"Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. "
Well it's been nearly a week since I have made an entry. Had a lovely trip to Tucson in the meantime and then some rest and recovery.
We left for Tucson on Thursday morning for the 2 hour drive. We stopped on the way to look at some Indian ruins at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. I was expecting a some low walls of mud bricks but this is a three storey structure from the early 1300's. It was built by the Hohokam Indians who were the first farmers of the American Southwest. They dug hundreds of kilometers of canals across the desert for irrigation to grow corn, beans, squash, cotton, tobacco and other crops. They built permanent villages in an area that had a limited range of building materials. There is a hard cement like substance a few feet below the ground called caliche. Paula had this where the pool was to be dug, it is a very hard compressed sand and gravel mixture.
The Hohokam mixed ground up caliche with water and used this as a multi purpose construction material. The ruins of the Casa Grande were enclosed in a large compound with 7 foot high walls. It contained houses, work areas, courtyards and storage rooms. This particular compound is unusual in that it is about 4 times larger than other compounds in the area and it contains this unusual three storey building. It is not know why this building was built or what it was used for as no written records were kept. However there are some interesting windows, one aligning with the summer solstice, another aligns every 18 1/2 years with the setting moon at an extreme point in its cycle. Other windows and doorways align with the sun or moon at significant times of the year. All very interesting and mysterious.We had a late lunch in Tucson and then went on to the Sabino Canyon.
My sister Paula and I had been there a couple of years ago and done a very long hike there. It is a very beautiful canyon and has a little road tram that goes through the canyon for those not able or inclined to walk. This is where we were headed. Sabino Canyon is a natural desert oasis located in the Coronado National Forest in Tucson. The tram ride is a 45 minute, 3.8 mile (6km) tour into the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. While we were waiting for our ride we had a short walk through the desert near the ticket office and admired the surrounding mountains. Some of the smaller cacti were flowering with beautiful orange flowers.The ride was very enjoyable. The scenery is truly magnificent even though the water levels were very low due to a lack of the usual summer 'monsoon' rains. The driver was entertaining and we even saw a whip snake along the way. There were warnings regarding mountain lions but unfortunately none of those were sighted.
By the end of the ride I was beginning to regret having had lunch with a bout of recurring
gastritis. We headed for the hotel tucked away in the foothills on the outskirts of Tucson. We had a lovely little apartment with a full kitchen and a nice verandah overlooking some lovely desert flora, the golf course and a saguaro covered hill. I dosed myself up liberally with pain killers, went to bed and waited for relief to set in. Paula and Glen headed off for some grocery shopping. They found a healthy grocery store and stocked up for our 2 day stay. They had dinner on the verandah and I went blissfully to sleep.Woke up at 5 am with some pain and dosed myself up again. Gave me pain relief but these were opioids I was taking so I was pretty zonked out. Nonetheless, after Paula and Glen had breakfast we headed off to one of my favourite places the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. This is a botanical garden, natural history museum and zoo all in one place. It has a excellent layout and the animals are housed in very nice enclosures. The wolves unfortunately always look a bit agitated. The gardens are absolutely wonderful as is the humming bird aviary. Unfortunately I was not well enough to walk around and the electric carts were all in use or out of order so Paula had the onerous job of pushing me around in a wheel chair. We still managed to have a lovely time. The weather was great, not too hot, and there were not very many people about as it was a weekday and still reasonably early.
We headed back to the hotel for lunch (Paula & Glen) and a rest (me). We then headed off to drive up Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Range.
It is one of several 'sky islands' in Southern Arizona, called such because of their striking differences in temperature and vegetation from the surrounding desert. We drove up a 30 mile or so long curvy road often with large drop offs and some lovely views. The changes were quite dramatic, going from desert shrubs and cacti to mostly rocky outcrops including some hoodoos, then changing to oaks, pines and aspen. The mountain is 9,157 feet (2791m) above sea level and receives about 180 inches (457cm) of snow annually. It was named after a botanist, Sarah Lemmon, who went up the mountain by mule and on foot in 1881. We stopped at Summerhaven, near the top of the mountain, for refreshments at the cafe there. Most of the buildings were quite new as the town was devastated by fire in 2003. It is near Ski Valley which is the southernmost ski area in the United States and is only open a couple of time a year.On the way down we drove up a dirt road because it was called Bear Wallow and we were hopeful. Not luck seeing bears but we did come across an observatory. Apparently the building formerly housed the emergency tracking station for landing the Space Shuttle.
We headed back to the hotel, tired but happy to have had such a great day. We stayed in for dinner as I was on miso soup rations and also too tired to go out. I think Paula and Glen were quite happy with eating in as well. Next morning was Glen's birthday and we headed off to the nearby resort for breakfast on the terrace overlooking beautiful gardens and hills. Most enjoyable.
We checked out of our hotel and headed for the Saguaro National Park. This is one of the places in Arizona where the Saguaro Cactus growth is very dense. The Saguaro Cactus is the largest and one of the slowest growing of all cacti, reaching up to 15 meters and living for a couple of centuries. The cactus may be only 6 inches (15 cm) after 10 years and the typical branching on occurs after about 80 years. The main building at the entrance to the park is particularly nice and is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.
We headed into the park and went to Signal Hill which is a small hill in the western part of the park. The top of the hill is covered with boulders which contain petroglyphs. The rocky track up to the top is a favourite haunt of rattle snakes. The petroglyphs are believed to have been carved by the Hohokam Indians between 800 and 1300 years ago. There are a variety of patterns - sunflowers and spirals as well as animals such as antelope or maybe big horned sheep. Glen and Paula climbed up while I stayed in one of the lovely cool stone picnic houses made of local rock and with ceilings lined with Saguaro ribs. Very peacefull.After that we headed back to Phoenix. We picked up some groceries on the way home and got there just before the guests arrived. A couple of Paula and Jonathan's friends Paul and Chris and their little son Quin were arriving for a house viewing and for Glen's birthday. They had baked a delicious chocolate cake. It was a pleasant afternoon and evening to end the break with. We had an early night but it has taken me a couple of days to recover from exhaustion. The joys of the effects of chemo still linger.
Meantime I had emailed Dr Jacob in Germany to see if I could postpone the epirubicin due on the 30th as the ongoing exhaustion and the recurring gastritis were grinding me down a bit. Good news is that not only can I postpone the epirubicin but also the avastin. So only immune therapy and supplements until we get back to Australia in November. Woohoo!!
Surviving and thriving
Linda
No comments:
Post a Comment