Last Hurrah

This being my last week here, I'm packing it in. Sunday I drove the van to the Chiracahua National Monument, and stayed in a very remote campground. The trip involved driving on a washboard dirt road, which the Nomad Moon is not accustomed to. Of course there was no cell service, so if I'd gotten a flat I'd have been royally screwed since I don't even have a spare. After 10 very slow miles I arrived at the deserted campground, where I encountered bear warnings, and one man camping out of his truck. While I should have been relieved for the company, I avoided him (just in case he was a serial killer). It was a cold night and I realized I was very low in propane. Thankfully, neither the bears nor the cold nor the fellow camper did me in. What luck--not even a flat tire on the way out! I even got to see a family of 9 coatimundis, which are raccoon-like critters I’ve only ever seen before in tropical Central America. I was also rewarded with some other worldly landscapes as I made my way to the visitor center. I took a hike that was supposed to be 3.5 miles but I ended up walking twice as much because I got lost. Though pretty exhausted, the views made it worth my while.
                         

Later in the week I got to do a different sort of travel, by horseback!  When in Arizona, do as the cowboys do. My friend Kristie and I rode into the Catalina Mountains with our wrangler and a couple of other intrepid tourists.  So lovely to see the landscape away from the road, with some close-up views of the desert wildflowers, and only the hillside breeze for a soundtrack.




So now I've got only a few more days in Senior Summer Camp and my sweet little casita. I say this tongue in cheek because I despise the garage culture and sterility of the HOA ruled development I'm in.  And yet here I am, in Snowbird Land, so I've got a lot of nerve complaining. I've done some of the activities (yoga, water aerobics, Friday fish fry, pot luck dinner) to try to meet my neighbors, but I'm not sure I've found my groove in Green Valley yet.  Most of what I've enjoyed doing has been in Tucson (volunteering, contra dancing, peace fair, Quaker meeting, exploring the barrio, eating authentic Mexican food), which is only 20 minutes drive north.  I'm confident I'll continue to make my way into this split living arrangement eventually.  In the meantime, I continue to spend my children's inheritance, with gusto!  

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