#beardown

National Park Roadtrip – Days 27-30

Tucson – Saguaro National Park – Tombstone – Bisbee – Chiricahua National Monument

I am an alumnus of The University of Arizona, and I have a very special place in my heart for the city of Tucson.  I had a list of places I wanted to visit in order to satisfy my nostalgic side, but first things first in Tucson, we had to get the faulty wiring on the new brake controller fixed.  We picked up the rental car, dropped off the car around 8:15 a.m., and my amazing husband also arranged for pizzas to be delivered to Quality Bumper to thank them for fitting us in during their busy day. 

After a few quick errands, we rolled up to Bison Witches just in time for lunch.  Bison Witches was one of my college staples.  They are also located in 2 other college towns – University of Oklahoma, and University of Nebraska.  I have to admit, I have only ever ordered one thing on their menu, the half Ham & Cheese sandwich and Cream of Broccoli Soup in the bread bowl, so I can’t vouch for anything else they serve.  Their bread is absolutely amazing and baked fresh.  It’d definitely “dive-y” but you just have to give it a chance.  They even allowed @theyappycampers to walk THROUGH the restaurant so they could eat with us out back (which is covered, has heaters, and dedicated wait staff).  We also had a quick “nostalgic” beer at my old college hangout across the street, “O’Malley’s”.  I was there the night of my 21st birthday when UofA beat UW in a final diving catch touchdown thriller.  I’ll never forget all the wild times we spent there.  While Bison Witches hit the mark though, O’Malley’s was dirtier, smellier, and sadder than I ever remembered.  I couldn’t even finish my beer.  That’s the thing with college hangouts, you get older and wiser, and they just stay the same age.

I couldn't resist digging in before I remembered to snap a photo.

With full bellies, we went over to the East side of Saguaro National Park and drove the 8 mile loop road.  We got out numerous places along the road, but our favorite, by far, was Javelina Rocks.  There are trails all around the rocks and you can even climb on and around them.  We spent about 45 minutes exploring this area, taking pictures, and checking out the vistas.  By the time we were done at Saguaro, the car was ready.  We dropped off the rental car and decided on Café Poca Cosa for dinner.  If you are planning on going to this amazing restaurant, I would suggest getting a reservation in advance.  We just showed up and they said we could wait for a table, however, they actually stopped taking walk-ins immediately after us.  We were quoted a 1.5 hour wait, but ended up only waiting 20 minutes, or so.  Large, handwritten menu boards are carried from table to table by the servers.   We happened to be there on National Margarita Day (according to Yelp) so we ordered one margarita a piece.  They were awesome.  We had so much food that we took it home and had it for dinner a few nights later.

Javelina Rocks at Saguaro National Park

I want to give a special shout out to the beautiful Gilbert Ray Campground where we stayed for 3 gloriously dark, quiet nights.  The park is a county park nestled in the Tucson Mountains and biking distance to Saguaro National Park.  Sites are first come first served and we were lucky enough to snag a beautiful spot at around 5 pm on a Thursday.  I would stay here a million times over, but G had concerns about all the cholla cacti and the dogs.  G mostly walks the dogs around the campgrounds himself, so I generally don’t get to see all the stuff he has to prevent them from exploring.  We love places where (even though it’s generally against the rules) we can let the dogs off leash to explore our small campsite.  Gilbert Ray is not one of them, but is absolutely stunning to say the very least.

Sunrise at Gilbert Ray

The following morning, we took the dogs to Ivan’s Spot Dog Park to run around and let off some steam.  Ivan’s is named after a hero police K-9 who died in the line of duty.  It’s a great park, and I can tell that Ivan was very much loved.  We had a very long day planned so a romp in the park was the perfect start to the dog’s day. 

Scarlett & Murphy checking out how Ivan's Spot Dog Park came to fruition.

First stop was Tombstone.  I had been there when I was a teenager and remembered that, although it was a cheesy tourist trap, there were some redeeming qualities. We ended up having a quick, but really fun stop there.  We went to Big Nose Kate’s, the Birdcage Theatre, and also had a nice brisk walk through the main drag. 

Cool screen printed posters in the Birdcage Theatre.

My good friend and nail artist extraordinaire @clawspdx in Portland grew up in Bisbee, Arizona.  I had never visited while I was at UofA so I definitely wanted to check out the town.  I texted for some recommendations but didn’t hear from her until we had already sat down at Sreamin’ Banshee.  Had I known that the main town was just a few miles down the road, I probably would have picked something else.  This lunch spot ended up being a two + hour ordeal.  They were slammed!  We had a dismal customer service experience to start, but ended up being gifted the most amazing waitress who saved the day, despite the long wait.

Screamin' Banshee

After Bisbee we drove to Chiricahua National Monument, and oh what a beautiful place that is.  Small, but it packs a big punch.  Originally, we had wanted to camp there, but opted to stay in Saguaro for 3 nights instead of 2.  We drove up to Massai Point and hiked around the Nature Trail.  We had expected to be there much earlier with more time to hike greater distances, but I actually think it ended up working out.  Some of the hikes were miles long with lots of elevation changes so I think they would have taken more than just a few hours.  There are two short hikes at the top of Massai Point in either direction of the parking lot.  We did both of those and they offered beautiful vistas of Cochise Head (said to resemble a human head on it’s back) and also in the other direction the Chiricahua pinnacles. 

Cochise Head at Chiricahua National Monument

Chiricahua National Monument from the nature trail.

The 120 minute drive back to Tucson is mostly boring with lots of crazy semis, but especially difficult with the setting sun low on the horizon.  We were glad when it finally fell behind the West Tucson Mountains!  By the time we got back to Tucson we were starving, but we had to pick up an order at an Amazon locker first.  This was a first for us.  We’ve been fortunate to have family collect some packages for us along the way, but we opted give the locker a try.  Worked like a charm!  We rounded out the night at Bison Witches, of course.  We were leaving the next day so I had to have my fill.  The last time I was in Tucson was in 2010 for my cousin’s wedding.  I attempted to subvert our route to go through Norman, Oklahoma so I could go to another location, but was found out by @thehoppycamper who knows me too well.  Oh well.  While we were at Bison Witches, the Wildcats were playing UCLA in basketball , and G was totally cool if I wanted to stay and watch the game and relive some college memories, but I was so tired I couldn’t fathom staying up.  We had a 25 minute drive back to the campground so I was ready to go to bed after my soup and sandwich.   The Wildcats lost the game.  Damn.  But I had a winner of a night’s sleep so life isn’t all that bad.

Highlights:

Javelina Rocks at Saguaro National Park

Bison Witches

Café Poca Cosa

Chiricahua National Monument