Marilyn took the long way around the campground after her shower this morning and saw two roadrunners along the way. A roadrunner has been the one thing she’s been wanting to see and now claims her trip is complete!
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On our walk this morning, Kim started about
20 minutes after Mom and me, caught up to me after the Nutt Rd turnaround and
then sort of slowed to my pace for about the last ½ mile, keeping slightly
ahead of me. I could have caught up with a quick jog but, honestly, my ankles
wouldn’t have allowed that. So, I took last place again, coming in about 10
feet behind Kim.
Mom walked a little farther today than
yesterday…working her way to the possibility of walking to Nutt Rd before our
time in Arizona is over. Kim would be on standby to pick her up; otherwise I
told her we could always take a rest by sitting on the road until she feels
ready to carry onward. I’ve done it before. 😎
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Today was Madera Canyon day. People on the
Arizona Birding FB page rave about Madera Canyon for birds so I checked it out online.
This is the leading sentence on the Madera Canyon website: A world-renowned spot for bird watching, Madera
Canyon is the resting place for migrating species. How could I not want
to visit with a recommendation like that? We decided to wait until my mom got here so
all of us could experience it together.
Madera Canyon is about 85 miles from the campground
in the Coronado National Forest, located southeast of Green Valley or so it
seemed. Had to travel I-19 to get there so we were able to share some of our
knowledge about this quirky road with Mom: Interstate 19 (I-19) is a north–south Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Arizona,
traveling from Nogales, AZ at the border of Mexico to Tucson. I-19 is unique among US Interstates because
signed distances are given in meters or kilometers, and not miles. However, the
speed limit signs give speeds in miles per hour. According to the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT),
metric signs were originally placed because of the push toward the metric system in the
US at the time of the original construction of the highway. Construction of the
highway was started in 1962 and it was completed in 1972.
*Here’s
another tidbit I just found out today: Having a total
length of just over 102 kilometers (63 mi), I-19 is the seventh-shortest
primary Interstate Highway in the contiguous 48 states.
The paved road from the Visitor Information
Center (elevation 4450 ft.) to the loop at the Mt. Wrightson Picnic area (elevation
5450 ft.) is 4 to 5 miles long. However, there are miles of hiking trails
throughout the Canyon. We weren’t there
to hike (although we did take a short walk), we were there to see birds…which we
found in abundance at the Santa Rita Lodge.
After bird watching for about an hour we continued
to the loop at the end of the road, then headed back down the mountain. I was driving
because Kim wanted to nap. Stopped for pedestrians at the Madera Picnic Area
and the man put his thumb up like he was hitchhiking. I thought he was joking
but when I opened my window, he asked if we could give them a ride, did we have
room for them. Seriously you need a ride? Sure we have room. Hey, Kim, you
have to sit up…some people need a ride down the hill. Just let me pull over here and you can hop on
in. They had walked up from near the Information Station but going downhill
was proving to be hard on the woman’s knees. We were all glad to be of service
to them.
Found
a Ghost Bike across the road from the Coronado National Forest sign. It honored
George “Fred” Dillemuth, 52, who collided with a vehicle near the Santa Rita
Lodge in Madera Canyon on Sept. 2, 2019.
He died the next afternoon of his injuries but because he was an organ
donor, his kidneys and liver helped three other people. He was survived by his wife and 3 children.
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Since the yard camera was taken out of
service due to cats, cardinals and grackles eating the bait instead of a
roadrunner, we decided to put it down the road at a hawk nest which is occupied
by a pair of attentive Red-tailed hawks. Haven’t seen any pictures so far…what’s
up with that?
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40 Days of Lent opportunity: Do something to bring someone joy today. I read the text this morning but, honestly, forgot all about
it as we made plans to go to Madera Canyon. However, while there, I gave two Canadians a ride down to their car simply because
it was the right thing to do. I can’t
verify if it gave them joy but I know it made a difference to their afternoon
outing. Putting a checkmark next to today’s
opportunity. J
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