Tanque Verde swap meet & Agua Caliente Park

Tanque Verde swap meet is a big thing in Tucson and is the largest meet of it's kind in the area.  It really is a flea market with many different vendors in buildings, back of trucks, car trunks, small tables and everything in between.  Parking is at a premium and we took the Saturn car rather Dick's crew cab Ford F-350 dually truck.  We would never have found a spot to park it.

As soon as we walked into the sales area Dick spotted a really nice hat.  I managed to get the vendor to knock off a few bucks if we bought two, so now I have a nice hat for walking around in the bright Tucson sun.  Sue bought a straw hat and all three of us were decked out and ready to go.

I'm not really into flea markets, but managed to walk up and down three of the six rows of vendors.  I didn't see anything of interest so the hat was my only purchase, other than a glass of Shocktop beer.  I managed to find the beer tent and claimed a spot at a bench and watched all the people go by.  People-watching at these places is very interesting and entertaining.

Dick with his new hat checking for bargains.

Friendly Macaw.  Check it's eyes.

Nothing to add here.

One street of the flea market.

  Gerry had some chores to catch up on so she stayed behind for this part of the day.  After the flea market we stopped by the motor home and picked her up.  Our destination was Tucson McGraw's Cantina right down the road from us.  We sat on the veranda and enjoyed a nice late lunch/early dinner.  The beer went down real nice there and the food portions were huge.  

Dick & Sue

Since we were in that part of town, we showed Dick & Sue some of the nice homes in the area.  We road around a number of the neighborhoods and admired the beautiful homes.  The Agua Caliente Park was nearby so we checked it out, too.  It looked like it was a beautiful place, but badly in need of some water.


Roy P. Drachman - Agua Caliente Regional Park

Agua Caliente Park is named for the perennial warm water spring that supports several ponds, some seasonal, and creates a unique desert oasis.  An open lawn is flanked by huge date palms, and the stream bank is lined with mature California fan palms interspersed with native trees and shrubs like Goodding's willow,  mesquite, cottonwood, hackberry, and wolfberry.  There are scenic vistas of the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains.

Due to the prolonged and severe drought in the Tucson area the ponds are very low and there is a real concern that the oasis will disappear if something isn't done.  They are pumping water into the ponds, but not enough to keep them from drying up.  Also, the palms and other plants draw down the water a lot.

We finished off the day by observing another beautiful sunset out here in Tucson.  The weather was great with temps in the high 70s.  Love it.

That was our day, how was yours?