 2021 Visit

I'm a little early with my greeting for the big holiday next Thursday.

 I'll be gone for a while as we travel to Arizona for Thanksgiving and an extended, always fun, visit with family. My brother-in-law and his family moved to Sierra Vista many, many years ago when his government career took him to Fort Huachuca. 

We have visited often over the years and always manage to find something new to enjoy. A few days in Tucson is also on our schedule.

The Huachuca Mountains are the third highest of the Sky Island mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and they rise almost 4,500 feet above the desert floor. The mountain range is oriented in a northwestern direction giving it more north-facing slopes and perhaps a somewhat cooler climate than some of the other Sky Island mountain ranges with similar elevation. The highest elevations support mixed conifer forests on north-facing slopes and pine forests on south-facing slopes. Lower elevations have extensive oak and oak-pine woodlands. Management of this mountain range is divided mostly between the U.S Forest Service and Department of Defense (Fort Huachuca). Fort Huachuca occupies roughly the northeastern quarter of the range; the Forest Service manages the northwestern quarter and southern half. A small part of the southern end of the range is managed by the National Park Service as Coronado National Memorial.  via USDA Forest Service

Wishing you all here in the USA - and Americans living overseas - a very happy Thanksgiving holiday.  

We all have so much to be thankful for.

Tucson Mountain Park -

Yesterday,  a very warm day with not a cloud in the clear blue sky,

we ventured away from the city for some time exploring the

mountainous desert countryside.  Saguaro cacti, prickly pear, 

scrub bushes cover the hills and valleys

To many of us this is a lot different from where we live - myself

 included where I'm surrounded by massive oaks, hickories, 

magnolia and pines etc.

This land is stunning scenery of a much different kind.

Every morning we awake to sunshine and clear blue 

skies - must say I love that part of Arizona living - however

tomorrow we'll be packing up and heading home to chilly

North Carolina now certainly carpeted in rusty colored 

leaves and early morning frosts.

 Thanksgiving travel, seeing family, and enjoying a change of pace 

has been wonderful, but heading home will be pleasant too, and I will

 need to "get my skates on" and start on preparations for what will be

 a quiet Christmas.

More from Raleigh later this week.

Tucson's Mission San Xavier del Bac -

Mission San Xavier del Bac - historic Spanish Catholic Mission, l0 miles south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation.

The mission that survives today was built between 1783 and 1797, which makes it the oldest European structure in Arizona. Labor was provided by the O'odham. An outstanding example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States, the Mission San Xavier del Bac hosts some 200,000 visitors each year.

If interested, read more here about this beautiful mission.

The photo above I took on my previous visit in 2018. 

When we visited today, we found the amazing facade of the mission

 covered with scaffolding as major renovations are underway!

All photos below were taken today and the weather was perfect, blue sky, 

bright sunshine, light breeze and 73F.

Entrance was permitted with masks and social distancing, but only

 five quick minutes allowed inside the church.

We're spending a few days here in Tucson before heading home. 

It has been a very pleasant trip so far. . . . . . . and great to actually

 be traveling again!

 

Southwestern skies -

Our family get together sharing a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner was more fun than you can imagine. We were 15 family members, aged 2 to 83, a family friend, and two young female soldiers from nearby Fort Huachuca invited to join us as they couldn't get home for Thanksgiving. 

Later, on the way back to our hotel we were under this beautiful Arizona sky. It had rained softly on and off earlier in the day. . . . . .but was welcomed as there had been no rain here for 55 days! It settled the dust and freshened the trees and shrubs.

Heading to a winery today in sunshine and a perfect, for me, 65F - who knew there are vineyards in southern Arizona!  I certainly don't need more wine after yesterday - but I'm hoping to see some lovely scenery long the way!

Thanksgiving 2021 - Arizona

 

Wishing everyone a wonderful day as we spend time with our family

in the beautiful Southwest.

Thanksgiving - November 25, 2021

Welcome back to Arizona -

 

Yesterday - flew Raleigh to Dallas to Tucson. 

Crowded airports but thankfully no delays along the way.

Great flying weather, calm, sunny skies, clear views. 

I slept for quite a while, which is unusual for me.

Bought a small lumbar spine pillow for my back which

helped in those airplane seats!

Driving from Tucson was enjoyable. Late afternoon with hardly any traffic.

Sun low in the skies. Huachuca Mountains dark and brooding.

Today the sun is up and the skies clear.

It's quite lovely to be back in Arizona.

A Southwest Thanksgiving!

Arizona Missions 2018

Thanksgiving means family togetherness when possible.

Our last visit to the large group of Bob's family residing in Arizona was far

 too long ago in 2018. . . . . just prior to COVID!  We flew there for a

 special Thanksgiving get together and haven't been able to return since. 

This year we're heading southwest again, to spend time with

 those we love . . . . but of course we will also miss being here for the

 holiday with our own immediate family and friends.

Stay safe if you're traveling for the holidays.

Tomorrow, very early morning, we fly to Dallas, connect to 

Tucson . . . . then drive south to Sierra Vista, almost to the

 Mexican border!  

Warm weather, lovely desert scenery, cacti, cowboys, beautiful

mission churches, Mexican food, and most special of all, 

seeing loved ones after so long.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Spanish beauty in Tucson. . . . . . . .

Mission San Xavier del Bac

I just wanted to share with you the beautiful interior of this lovely 
church in Tucson, considered by many to be the finest example of Spanish
 mission architecture in the United States.
To learn more of its interesting history go HERE

Thanks for the get well wishes. . . . . . beginning to feel somewhat better at long last.

Thankfully November is over!

 We came down with a really mean spirited upper respiratory infection in Arizona.
Perhaps picked up on the flights west, planes are full of germs!

 First me, and within a couple of days I had shared it with Bob.  We were sick

 and miserable. Sightseeing became a chore rather than enjoyment. 

 Falling into hotel beds at night was somewhat comfortable. . . . . however when

 one is sick it's much better when it's your very own bed in your home - you know

 what I mean.

 For eleven days I have sneezed, coughed, blown, wiped and ached into oblivion.

 For Bob it's been eight similar days and then yesterday, after sneezing and

 perhaps rubbing his eye, he suddenly looked strange with a dark blood filled eye

 socket caused by a hemorrhaged blood vessel!  No treatment, time will
 heal - meanwhile he does look odd, like a leftover from a Halloween party! 
Sorry Bob.

   It's not the 'flu, we had our shots in early October - unless of course it's a
 strain not covered by this year's vaccine. Who knows. . . . . . .

Mission San Xavier del Bac

'White Dove of the Desert'

Tucson, Arizona

A comforting spot in the southwest desert.

I have had a second unexpected sad November death in my UK family,

 along with news of serious health issues for other loved ones.

Today, the arrival of December is embraced and I hope things get better.

I've been away from here a week - unusual for me - but what with travel, death,

illness, family issues, and lack of computer access (we will have our new ones

next week), my blog has been pushed to one side for a while.

Tombstone and the Wild West. . . . .

Tombstone is a town in southeastern Arizona, known for its Wild West history. 

Exhibits at the Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park include a replica gallows.

 On historic Allen Street, the O.K. Corral outdoor theater re-enacts an

 1881 cowboy gunfight. 

Resident ghosts are said to haunt the bullet-riddled Bird Cage Theatre.

 Outlaws are among the local townsfolk buried at the 1878 Boothill Cemetery.

It's been many years since I was last here but not a lot has changed.

Reenactment gunfights are no longer permitted on the town streets, you have to

pay to visit other areas set up away from the main shops an traffic, such as

 the replica of the O.K. Corral, or the Old Tombstone Western Theme Park.

We went to the latter and, although somewhat comedic, quite enjoyed it - 

after all what gal doesn't like a cowboy!!!

Boothill Graveyard was the Tombstone City Cemetery from 1878 to 1884. 

It was not called Boothill until the 1920s. Its occupants ran the spectrum of all

 the cultures and nationalities of early Tombstone. 

Cowboys who "died with their boots on" lie next to housewives, business men

 and women, miners, gamblers, ladies of the "red-light district" and all the famous

 and not so famous occupants that contributed to Tombstone's early history.

 By the 1920s, Boothill had fallen into ruin with many grave markers lost or unreadable.

 A group of citizens in Tombstone and Cochise County began the task of researching

 old burial records, consulting with relatives, older residents, and using all means

 available to identify the occupants and mark the graves properly.

 The task took several years and the efforts of many to accomplish. This resulted

 in the graveyard being restored much as it was in the early years when

 it was the city cemetery.