Longtime friends of Mom and Dad currently live in Surprise, AZ, and Dad loves to join David and Sandy for a couple of weeks during winter to enjoy the milder temperatures and lack of snow. This year, they pulled their fifth-wheel RV down to the campground where we are staying for part of his Arizona visit. David and Sandy normally start traveling in the spring in search of cooler weather for a few months before heading back to their home. Dad helped get the RV ready early this year to come to Tucson!

We played card games on the afternoon they arrived. Sandy and David were a part of a card-playing group that included Mom and Dad, so games are something we have in common and enjoy.

The next day, we all (Paul and Roxann, too) drove out to the west unit of the Saguaro National Park and did a couple of short hikes and drove the one-way Bajada Loop to view the majestic desert. The Desert Discovery Nature Trail is an almost half-mile loop that is flat and welcomes pets, so Niña, Sandy and David’s little four-legged traveling companion, walked with us. When we did the Signal Hill hike, David took Niña on a walk around the parking area and along the road while the rest of us climbed up for the beautiful view.

Just to show the dangers of hiking without thick soles, in the pictures below Roxann is showing the barrel cactus thorn she dug out of her shoe. Thankfully, it went in sideways through the sole so she didn’t get injured.

After our trip to the national park, we all enjoyed a wonderful supper at Rancho Rustico Restaurant, which turned out to have tasty food. One unique thing they did was put a side of beans in a small taco shell bowl on our plates.