We ran into rain as we headed out of Tucson, the typical short but intense rain that is common here in the summer time. That added a water test to our drive. Other than the wind tossing the rain inside the motorhome wherever the windows were open a crack, it went just great.
We arrived right around 5 o'clock, which was perfect, because the park gates at Colossal Cave Mountain Park close at 5, and then they lock the road to the campground, presumably to keep ruffians from camping out there for free. No one else was out there, so we took our time choosing a site. There were the typical desert plants to be careful around, and ants that we figured were best not to piss off, whatever kind they were. We found a very nice site, applied bug repellent to fend off mosquitos, and cooked up a tasty dinner.
While we ate dinner at the picnic table, a large wasp decided our nearby camp chairs smelled good:
After dinner, Rob shifted the wasp to a bush a safe distance away from us, then we went for a walk as darkness fell, listened to the various critters pipe up with their evening sounds, then went back to our camp to sit in our comfy chairs and check out the stars. Cloud cover hid some of the stars and the rising moon, but we enjoyed the air and a nice breeze. Rob and I set up our cots outside near the motorhome, while Bob (Rob's dad) set up his bed inside the motorhome. We went to bed around 10, then Rob woke me up about an hour later, because Duffy, inside the motorhome, had barked at something. We could hear rustling and snuffling all around us. Rob shined a flashlight at just the right time to see a javelina go trotting by a tree not too far away. They didn't approach us, but went about their business, out of sight. We woke Bob up, but they were gone. About 30 minutes later they came back, but we only heard them rather than saw them. Rob and I went back to sleep and didn't hear them again.
I woke up early, around 5:30 or 6, and couldn't go back to sleep. The sun was behind a large hill, and the guys were still abed, so I went for a walk, found a couple rocks to climb on, and checked out the area. I headed back to camp and settled into my chair, enjoying watching the light change everywhere as the sun came up from behind the hills. Bob joined me around 6:30 or 7, and Rob joined us around 7:30. We were sitting and soaking in the surroundings when we heard snuffling, and suddenly a javelina came out of the bushes not too far away:
We could see some other javelina behind the bushes, including small javelina (youngsters), which we couldn't get a photo of. The javelina stuck around for a minute or so, then they all disappeared again, but we were stoked to see them in the sunlight.
This is some of the great view from our campsite:
Here's Rob & Bob hanging out in our campsite:
This is an odd but spiffy pairing of a saguaro growing closely with a mesquite. I'm not sure how old the mesquite is, but the guys estimated the saguaro to be around 100 years old. Feel free to guess which plant came first...
Everything went really well, and we had a good little trip. The motorhome is close to ready to head out for its next trip! Hooray!
