Grilled Moroccan Chicken

1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 large chicken breast halves
or
4 chicken legs
or
4 chicken thighs


Whisk first 8 ingredients in large glass baking dish. Add all chicken; turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap; chill 4 to 6 hours.

Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Place marinade-coated chicken on barbecue. Grill chicken until just cooked through, occasionally brushing with any remaining marinade, about 10 minutes per side for breasts and about 12 minutes per side for leg and thigh pieces. Transfer chicken to platter. Sprinkle with parsley.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Hi again All!

Sorry it's been so long since we had an update. Nancy and I have been having fun running around exploring Tucson and the surrounding area. Yesterday, we loaded Luke and Leia into the car and took a day trip up to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, AZ.

Superior, AZ. may seem like a long way to travel from Tucson to take the dogs for a walk, but the Boyce Thompson Arboretum is a worthy destination. Admission to the park is $7.50 per adult (free for dogs) and includes, live music (when available) and guided tours.

The Arboretum has a tremendous variety of desert plants including, succulents, cacti, bushes, shrubs, trees, herbs and more. Many of the plants found at the Arboretum can also be purchased there and made part of your own personal home arboretum.

 The Boyce Thompson Arboretum is also a great place to view all types of garden wildlife such as, humming birds, butterflies, bees, lizards etc.

The main trail around the park is about a mile and a half long and is pretty easy to negotiate for the most part. There are a few areas outside of the main trail that can be a bit more challenging if you feel adventurous. No matter which trails you choose the views will be beautiful.

If you find yourself in the area of Superior, AZ drop by the Boyce Thompson Arboretum for a nice long stroll in the garden.

Have a great day everybody!!

Noah

El Guero Canelo, Tucson AZ (Sonoran Dog)

Yesterday, Nancy and I got another craving for hot dog. A ride back to Jimmy's in Bisbee would be out of the question so we decided to review our options locally. After a extensive search of the area we decided to try El Guero Canelo located at 5201 S. 12th ave here in Tucson.

El Guero Canelo is a very popular place and as you can see from the picture of the menu above, they serve a lot more than just hot dogs. But that's not why we went. We went to sample the "Sonoran Dog".

A Sonoran Dog, for those not in the know, is a bacon-wrapped, char-broiled, hot dog, stuffed into a home-made, sweet, steamed bun, smothered with pinto beans, tomato's, onions, mustard, jalapeno sauce, and mayo. We ordered ours "Sammy Style" which means you get two dogs in one bun. I highly recommend this as the toppings can overwhelm the dog if you only have one in the bun.

I can best describe the Sonoran dog from El Guero Canelo as a fiesta in a bun! The hot dogs are served blazing fresh off the grill. The toppings are fresh and cool and the bun is warm, soft and sweet.

If you find yourself in the Tucson area and craving a dog with a Sonoran flair, stop by El Guero Canelo and order a "Sammy Style" Sonoran Dog. You'll be happy you did!

Have a great day!

Be safe!

Noah

Some people think a desert is a rocky wasteland.....

Well I don't.  Here are a few pictures I took today.....enjoy!

(a mexican wolf)

(hummingbird nesting)

Morning ride to Kitt Peak

This morning Nancy wanted to do some stuff at the rig so I decided to take a ride up to Kitt Peak Observatory on the BMW. The ride is about a 100 mile round trip from Justin's Diamond and the observatory sits at about 7000 ft above sea level.

The destination.

The tool that will get me there.

There are several gravel pull-offs like this one on the 12 mile ride up the mountain.

Just a short few feet off the edge of the gravel is a steep fall to the valley several thousand feet below. Keeping the rubber on the pavement is advised.

Shot of the valley from one of the pull-offs. You can see another section of the windy road to the right.

Wandering around the observatory grounds is fun and relaxing.

There is a substantial array of sizes and style of telescope found here. From 16" to 4m optical to infrared and radio telescopes.

The solar telescope is massive.

Twilight lovers, vampires are on premises, heed the warning!

Beautiful views can be found from all corners of Kitt Peak.

It's a nice quick fun ride up (and back down) Kitt Peak and it's fun to wander around and look at all the telescope domes, but the real fun at Kitt Peak would be to attend a night observation session. That will have to be an adventure for another time.

Have a great day!

Noah

Our Day Trip to Mt Lemmon

Arizona is an amazing place! I just love the fact that you can drive, walk, ride, run a scant few miles and enjoy so many different environments and climates. We are camped on the west side of Tucson right off the back of Saguaro NP, pure sonoran desert climate. Today we drove about 40 miles one way to the top of Mt Lemmon on the north east side of Tucson. In that short distance, went from cacti to tall evergreens, from sonoran desert to alpine forest, from 85 degrees to 60 all in only 40 miles!

View of Tucson from one of the scenic overlooks. This one was probably around 3500 ft above sea level.

The road up to Summerhaven winds up the sides of the mountains to an altitude over 9000 feet. The curves and the views make it a fabulous motorcycle road.

The road can be seen snaking through the mountains from many overlooks as it twists back upon itself on it's way up the mountain.

I've read that the road up to Summerhaven was a favorite training location of Lance Armstrong. Today, hundreds of bicyclists are doing what bicyclists have always done throughout Lance's career, following his lead! The drive is fun and the views are captivating but make sure to keep your eyes open for those bicyclists, they are everywhere, especially on weekends.

Here's a few of the hundreds of bicyclists along the road to Mt. Lemmon. Note how they are all the way out in the middle of the road and barely around a blind corner. I sure hope there are no cars coming around that corner fast.

Upon arrival at the peak of Mt. Lemmon you find yourself in the tiny town of Summerhaven. Summerhaven is made up mostly of a few beautiful alpine style log cabins and a few tiny shops, including the Cookie Cabin, built into the hills.

At the Cookie Cabin you can get, Cookies! Big, giant cookies! Oh, and Pizza if you like that.

And at the very top, snow still remains. 86 degrees in the valley, drive 40 miles and see snow. Awesome!!

All along the road are numerous trail heads. I could live in Tucson for 10 years and still not hit all the trails along this one road.

The view from the roadside by the HooDoo vista.

On the way home we ate a late lunch at EeGee's. I didn't expect much from this tiny sub shop. They have had a few commercials on TV locally advertising their latest frozen drink, "Luky Lime" for St. Patricks day. Those commercials worked on us as we wanted to try that drink. Turns out the drink wasn't all that, but the subs were a delightful surprise! We each went with the 8" EeGee's club subs. They were stacked heavily with meat and the bread was very fresh. Nancy couldn't finish hers and I was quite satisfied upon finishing mine! Honestly this was one of the best cold cut subs I have had in a long time. I'll have to try them out again later to see if we just got lucky or if this place really makes subs this good all the time.

After returning to the rig, I took a quick blast on the beemer down the road to the Skeet Shooting range to watch some folks shoot for a few minutes, then returned home in time for another famous Arizona sunset.

Be Good Everybody!

Have a fantastic day!

Noah