Madera Canyon- real trees!

This morning we spent some time in the clubhouse using the office internet connection which is much better than at our site.  We were looking for an eye doc to remove Kirk's cataract. It's starting to bother him more.  Still working on that.  Left park about 11 and drove south on 19 towards Green Valley.  We didn't really drive around there, because we followed a sign to Madera Canyon (part of Coronado National Forest).  There was grass (brown) and trees, and we followed the road up to the end which was at 5400 feet elev.(Mt. Wrightson Wilderness)  There was snow on the ground in places and parts of the road were icy (still from the New Year's Eve snowfall). Temp at the top was 65 degrees. There were a couple of cabins to rent, and a cute B&B.  Must really be busy in the summer- there were quite a few hikers today (old folks like us)!  We stopped at a picnic spot and had lunch, then took the dogs hiking on the mostly paved trails that followed a mountain stream which they loved, esp. Lexie!  Saw Arizona Live Oak, sycamore, and Alligator Juniper trees (very scaly bark).  We found a dirt road that led to rustic campsites so we walked that road for a bit, then came back- total hike about an hour.  On the way back from there we stopped at the Desert Diamond Casino to check on tickets for the Feb. 7 Oak Ridge Boys Concert.  Back in Tucson we drove over east of the airport to check out Crazy Horse Campground. NOT nice.  Came back to park and I swam while Kirk took dogs for a short walk.  High today was 77 degrees but very windy.  Partly cloudy, there is a front coming up from Mexico but it's unlikely it will rain. Don't forget to leave a comment- I don't have to publish them but that way if you have a question I can answer it!  We are NOT missing the super cold weather back home- although feeling a bit guilty for being able to avoid it.  Stay warm friends!