October 8, 2021

Twisted Union

Twisted Union Wine Company Elgin, Arizona

We have stayed at Catalina State Park before.  I love that it is nestled against the mountains, in a natural environment, with nice hiking trails, and at the same time it is just outside Tucson.  We could hear coyotes yipping on and off through the night.  There was lots of evidence of their presence…tracks and scat on the trail this morning. 

We don’t usually come to Arizona in the fall.  There has been a lot of rain and things look very different and very green.  This is a desert thorn-apple.  These plants are extremely (fatally) poisonous to both animals and people.

This is a blue swallowtail caterpillar.  

Someday that caterpillar will be a blue swallowtail butterfly.

We could only get one night at Catalina.  We started looking for other options and found a Harvest Host Winery in the town of Elgin.  We took 10E out of Tucson and then 83S to Elgin.  We traveled over gently rolling hills.

We stayed at the Twisted Union Wine Company in Sonoita Wine Country. 

After settling and resting a while, we went inside for a tasting.  We chose a bottle of Reign Check red wine, some cheddar biscuits, and provolone wrapped in prosciutto and took our afternoon snack out to the patio.  We met another couple and chatted about wine and travel and life.  We are not big drinkers and day drinking is NOT part of our usual routine, but I really wanted the full experience and I was not disappointed.

We are on a prairie at 4800 feet of elevation.  It was in the 80’s but there was a gentle breeze blowing all evening. I walked along the fence line.

We took our dinner outside and watched the sun change the color of the sky. We watched the tiny sliver of the moon and used the binoculars to see the shadows.

We saw Venus and then Saturn, using the Star Walk App to orient ourselves.

What a perfect Friday night date night!