Catalina State Park, Tucson, Arizona
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. ~ II Chronicles 16:9
I can remember our last vacation to Arizona. It encompassed roughly the same general area we’re covering this time, and lasted for three weeks. I remember, it seemed a magical place (and not in the way the new age people who live in Sedona think of it, with all their “vortex”s and things). Just a beautiful place that looked nothing like Ohio.
I also remember that there were so many days with crystal clear skies and bright sunlight, I was anxious to get back to the overcast Ohio days. Whatever the opposite of seasonal affective disorder is, that’s what I had. 😊
So far, it’s not been like that this time. There’ve been some days of partial or heavy clouds. Which is fine with me, but not what I was anticipating. Today, Blaine and I disagree on what to call the weather, so I’ll let you decide. He says it’s sunny, I say it’s cloudy. We agreed to disagree and are calling it partly cloudy. 😊
Since the amazing Arizona Desert Museum was closed beginning last week, and we’d visited all the Parks around here, and hiked the trails here in Catalina State Park, we decided to stick close to home and re-hike the Ramero Canyon Trail again. And that meant there wouldn’t be as many pictures, because we’ve already taken them. 😊
Well, the best laid plans sometimes get changed. We got to the Ramero Canyon area – – after removing our shoes and socks again to cross the river – –
and discovered that the majority of the tons of people in the Park again today, were headed in that same direction.
So we changed course and took on the Canyon Loop/Not A Designated Trail hike again instead.
Right about the time we made the turn onto the Canyon Loop Trail, we noticed this amazing ring around the sun!! The brilliant sun washed out the color, so the pictures look black and white, but the sky was actually blue. Isn’t it incredible?!?!? And it lasted for hours!
I found the following information on several websites about the subject:
Halos around the sun or moon are caused by high, thin cirrus clouds drifting high above your head. Tiny ice crystals in Earth’s atmosphere create the halos. They do it by refracting and reflecting the light. Lunar halos are signs that storms are nearby.
If you do see a halo around the moon or sun, notice that the inner edge is sharp, while the outer edge is more diffuse. Also, notice that the sky surrounding the halo is darker than the rest of the sky.
Well, actually from close to two weeks ago.
The other thing worth mentioning for today is that for once, Blaine got injured instead of me. (I’d put a smiley face here, but you might get the wrong idea . . .) We were climbing up from the river and a rock slipped out from under his foot and he fell into a brittlebush, which besides the pretty yellow flowers, also has thorns on it (like most of the plants out here!). Fortunately, the only injury he sustained was a poke to the tip of his nose, some grazed arms and a bent hiking stick. The stick was probably the worst part. But he found a place to straighten it out again and it seems fine.
So grateful the stick is still functional!
Gotta love the sound of a babbling brook!
Looks better in the sunlight. : )
After we returned home, Blaine saw where the Oregon State Parks were suddenly closed without warning! Unless they notified the campers earlier and the news just didn’t report that part. That’s just scary! No warning? Let’s hope they gave full-timers time to find a place to move to!
Tonight’s dinner was different for us. We had two hamburger buns left to use up and were wondering what to do with them, when I remembered having fried shrimp sandwiches at a restaurant somewhere in our past. So when we stopped at the store, we bought a box of frozen fried shrimp. It took about half the box to make two full sandwiches with a bit left over. I made a sauce out of tartar and chili sauce, horseradish and Old Bay seasoning. We added tomato and shredded cabbage and Voila! It was really good! I also had to make homemade potato salad because the store didn’t have any pre-made stuff. Empty shelves – – – still!
I didn’t take a picture because they didn’t look as impressive as they sound and tasted. 😊
This marks the end of our two week stay in Catalina State Park. Seems I didn’t have much trouble staying busy for two weeks after all! 😊