Record-breaking Heat

Fun Fact:  Tucson has never experienced 100-degree weather in March for as long as records have been kept.  We are poised to blast through that record this weekend, along with a bunch of other individual day records next week.

Lance updates:  With a couple of hiccups, my LiFePO4 battery project went well.  I ordered two 100 ah batteries from Amazon.  The Lance has a small battery compartment on each side of the trailer, which needed to be modified in order to accommodate the wider SOK batteries.  The local auto parts store was happy to take the dead lead acid batteries.  I ended up building wood boxes that sit on top of the sliding tray in each of the battery compartments. The sliding tray locks in with a rod and locking outside door, and a strap makes sure that they don't move around.  

I bought an Eco-Worthy LiFe PO4 20 amp charger from Amazon to get both batteries fully charged before installing in the Lance, made sure that the batteries fit into my crude wooden boxes, made sure that the wooden boxes fit nicely inside the battery trays of the Lance, and then still managed to make a mistake raising my blood pressure.

The solar charger in the Lance does not have a way to check on the health of each battery, individually.  It only shows when both batteries are charged to 100%. Fortunately, the SOK batteries come with an app that allows me to monitor the batteries individually by bluetooth.  After everything was installed in the Lance, the app worked perfectly, showing both batteries with full charges.  About a week later, I went out to the trailer and could only find one battery on the app.  My first thought was somebody stole one of my brand new batteries.  A few choice words were muttered.  After confirming that both batteries were physically still in their respective battery compartments, I was at a loss for explaining why the second battery wasn't showing up in the app.  

I took the solar charger off the wall inside the Lance and couldn't find anything wrong.  Then I went to Mr. Google and saw that if one of the SOK batteries isn't being charged for awhile, the built-in operating system shuts itself down into sleep/storage mode.  But why wouldn't both batteries be charging?  The sun was continuing to blast into the solar panels in the Sonoran Desert.  I checked battery one.  Nothing wrong with it.  I checked battery two.  Hmmm, the positive post looks different than the negative post.  A washer had hung up when I tightened everything down and wasn't making contact.  I took the wires off the positive post, straightened the washers, and tightened everything back down again.  Sure enough, the app immediately showed both batteries, and they were both still at 100%.  

We are in the middle of our last three sets of guests.  Even though the Upper Midwest has experienced record-breaking snow and cold this winter, I'm afraid they aren't going to be ready for the triple digit days that have prematurely arrived.  Dave and Ruth spent last weekend here and then spent the week in Joshua Tree after driving there in a rental car.  They return today for this weekend.  I've known Dave since sixth grade, and he has always lived within a mile of the moderating climate effects of Lake Michigan.  He's going to think he's arrived in hell!

Saguaro West National Park

Margaritas on the Patio

Do we have any regrets moving to the hot desert?  Not yet.  The thing is I can still wear a t-shirt and shorts almost every day of the year.  And even though it will reach triple digits in the mid-afternoon, mornings are quite pleasant.  This morning it was 62 degrees and even a little bit chilly when I took Callie outside just before dawn.  By the time that I make morning coffee and sat on the back patio, it was a beautiful morning with the birds singing.  Compare that to Wisconsin where we had weeks when it never rose above 32 degrees or even saw the sun.  

Hugh Norris Trail to Wasson Peak

We made it to the Hugh Norris Trailhead about 7:15 a.m.   The sun was hidden on the other side of the Tucson mountains, but there was enough light to get going. Alltrails suggests that this trail is 9.2 miles with a 2404' elevation gain; however, we made it a little harder than it needed to be 

This trail was recommended to us by a couple that we met while completing the Finger Rock Trail on Mount Lemmon.  It was an excellent recommendation. This trail starts by climbing up well-maintained switchbacks and then along a ridge that climbs and climbs and climbs.

 

For the first hour, we were in the pleasant shade while still being able to see the sunrise off in the distance.  As we climbed higher, conditions became quite windy.  Also, we eventually began seeing wildflowers.  

 

We kept seeing higher and higher peaks as we climbed.  Usually the trail wound around the peaks, but we were left to wonder what might actually be the final peak.  There were a lot of false summits.  Eventually, we made it to the top. There were no higher peaks.

On the way down, I inadvertently got off on our trail toward a different trailhead.  Julia was not a happy hiker.  I tried to tell her that it was an opportunity to explore the Sendero Esperanza Trail (which we were accidentally on), but she was not amused.  We had to backtrack (all uphill) and wound up hiking 11.3 miles with an elevation gain of 2818 feet.  Her mood mostly recovered by the time we reached the car.  A late lunch at our favorite Greek restaurant and a pint of IPA brought her mood back.

A National Park and a Museum

On Saturday, the four of us had a big breakfast prepared by yours truly and then drove to West Saguaro National Park.  Julia picked out a trail that was Allie/Corey friendly.  Neither are big hikers.  Allie is known to whine a little if the trail is too far or too steep.  This one was perfect.  I think they both had a good time and enjoyed walking in an environment very different from San Francisco, where they live.

The trail was called Scenic, Passey, Packrat Trail Loop-a little under two miles with 282 feet in elevation gain.  Fall hasn't quite arrived in Tucson yet, although high temperatures have fallen into the mid 80's.  

Saguaros don't have rings like trees, so there's no way to accurately date them.  However, park rangers  told us that a saguaro doesn't grow an arm until it's 80 years old. The one above has a few arms.

Julia has fully transitioned from tree hugger to cactus hugger.  This armless specimen is just a baby.

We survived the short hike for the final group photo.

Next we were off to the nearby Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  This guy was there to greet us on the road before the turn-off.

Julia and I bought annual passes, which included two free passes to get Allie and Corey in.  The cost was a little cheaper than buying single day passes for all of us.    There are many exhibits outdoors and indoors.  Volunteers give presentations on areas of interest.  One was the importance of water in the desert. I particularly liked this poem, which resonated with my first monsoon season in Tucson.

Many of the animals and reptiles here can be found in the wild behind our house.  The javelinas behind the fence looked much more docile than the ones we see in the preserve.  There were way more types of rattlesnakes in Arizona and Sonora than I knew existed.  The most amazing thing to me was how well they blend into the desert environment, making them very difficult to see unless they warn you with a rattle.

After several hours at the museum,  it was mid-afternoon, and we hadn't eaten since breakfast.  We drove to BK Carne Asada and Hot Dogs so that the kids could sample each.  

Julia wanted to try the local raspados con crema, a Mexican treat with shaved ice, fruit and ice cream.  I tried the coconut, and it was quite good.

With that, it was back home for a card game and beverages.  I won the card game, which capped off a pretty good day.  I let Corey win on the next day (maybe).  Part 3 will be coming soon.