I’ve got a newfound appreciation for whoever invented the bathroom. Showers and flushable toilets are now firmly in my top 10 favourite things, and our campground at McDowell Mountain State Park had both of these. A whole day was spent hiking around our cactus-studded surroundings, spotting lizards, rabbits, and birds with funky mohawks.
In search of the Wild West, our next stop was the small “town” of Rawhide, just off the road from Phoenix to Tucson. Inauthenticity aside, we entertained ourselves with a gun show, panning for gold, a petting zoo and even a spin on the rodeo bull! Aleks’ determined thighs clung on to that thing for a full 29 seconds.
En route to Tucson, we made the spontaneous choice to hike up a mountain adjacent to the highway. Picacho peak’s sunset trail was aptly named for our trek, as we arrived there just an hour before sundown. With the realisation that we couldn’t reach the top before darkness fell, we instead legged it to about half way up to watch the sunset.
Our first foray into bear country was that night. Thankfully our campsite, nestled in the mountains overlooking Tucson, offered a bearproof food locker to keep our larder safe. Aleks rustled up the famous Cantabrigian dish of “fish rice” – my first taste of the delicacy – which was a major hit and will definitely be made again!
The Big Adventure 
Go Aleks, well done with the bull riding. The weather looks great. Have you had a chance to meet any locals and what do they think of your plans?
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