seven falls, bear canyon

i had heard of seven falls

while doing research for 

the walkerz' visit, 

but had ruled it out

because of the intense hiking

that it was supposed

to take to get there.

(8 miles is nothing to sneeze at.)

turns out the hiking wasn't that intense.

and it was crazy beautiful.

after we went hiking

a friend recommended 

bobo's.

 

omg.

 

amazing.

(and they had chocolate milk!)

stop 8

when we took jrw and tlw

to sabino canyon

we discovered a pool

at stop 8. 

it's nestled at the

bottom of the canyon

with a little waterfall.

we fell in love. 

so a couple of weekends ago

we decided to take another trip

out to sabino canyon

with the express purpose of 

hanging out in this pool.

we of course timed our arrival wrong

and instead of taking a leisurely 

ride into the canyon on the tram

we walked the first mile and a half.

(we're lazy, what can i say?)

but the pool was worth it.

it was cool,

refreshing,

and beautiful.

of course,

after talking to some friends

we were told that 

while sabino canyon was nice,

bear canyon's seven falls was the bees knees.

i guess we'll have to check that out.

i'm pretty in love with

how in love arizona is

with smokey the bear.

adorable.

2012 -- week 41 -- sabino canyon & bear canyon: tucson's outdoor wonderland

2012 -- week 40 -- tucson history mixed with kickball fun

mission san xavier del bac

a little south of tucson
there stands one of the oldest
european structures in arizona:
mission san xavier del bac.




the mission was founded in 1692
by father eusebio kino,
a jesuit priest,
who traveled around pimería alta,
an area that encompasses
the sonoran desert
both in mexico and in arizona,
founding spanish missions and towns
and interacting with the native peoples.


the structure that stands today
was built in the 1780s and 1790s
and is still used,
mainly by the tohono o'odham tribe.



and it is stunning.

on a complete side note:

i mentioned that this mission was built in 1692

because i still can't get over the fact

that in the western part of the united states

everything happened so much later

than on the east coast.

 for example,

william and mary was founded in 1693;

one year after this mission was founded.

that's crazy.

mainly because when the europeans

take over an area the first thing they do

is set up religious institutions;

schools are established way later.

so it's a little wild that a school was started in va

only a year after a mission was founded in az.

 

moreover,

2012 is arizona's cenntenial.

how is arizona only 100 years old?

virginia was discovered and settled

over 400 years ago.

i realize, of course,

that there have been people 

living here since the BCs.

in fact, systematic agriculture 

began in this region in the 8000BCs,

but it all still feels so young.