Monthly Archives: February 2015

Rookie bird watchers

On February 13, 2015 by Judy Nichols With 2 Comments - Blog

Each person we met on the trail asked the same question: “Have you seen the Elegant Trogon.”

Our first, uninformed response was, “The what?”

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Close encounter with bear (spray)

On February 9, 2015 by Judy Nichols With 0 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings, The Epic Van

IMG_1648-croppedThe day I bear-sprayed myself started out fairly organized.

We were planning to leave early from Bog Springs Campground in Madera Canyon, a beautiful spot in the Coronado National Forest in Arizona. We wanted to get to the Titan Missile Museum on our way to a campground near Arivaca.

We were up early, stowing our bedding, making breakfast and packing up all our gear, camera, hiking boots, camp chairs, grill, computers, knitting, cat. I wasn’t even thinking about the bear spray.

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No lone zone

On February 9, 2015 by Judy Nichols With 0 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings

  • One of the "NO LONE ZONE" signs in the silo.
They stood watch in a missile silo, next to an immense projectile carrying a nine-megaton nuclear warhead, waiting for the call to launch. The crews assigned to Titan Missile silos were standing on the brink of madness we approached during the Cold War.

The Titan Missile Museum outside Green Valley, Arizona, is an eerie reminder of the era of mutually assured destruction, as the United States and Soviet Union aimed even nuclear firepower to annihilate the world many times over.

For us, it carries even more significance because one of Tom’s friends since high school served in a silo near McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas.

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Rillito Park Farmers Market

On February 2, 2015 by Judy Nichols With 0 Comments - Blog, Food

  • Flat beans at the Rillito Park Farmers Market.
The flat beans were the biggest surprise here. They were huge, some nearly a foot long. They steamed up as a sweet side dish for our evening feast.

Other favorites: Gluten-free cinnamon rolls and Rosemary Sea Salt Focaccia from Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery. I sliced them up and stashed them in the freezer for a treat along the road. And GF pasta from Pappardelle’s. Also on board for a future dinner on the road.

We also picked up some wild Alaskan salmon, some gluteny bread for Tom, and roasted peppers that filled BAM’s car trunk with an amazing smoky aroma.

And Bam and I had some fresh coffee to ward off the rainy cold Saturday morning air.