We met our friends Marla and Kermit, fellow Oregonians, who are vacationing here in southern Arizona for a late brunch before we all headed out to see the botanical park and cultural museum at Tohono Chul.
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| Shady walk ways at Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens and Galleries in Tucson, AZ |
Tohono Chul is the former estate of Dick and Jean Wilson, now deeded over to a non-profit foundation and open to the public for a small fee. The name translates into "desert corner" from the Tohono O'odham language. The park is 49 acres and includes buildings and gardens all intertwined with a network of walking paths.
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| One of the greenhouses supporting Tohono Chul- plants here can be purchased in the gift shop |
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| Outdoor exhibit at the Tucson Museum of Art in downtown Tucson |
Next we visited the Tucson Museum of Art (TMA) in the Presidio District of old downtown Tucson. The building completed in 1975, is constructed as a series of very wide ramps that wind down from the top floor. An elevator ride takes you to the top floor, and one only has to amble down these spiraling ramps to get back to the main floor.
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| A George Phippen Bronze |
One artist represented, was George Phippen a close friend of Joan's father. George and Chet met in the Army during WWII and were friends for life. George loved western themes, and his talents were not limited to sculpture. Many of the letters he sent to the Austin family included drawings and paintings on the envelopes and margins of the pages. Those letters were donated to the Phippen Museum in Prescott, AZ after Chet's death.
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| Joan begins walking the Romero Ruins Trail in Catalina State Park |
We are spending a lot of time sight seeing all over Tucson, but when we get back home, we find some time to hike the trails near our RV park- we are, after all, staying in a state park!
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| Late afternoon sun lights up this massive saguaro cactus |
One short trail that starts across the wash from us is called the Romero Ruins Interpretive Trail. This trail heads up a steep ridge to an area of historical and archaeological significance. This is the site of Francisco Romero's ranch built in the 1850s. It is also the site of an older village dating back to A.D. 500. The natives of that time built "pit houses". So called because they started by digging out a shallow pit, before erecting a pole and brush roof which was then covered with mud to make it water resistant.
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| The Romero Ruins is an archaeological site of some significance, but has been compromised by "pot hunters" |
Nothing remains of a typical pit home today, however the ball courts and signature trash mounds are evidence that a village once existed here. The construction we saw was that of later occupants that used the native rock and a mud/ clay mortar to build more permanent structures.
The reconstruction shown above, is what archaeologists believe later dwellings may have looked like, with the addition of wood for a roof.
Further into the site signs pointed to a dished out area that is believed to have been an ancient ball court (more than 2,000 yrs old) where teams played for sport and recreation. The rubber balls used in these games may have been made from the guayule plant native to the Mexican desert south of here. One such ball was found by a rancher excavating near the Gila River. The ball was preserved in a olla, an early terracotta like pot.
Tomorrow we leave Catalina State Park, and head into the city to take our new residence at South Forty RV on Orange Grove Road.
Your Travelling Friends,
Jeff and Joan
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