Tubac or not Tubac

After touring around most of the day Friday, we decided to give ourselves a break, so Saturday was a "slouch" day. We hung around, read some books, sat in the glorious sun, and just enjoyed our surroundings.  It's really interesting to see some of the different houses in this area and particularly the gardens outside.  At the end of our slouch we were able to get together again with our friend Maren for dinner.  She made a yummy jambalaya.  Does it seem as though were doing a lot of eating?  Well we are certainly enjoying sampling  the Southwestern cuisine.

The next day Bob and I visited the Desert Museum. This "museum" is almost totally outdoors, with varied trails where you can see a lot of the native wildlife, including the javelinas and wolves. Javelinas look like short, dark grey pigs, but are actually peccaries.

Monday started like all of our days in Arizona so far, with brilliant sunshine and cool, crisp air. When we look out the window we see views of the Santa Catalina Mountains with lovely shadows playing along the ridges. You would think that a cactus garden might be boring, but the variety and color of the cactus, even before they flower, is just magnificent.

The Mission San Xavier del Bac is the oldest continually operating mission in Arizona. What's so interesting about this is that it was built by and for the Tohono O'odham tribe in 1783. The mission was established by an Italian Franciscan priest, Father Kino, in the late 1600s. It is a beautiful white mission on the outside, with architectural and painted details. On the inside, it is decorated in a Baroque style, incorporating native and Italian motifs. It is still used by the current members of the tribe.

In an alcove of the church was a small enclosure holding an effigy of the body of St. Francis.  We watched as some of the local members of the church approached St. Francis, carefully rubbed his head and body, and then lifted his head to kiss him.  The legend is that only those who are pure of heart will be able to lift the head.  It was very touching to watch.

In the parking lot of San Javier was a row of small sheds, built out of tree branches.  These are used by food and other vendors after the masses on Sunday.

Just a few photos below; we will get around to posting the collection on Facebook soon.

After visiting the mission we were very  thirsty and since it was just about time for lunch we went to a little place called Wisdom's in Tubac.  We ordered lunch, and while we were waiting Bob and Gale had their famous wisdom's margaritas.  Now I don't drink very much, but I did have to sample Bob's drink, and it was so good he had to order another.  They came in pint canning jars and were just delicious; there was a lot of lime and a little bit of sweetness and they really quenched our thirst on this lovely day.

Many of you are familiar with the rare Jackalope that can be found in some parts of Wyoming.  Well, Wisdom's has shot and stuffed a pair of giant Chickalopes, which are on display in front of the restaurant.
<pics to be added>


Of course it had nothing to do with margaritas, but it was a bit of a struggle following lunch to gear up the motivation to proceed.  Being the intrepid adventurers that we are, we continued on down the road to Tumacácori.  This was another one of Father Kino's churches, begun in 1800 but never completely finished. It was abandoned after Apache raids made it too dangerous to continue.  The remains of what had been built still quite lovely.  Because of the partial construction in some places, it's very easy to see how the adobe bricks were used and how well they have remained to this day.

At this point we were almost out of steam, between the sun shining down on us and the margaritas, but we bravely made our way back to the Tubac artist colony, promising ourselves that we would be quick, as we were really getting tired and still had an hour's drive to get back.  As one who has always worked well with a deadline, Gail was able to buy a couple of beautiful things, including a small table with agate inlay, in a matter of minutes.

We returned to Tucson in time to see the setting sun and relax on the ramada (covered porch) out back.