This past weekend started with Patty and me driving to Tucson. We had lunch at In-and-Out Burger and were impressed with their cleanliness and quality of the food. I then spent my usual two and a half hours donating platelets at the Tucson Red Cross. This was only my second time doing a single needle donation and this time I was prepared. I had my laptop, phone and grade book for working on my classes while hooked up to the machine. Patty went shopping while I was at the Red Cross.
We then drove to Sierra Vista, where I taught Friday evening and Saturday until 2:30 p.m. Then it was off to Patagonia, a lovely small town. The owners/operators of the Spirit Tree Inn were volunteering at the Patagonia Community Gardens Pie Auction and Dinner, an annual fund raiser for the community gardens. So we arrived too early to eat and explored the downtown area of Patagonia. At one time, what is now the downtown is where the local railroads had multiple sidings and spurs, so there is a long, flat area which is now a pleasant park. We walked the length and the first thing we found was a butterfly garden. That is a pipevine swallowtail butterfly hovering over that flower.
Until we read the sign at the garden, we had no idea that there was such pollinator diversity there.
Patagonia is clearly a different town. One of the jokes we heard was that Patagonia is an old hippie word for "can't afford to live in Senoita." Senoita is the town to the northeast that is the heart of Arizona wine country and is very expensive to live and/or visit (that is why we stayed in Patagonia). Across from the town hall is P.I.G.S.
The old train station has been restored and is now the town hall. In front of it, they have installed a train semaphore - it was rehabbed and is one of the few left in the USA.
There are many hiking trails in the area and we decided that Sunday morning we would do the Train Track Trail.
As we returned back to our car and prepared to go to the Pie Auction and Dinner, we came across a coffee shop that even had a coffee cup out front for four legged friends.
We then had a pleasant dinner outside at the Community Gardens, met up with the Spirit Tree owners and after dinner, drove out to the Inn.
Our stay was in one of the casitas at the Spirit Tree - here is our kitchenette. We had a large bedroom with a king size bed and the bath was between the bedroom and this kitchen area.
We had a delightful breakfast on Sunday morning. After breakfast, I went out and took these photos of the Spirit Tree - it is a massive cottonwood tree some 160 years old, about ten feet in diameter at the base of the trunk and about 75 feet tall. If you look closely at the first photo, you can see a two person swing at the base of the tree.
This was the first sign we saw on the trail, after we got off the road.
This is the abutment mentioned in the sign - it is very hard to see.
In many places, the trail followed the old rail bed, in other places, it paralleled the old rail bed.
Here is where we turned around and walked out to the road to get back into the center of town.
We then cooled off in the shade before driving to Senoita, where we got a sandwich that we shared for lunch. We went to five wineries where we bought a total of 18 bottles of wine, and sampled more than that. In Elgin, they had this wine equipment on display in front of the shop which had wine from three wineries.
Before going back to the inn for dinner, we drove out into the national forest and saw a couple of interesting signs, one for a town forced to move and one with a warning.
Then it was back to the Inn for an excellent dinner.
We then drove to Sierra Vista, where I taught Friday evening and Saturday until 2:30 p.m. Then it was off to Patagonia, a lovely small town. The owners/operators of the Spirit Tree Inn were volunteering at the Patagonia Community Gardens Pie Auction and Dinner, an annual fund raiser for the community gardens. So we arrived too early to eat and explored the downtown area of Patagonia. At one time, what is now the downtown is where the local railroads had multiple sidings and spurs, so there is a long, flat area which is now a pleasant park. We walked the length and the first thing we found was a butterfly garden. That is a pipevine swallowtail butterfly hovering over that flower.
Until we read the sign at the garden, we had no idea that there was such pollinator diversity there.
Patagonia is clearly a different town. One of the jokes we heard was that Patagonia is an old hippie word for "can't afford to live in Senoita." Senoita is the town to the northeast that is the heart of Arizona wine country and is very expensive to live and/or visit (that is why we stayed in Patagonia). Across from the town hall is P.I.G.S.
The old train station has been restored and is now the town hall. In front of it, they have installed a train semaphore - it was rehabbed and is one of the few left in the USA.
There are many hiking trails in the area and we decided that Sunday morning we would do the Train Track Trail.
As we returned back to our car and prepared to go to the Pie Auction and Dinner, we came across a coffee shop that even had a coffee cup out front for four legged friends.
We then had a pleasant dinner outside at the Community Gardens, met up with the Spirit Tree owners and after dinner, drove out to the Inn.
Our stay was in one of the casitas at the Spirit Tree - here is our kitchenette. We had a large bedroom with a king size bed and the bath was between the bedroom and this kitchen area.
We had a delightful breakfast on Sunday morning. After breakfast, I went out and took these photos of the Spirit Tree - it is a massive cottonwood tree some 160 years old, about ten feet in diameter at the base of the trunk and about 75 feet tall. If you look closely at the first photo, you can see a two person swing at the base of the tree.
On the other side of the tree, there was another old cottonwood tree. We later learned that it is common for cottonwood trees to partially die off and new growth to sprout from what appears to be the dead trunk.
Patty and I then went into the center of Patagonia to go on the Train Track Trail. We walked for about 30 minutes in one direction and then returned.
This was the first sign we saw on the trail, after we got off the road.
This is the abutment mentioned in the sign - it is very hard to see.
In many places, the trail followed the old rail bed, in other places, it paralleled the old rail bed.
Here is where we turned around and walked out to the road to get back into the center of town.
We then cooled off in the shade before driving to Senoita, where we got a sandwich that we shared for lunch. We went to five wineries where we bought a total of 18 bottles of wine, and sampled more than that. In Elgin, they had this wine equipment on display in front of the shop which had wine from three wineries.
Before going back to the inn for dinner, we drove out into the national forest and saw a couple of interesting signs, one for a town forced to move and one with a warning.
Then it was back to the Inn for an excellent dinner.
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| Phyllo dough with artichokes, tomatoes and prosciouto; a cheese puff roll with basil; and kale chips with their special sauce. |
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| The Phyllo and soup were paired with a local Reisling wine. |
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| Cream of cauliflower soup. |
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| Kale chips with special sauce; local Brussels sprouts; couscous; and lamb with another special sauce. Paired with local red wine. |
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| Fresh quince with sauce and sliced almonds, served warm and paired with a white chocolate almond sweet dessert wine. |
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