{"id":3363,"date":"2022-02-11T09:31:18","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T16:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/janetalcorn.com\/staging\/1364\/?p=3363"},"modified":"2022-05-27T13:15:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T20:15:44","slug":"sentinel-peak-enchanted-hills-and-valentines-day-nonsense-weekend-coffee-share-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janetalcorn.com\/staging\/1364\/2022\/02\/11\/sentinel-peak-enchanted-hills-and-valentines-day-nonsense-weekend-coffee-share-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Sentinel Peak, Enchanted Hills, and Valentine’s Day nonsense (Weekend Coffee Share #25)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Good morning, and happy Friday! This week we’re going to trek to the west side of Tucson for a visit to Sentinel Peak (also known as “A” Mountain) and Enchanted Hills Trails Park, then complain about Valentine’s Day. But first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer<\/a>! If you have a blog and want to interact with some cool people, join us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Sentinel Peak (“A” Mountain)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last Saturday, Long-Suffering Husband and I decided to get out and do a little hiking. I didn’t want to carry a separate camera, so my photos were all taken with my iPhone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sentinel Peak is known as “A” Mountain because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The A is made of rocks and was created by University of Arizona students back in 1915. It’s usually white but gets painted in other colors occasionally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few trails crisscross the mountain and provide panoramic views of the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For some reason, a lot of the saguaros up there are blackening and lumpy, like they have cactus cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An ocotillo leafing out: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And one decorated with a lovely Guadalajara charm: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View looking toward the west, away from the city: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wildflowers: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enchanted Hills Trails Park<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When we finished at Sentinel Peak, we drove a couple of miles and found ourselves on a road that dead-ended at the Enchanted Hills Trails Park. We’d never heard of it before but loved it. The mountains are tall enough to cast some shade, which I suspect is why the landscape is a little more lush than the usual Sonoran Desert terrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’ve said it before, but the desert is in the details. This flower was about the size of a dime, easy to overlook–but stunning up close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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See-through saguaro:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This saguaro looks proud of his, um, assets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sorry, but immaturity is pretty much my brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, your intrepid blogger, looking like I combed my hair with a cactus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Valentine’s Day theme song<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Monday is Valentine’s Day. If you know me IRL you probably know I have some Valentine’s Day trauma. Part of that comes from being the nerdy kid who got through most of high school without a date, but most of it comes from 2 back-to-back incidents when I was in college:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Freshman year: Got my heart broken bigtime by someone I was head over heels for–who went to a Valentine’s Day dance with one of my best friends. Holy love triangle, Batman.<\/li>
  • Sophomore year: Got dumped by my first-ever boyfriend the night before Valentine’s Day–and an hour before learning my father was terminally ill. Good times. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    That last story has a partially happy ending, though. The night after Valentine’s Day, my best friend from high school ran into a guy I’d been lusting over the previous summer and told him I was newly single. He called, I stopped crying long enough to clean myself up and go meet him, and things went well. So well that I married him 5 years later. *waves at Long-Suffering Husband*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Still, hatred of Valentine’s Day has been part of my identity since I was 18, and I’m not one to break tradition. So, here’s your Valentine’s Day theme song:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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