SANTA CATALINA MOUNTAINS

We never tire of the mountains of Southern Arizona, so different than the Coast Range and the Rockies. Think the Okanagan on a much grander scale. The Sky Island Scenic Byway through the Coronado National Forest climbs over 7,000 feet from the desert floor of saguaro, palo verde and cholla to pine forests to fir and aspen, all within a 40 mile drive.  The first view point provided a wonderful panorama of Tucson to the south and emphasized how huge the Davis Monthan Airforce Base is, though not visible in our photos. At the northern end is the Mount Lemmon Ski Valley and the little town of Summerhaven. When it's a 110'F in Tucson you can appreciate that this would indeed be a summer haven. We stopped for a picnic lunch and were visited by some very pushy western scrub jays who probably would have snatched the food from our hands if we hadn't shooed them away.

Sky Island Scenic Byway

TUBAC

Thirty-five miles south of us is Tubac, the first European settlement in what is now Arizona. It was built by the Spanish in 1751 to protect their missions and settlers from the Pima Indians. Gee, history around the world is all very similar. Think of the English building the walled city of Londonderry to keep the Irish out.

Little is left of the original settlement but in 1948 an art school opened there and the community slowly transformed itself into an artists’ colony. Even those of us lacking any artistic abilities would be inspired by the breathtaking natural surroundings. We browsed the galleries and enjoyed a terrific lunch at Shelby’s Bistro but our favourite spot was the sculpture garden.