We have been in Tucson for a little over 6 months! And until 5/13, we lived right next door to an episcopal church in a neighborhood called Armory Park, just south of downtown Tucson. The home we rented was modest but we could cook, do laundry, sleep and hang out in the living room. A big benefit of living in Tucson is that it is a great place to visit (hint, hint).
In the 6 months since we have been here, we have seen old friends more than five times. Although we have a couple of great friends here, we do not have a big group of friends and amazing community of support (YET). A huge change from our life from Rochester, and unique especially for me. So having friends and family come through brings us joy that I cannot describe.
Old friends from college, Eve and Ken, who live in Madison. They make new friends easily!The next couple who we saw, old friends from Rochester, Sheryl and Eli. (and Chris is there on the right side.) We shared the first desert superbloom with them.An old friend, Judy, who I haven’t seen in years. Wonderful to reconnect our friendship, and to meet her husband, Sam, who was lovely to take this picture. This was my new friend (hah! just seeing if you were paying attention.)I have known Rhonda since I was in second grade!Other old friends who live outside Boston, Lealdon and Robin. We were so thrilled to see them. Chris and his sister, Annette. Again those that make fast friends! Annette helped him drive a truck from Rochester, helped us unpack while she was here and visited us in our new home!
And now we own a house here, have moved in, and feel like we are living with so much, even though we reduced our furniture by more than half before we left Rochester. We never reduced anything from our kitchen and are so grateful that we have it now. Lots of smoothies and fake healthy ice cream in this Tucson kitchen! We appreciate our bed and are liking our new smart TV that was a service gift from Paychex. A lot of furniture to buy in our future which could take ten years for the least enthusiastic shoppers you know.
Chris has always been the gardener of the family and he spends time researching plants and how to garden here. Totally different! In front of our house, most of the plants are unwanted types, and there is almost nothing in the back yard. Clean slate for him! So he got our first pup. Agave pup, people – he is still allergic to dogs. A new friend, Amy, is an amazing gardener, who has agaves in front of her house, that throw off “pups’.
This pup is about the size of my thumb.The pup is connected to a root that is about 12 inches long. Someday the pup will grow into this amazing agave which is almost as tall as me.
So I am going to show you some house pictures. I want to remind you that once you see the card table in the dining room with folding chairs, it will really hit you that we sold a lot!
Heading into the front courtyard. Dining room, off the kitchen and out to the back yard. Both images of living room connected to dining area. The only finished room in the house but what else do you need?
If you are looking for our new address, email me or Chris! We hope to see you in Tucson soon. Travel is awesome!
Or unknowns of the Arizona desert (or lots of pictures and fewer words!)
The desert is mysterious. In Arizona, it will be different every spring based a number of factors. There has to be a triggering rainfall in the autumn, as well as some rainfall in January or February, and then no excessive heat (which means over 90).
It definitely all came together this year to produce “super blooms”. It truly was a wonder. Almost like we were in a different place this March and April than we were last year, but we aren’t.
Every week the blooms were different. These are some of the first!
California poppies
Then the super blooms hit. And the experience of hiking in the desert while these flowers bloomed was astonishing. Usually, in many places, it is quiet and oh so pleasant, with no crowds. In every direction, there is a view but usually tans, beiges and some green. But this spring, everywhere you looked in the hills there were colors, mostly yellow and orange . As you got closer, other colors appeared, including blue, purple, red and white. It was impossible to walk through this and not be blown over by the stunning landscape. Every time you turned your head, there was something to look at.
I have never see colors appear in the desert. On this day, there were large swaths of yellow on the hillsides.
Then as you hike, you personally get in the middle of the swaths of yellow and orange, and it becomes apparent that there are many colors, but some of them from tiny flowers.
Also there are many “normal” size flowers.
I believe the red flowers are called coral plants. OcotillaCholla (which for a while I called churros)
Such an amazing feeling as we hiked in the spring, that I never missed a weekend.
Future posts coming up include “Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign” and “Old Friends and New Digs”.
We are back in Tucson. Back in Tucson after almost 5 months. After almost 5 months of dealing with a difficult medical problem that I had. We spent June and July 2018 mostly in North Carolina and New York state, seeing friends and family, camping and hiking. We got back to Tucson after stopping in Albuquerque for a couple of days, and on August 11, 2018, I ended up in the hospital in Tucson. They found a brain tumor called a meningioma, which needed surgery. Chris determined that it made the most sense to head to Chicago where the top neurosurgeons worked at Northwestern to get a second opinion, and where friends and family were. I started treatment on September 5th and ended with the ringing of a gong on December 17th. Chris started working remote at University of Arizona on December 3rd, and continues to work there at this time.
Life is boring and interesting, all at the same time. Boring is what happens when you are used to being really active and not used to taking it easy to heal. Boring is making sure you get new license plates and drivers licenses, car insurance in a new state, a new dentist, and a new doctor. Looking for a new home is a combination of boring and interesting.
More interesting is learning how to live in a new place. Tucson is different. People are nicer and more willing to spend time with us in most cases (even those working in customer service jobs at big box stores) and sometimes because of that, I think Chris and I stick out as New Yorkers. We meet lots of people who have similar values, as Tucson is more liberal than other parts of the state. There is a lot going on in the winter because the weather is so delightful. Here are some of the things that happen every year or all the time. There is way more, but I just cannot attend everything these days!
International Gem and Mineral Show in February (the city fills with visitors for this!)
Many theater productions (Recently saw a great production called American Mariachi)
Music, music, music including the Tucson Jazz Festival (Martin Luther King day weekend)
An art theater (The Loft), much like the Little Theater in Rochester
Outside activities!!!
Tucson Festival of Books in early March
Some of the items for sale at the African Village which is part of the Gem and Mineral Show. We talked to mostly men from all over Africa, here to sell some amazing art items. Masks at the African VillagePancho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band at the Tucson Jazz Festival (downtown Tucson)Saw two different panels of authors speak at the Tucson Festival of Books, but forgot to take any pictures. Fashion from the Festival of Books! Javelinas on the front!
We are learning about different housing styles and building methods, the process of a sale (which differs from NY state), and about neighborhoods within 5 miles from where Chris works. He rides his bike to work most days. Many days, since we are close to downtown and a YMCA there, I do not use the car but walk everywhere. We still have The Hive van but are close to getting a smaller car. The Hive name for the car will be transferred, mostly because I can’t let the name go!
I was intensely excited about a license plate with a cactus on it and laughed at myself at the same time! Still really excited about it. Way better than NY plates! (sorry friends!)
Chris is working at a new job at the University of Arizona with a group of plant and data scientists. After almost 30 years of working for small and large companies in Boston and Rochester, the university is a very different environment that challenges him to learn new things most days. As you might know, he is the kind of guy that loves that! In late April, he will travel for work to the Netherlands for the Wageningen Hackathon (love that name!) He is also working on getting back into great bike shape, and seems to be progressing well (70 miles last weekend). I did start to drive again after no driving for 5 months, mostly short distances, but made it to Phoenix last week. I have a very good friend here from college which is absolutely wonderful. It is a little difficult sometimes to have enough energy to make new friends while working out to get stronger most days and trying to figure out what physical activities work for me. It will take more time to heal before I figure out what else to do with my life. I still practice mindfulness and meditation. We still hike within my physical capacity. Some of the rain this winter has created “super blooms in the desert” which have been amazing (there will be another post about spring wildflowers.)
As many of you know, since I always need a “project”, we have a “breakfast project” where we eat breakfast out once a week at different places, and try to find the best places. It is very hard to pick the best places because there are so many good breakfast joints, both divey and nicer. We really have not eaten at any place that is bad, and are enjoying the personalities we find in these places.
Maybe it is elegant elsewhere but it is still really yummy here! Best pancakes!! Breakfast with the most amazing pancakesGreat breakfast south of downtown
Another interesting experience; It snowed on February 22, 2019. It can snow often in the winter up on Mt Lemmon, but it snowed in town. I went to a wonderful yin flow yoga class that morning which was pretty large – between 20-25 people. Just imagine being in a class that size where everyone (except me) was excited about the snow. They could not stop talking about it and ten minutes into the class, 2 large doors in the back were opened so the snow could be seen. 5 minutes later, I had every item of clothing I brought on, and thankfully 5 minutes after that, the doors were closed and heat turned on. I could not complain and ruin the joy being expressed!! After class, I went to my friend’s neighborhood market (Rincon Market), which sells the freshest fish in Tucson. The cashiers were still exclaiming about the joy of the snow!
Me wearing my heaviest coat on the day it was snowing! Very few others wearing a heavy coat because they do not own them!!This is the amount of snow that excited everyone!
More to come in other posts about the spring superbloom, friends that visit, signs and the future!
Here is a taste of some of the other Albuquerque (ABQ) sites and events we were able to go to:
Old Town:
Albuquerque has a lovely old town section of the city with original buildings and lots of art.
Petrogylph National Monument:
You can hike to see thousands of petroglyphs, both made by the natives and by the Spaniards. They are everywhere. We took our friend Mark with us and got a New Yorker’s perspective on ancient drawings.
Bosque Trail:
The trail is a mixed use (horses, bikes, hikes) that follows the Rio Grande and irrigation canals on the west side of the city. Our AirB&B was about a mile away and we both spent a lot of time on our bikes on this trail. Chris used it to get to other roads to ride on while I was happy enough with the 16 mile trail to mostly stay on it.
Beside the Bosque Trail
Acoma Pueblo:
This is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America, according to the Acoma people of New Mexico. It is a native pueblo built on the top of a mesa established before Spain entered New Mexico. Although most people of the pueblo live in modern towns off the pueblo, there are 10-20 people who still live on the pueblo, which has no running water or electricity. When you take a tour, you hear about the rich history and culture of the Acoma people, see the old buildings (some with newer renovations), and see a sampling of the arts and crafts of the people. Acoma is very well known for its style of black pottery, but there are many other types of artists that show their work at the top of the mesa. There is a small museum at the pueblo cultural center which had an amazing exhibit of cartoonist Ricardo Cate, who we had never heard of. His work is very funny but also entrenched in the reality of life for native americans in the U.S.Well worth seeing!
The original mesa settled by the Acoma, used until a lightning strike drove them to look for a new home.
A ladder that goes to an ancient kiva (ceremonial site)
The church built for the Spanish by the natives
One of the older structures.
The pueblo on top of the mesa
Climbing down (we could have taken a bus)
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center:
This place represents the 19 pueblos of New Mexico and is filled with history, stories, art, dancing, and native american culture. Their message about mother earth and environmentalism is almost more relevant now than any other time, as our current administration slowly gets rid of the environmental protections we currently have and the native culture still tries to preserve the earth. .
One of the many murals.
New Mexican cuisine:
There is great Mexican food everywhere and something called New Mexican cuisine. Honestly, I could not tell the difference between old and new, except in those restaurants with new Mexican cuisine, typically you have the choice of red or green sauce, or Christmas (which is both.)
Ballooning:
Ballooning is a big event here with the annual balloon festival every October. There is a big ballooning museum which we did not get to, but we did love often seeing balloons outside our bathroom window when we woke up.
Hiking:
We did less hiking here because of visitors, yoga and century rides. We did hike up El Pino trail on the last weekend, and because 9 miles one day was not enough for Chris, he did 8+ miles on the La Luz trail on the next day! There are three climate zones as you go up the mountains so we saw amazing wild flowers in one of the zones.
Heading up El Pino trail.
Some of the wildflowers we saw on the way up.
At the top of El Pino trail.
The hay truck on our street:
I don’t know why this was parked on our street for almost the whole time we were in ABQ, but needed to share this picture.
From Albuquerque, we have been traveling back east to meet our daughter on the Outer Banks at the end of June. On the way, we stopped in a couple of places.
Bandolier National Monument:
The main ruins at Bandolier.
Beginning of the cliff dwellings.
Hot Springs, Arkansas:
The one hot spring that does not funnel into a bathhouse.
An old bathhouse where we visited the baths.
Another old bathhouse, now the national park visitor center.
Memphis:
Site of the assassination of Martin Luther King.
Natchez Trace and Blue Ridge Parkway:
We spent a short time driving and trying to hike in the very wet national forests in Tennessee and North Carolina. Eventually we gave up camping because we did not have the right equipment for the rain. We are outside Raleigh right now waiting for Saturday when we meet Calysta in the Outer Banks for a week. After that we are headed to Rochester for 2-4 weeks, so the blog will be quiet for a while.
We use words like awesome, vast, and enormous all the time. Well, the 10 days we spent traveling from Tucson to the Sedona area and then to Albuquerque put an entirely new spin on those words. Although we knew the Sedona area was not really an option for us as a home, we wanted to see the red rocks, the mesas and buttes, and were lucky to be able to take a side trip to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.
On our way, we visited Jerome, an old mining town nestled into the side of a mountain. They take their history seriously here. There is a façade of an old building that hides a glass artist’s studio, and an old jail that slid over 200 feet and still stands. Many buildings are said to be haunted and we had lunch at Haunted Hamurger (no nightmares that evening). There are tons of stairs that connect homes like we saw in Bisbee, lots of kitsch, shops, galleries, bars, and restaurants.
Scary place to eat 🙂
Jerome is right near Tuzigoot National Monument, which besides indulging my new obsession with visiting national parks, recreation areas and monuments, was our first view of pueblo ruins (from 900-1300 AD). The pueblo is on a hilltop, was built by the Sinagua people who were farmers and artists who traded with other Native Americans hundreds of miles away. When they were living at the pueblo, there was more water. They had sophisticated farming methods.
The rooms of Tuzigoot
The Tuzigoot people used these stones to grind flour from mesquite.
Pretty cactus flowers
In all of the historic communities we saw, there used to be much more water, and so I learned something new on our way from Tucson to Sedona. Last fall and winter were relatively dry in many places in the Southwest, so fire restrictions, sometimes rated severe, are everywhere. This means no wood or charcoal fires, and as one sign indicated “Fire Restrictions – No Shooting.” I am such a midwest/northeast city person that Chris had to explain why!
We actually saw our first rain for a couple of months when we got to the Sedona area. It rained on and off much of the next day, so we took it easy in the morning, and visited an amazing building, Chapel of the Holy Cross. The Chapel of the Holy Cross is Catholic, built into the mesa, and designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. When I walked in, I was struck by the design similarities to Temple Sinai in Rochester. The side walls are slightly tipped towards the center, and the back wall is glass with an inspiring view.
Chapel of the Holy Cross
We did spend the rest of the day shopping and eating , at Tlaquepaque (t-lac-apaca) Arts and Crafts Village – an authentic Mexican village (except for the modern stores). I think I might actually like shopping if all malls looked like this. On the way back to our AirB&B, we stopped and I tasted wine at Page Springs Winery.
Tlaquepaque Villlage
About an hour from Flagstaff (outside of Winslow, AZ – any songs come to mind?) is a meteor crater that is 50,000 years old. Although it is not a national park (so I could not indulge my current obsession here), it is nearly one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep. Because the local winds swirl and lift any accumulating dust out, it does not get filled in. You can tour the site and get lots of great scientific information.
a very small fragment of the meteor
Trace fossils
On my own one day when Chris was otherwise engaged, I hiked at Fay Canyon, had lunch at a paleo restaurant, did a yoga class in Flagstaff, and had dinner at Criollo. Never fear, the hike was easy and well populated. That night was First Friday in Flagstaff, so there were people and music everywhere, open galleries, and an outdoor creperie.
The first sign one sees on the way into Fay Canyon. Seriously, who feeds bears?
Fay Canyon from the beginning of the hike
I call this goblet rock
View looking out of Fay Canyon
The end of the canyon
Dinner at Criolla
Tequila flight at Criolla
Flagstaff had another great things to offer including one of the best signs I have ever seen about driving drunk. “Drive hammered, get nailed.” True that.
From Flagstaff one day, after breakfast at the tasty and funky retro Tourist Home Café and Market, we went to the Grand Canyon and oh my, is it grand! We biked across the south rim for 5-6 hours stopping along the way. OMG. Awesome. Vast. My mouth nearly hit the ground at the first view point and I continued to truly be in awe the whole day. I have traveled a lot and seen a lot of neat places, but the canyon is indescribable. On our way home that night, in a very dark place, we pulled over to see the stars. Without light, on a clear night, there were so many that it took your breath away.
First view of the canyon – It is called the Grand Canyon for good reason!
The trail we want to hike on our next trip here.
On another day, we went to see two national monuments, Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well. These monuments preserve and show off cliff dwellings, again built by the Sinagua people. At the castle, there was a man playing music on a traditional flute which made the walk to see the dwellings kind of magical. We also got to eat traditional frybread on our way out, kind of like fried dough but lighter.
Montezuma Castle cliff dwellings
Indian fry bread – Yum
At Montezuma Well, we saw a large limestone sinkhole which is always full due to a natural spring, with cliff dwellings on the side. This pueblo built 7 miles of irrigation canals from the spring to their fields.
Part of a seven mile irrigation canal built by the Sinagua over 900 years ago.
We did a balloon ride, a bunch of really great amazing hikes near Sedona, and visited the Petrified Forest National Park (which includes the painted desert) but that’ll be the topic of my next post.
On our four mile walk through the East Saguaro National Park yesterday, I was struck by how much the desert was blooming. Not that it hadn’t been blooming before, but there are even more flowers now that it’s warmed up a little bit.
It’s been really interesting seeing Tucson green-up during March and April. When one is up on a hill or mountain overlooking the valley, the formerly brown and dark olive colors have changed to be uniformly green. During this time the bougainvillea and palo verde have bloomed like mad, as have some barrel cacti, other early cacti, and all types of agave.
So it was really neat to see all the other flowers blooming now that the heat has arrived and made things comfortable (for me and the cacti at least). During the walk, I decided to take pictures of all the different flowering plants. This post is about those flowers I saw during our 4 mile, 98 degree hike (I loved it, but my love – she melted a bit).
I’m going to start with the trees that we saw. No palo verdes are shown here, but those are still blooming all around Tucson dropping their piles of compelling yellow flowers everywhere.
The prickly pear and cholla (choy-ah) are blooming finally. The prickly pear run from pink to light yellow, including a light lemon color. The cholla flowers are mostly a deep red with hints of black, or a bright yellow. Some of the cholla don’t appear to flower but drop new growths onto the ground which then may take root. I think most of the time it doesn’t work out that way; the “nurseries” can be full of dead Cholla babies (to go full Grimm).
There are also a wide assortment of small flowers low to the ground. Some of them are only one quarter inch wide. So cute!
There’s also this special one that appears to be related to tobacco (due to the leaf and flower shape). What’s tobacco doing in the Sonoran desert?
The fairy dusters are long gone, but the other shrubs are just starting out. This included one that has pale brown flowers that look totally fake.
Honorable mention goes to the kings and queens of the dessert; the saguaros that are just getting started on their blooms. Also, the hedgehog and pincushion cacti are in various stages of starting and ending.
Last but not least are some photos of the trails we hiked on. I chose these due to the amount of erosion which helps show the trail. Most of the trail was flat and in full sun.
Beth dumped the rest of her water bottle about 3/4 of the way through the hike because the water become too warm for her. It wasn’t boiling (yet) but it was a perfect tea sipping temperature.
After over 2 weeks of 90+ Fahrenheit (33+ Celsius), the desert appears to have decided spring has sprung
I thought I had captured most of the bridge art but here are a few more nuggets from my long bike ride on Saturday.
From the Rillito Park portion of the Loop
Bisbee – We visited Bisbee, an old mining town, about an hour and a half from Tucson. It seems like an old hippie town now, filled with restaurants, bars, art galleries, and mining history. The town is nestled into the mountains where you would think it should not fit. The streets are connected by hundreds of stairs, and of course, we did the walking tour. For my running/triathlete friends, there is a running event every year called the Bisbee 1000 (The Great Stair Climb). By wandering up and down these stairs (and mostly we went up), you get to see this eccentric, decorated town. We also had some good food and great drinks. We did not get tickets for the copper mine tour soon enough and it was sold out, so clearly another visit is necessary!
A view of one of the main streets in Bisbee with the mountains in view. Below you will see some of house and public art we saw as we marched up and down the city stairs.
Bisbee is a place where old items are reused.
Annette and I enjoying a tequila flight, and Chris cheering us on!
We saw these bedazzled cars on our walk, and did see this one driving around later in the day!
Tohuno Chul – This is a garden, galleries and bistro. Kind of an enchanted place with a non-profit mission to connect people with the magic of nature and art in the Sonoran Desert region, as well as inspire them to care for the world. It is pretty unique. The gardens are stunning when you hike through them, the exhibitions were brilliant, and they have a wonderful gift shop with local art.
Art in the garden
Hiking – We have hiked many trails and mountain ranges but the newest standout for fun and challenge is Picacha Peak. Although the first 2 miles of trail were normal desert trail, the last mile is full of sections where it is necessary to use cables inserted in rock either to haul yourself up or to hold onto to ensure you do not fall sideways down the cliff wall. We love this kind of “almost rock climbing” and really enjoyed scrambing to the top of this peak where there is a 360 degree view of the desert around you! And the saguaros, pencil cholla and prickly pear cacti were blooming in Picacha State Park. This past weekend, we hiked the very challenging Finger Rock Trail for 8 miles and 2000 plus feet of elevation gain on the way to Mount Kimball. It was a challenging hike where at about 4000 feet, the saguaro desert gave way to a totally different landscape where there were still some cacti and agave, but also oaks, pines and manzanitas.
Flowering prickly pear
Chuckwalla lizard – This one was less than a foot away from us, sunning on a rock, could care less that we were there. There was a larger one, 20 feet away on a rock, that had a different color tail. This meant it had lost its original tail, and grew a new one.
Climbing!
View of Picacha Peak.
View from Picacha Peak.
Lunch at the top of Picacha Peak.
View of Finger Rock (rocks in the middle) from the Finger Rock Trail
In a silly moment I called this “Cactus Skeleton with Live Cactus and Live Person”. This is what a saguaro looks like when it dies.
A view going back down.
A rare species on this blog.
Some of the other beautiful items and views on our Finger Rock Trail hike.
Downtown – We haven’t spent much time here but visited on a Saturday night to see some local music at an outdoor venue within the Hotel Congress. The area was jam-packed and there seemed to be many events; huge lines at the Rialto Theater and at the Fox Theater; local vendors selling handcrafted items; a street blocked off with food trucks; a group protesting the U.S. attack on Syria. People walking everywhere! People watching everywhere! We watched a couple of local bands in the coolness of the dusk and neon signs at Hotel Congress, while Chris had coffee and a huge slice of chocolate mousse cake, and I had a cocktail. Everyone’s needs got met!!
A downtown sculpture with a view of a nice building.
Some great neon
at Hotel Congress.
Kartchner Caverns – About 30 minutes from Tucson, there is a state park that contains a cave system discovered in the early 70’s. We have been awed visiting caves before, but this place is different. Two local cavers found a narrow crack in the bottom of a sinkhole, and followed the source of warm, moist air toward what ended up being more than 2.5 miles of pristine cave passages. With the help of a local state biologist, they kept the location a secret for fourteen years, deciding that the best way to preserve the cavern — which was near a freeway — was to develop it as a tour cave through the Arizona State Park system. So this cave is “living” and continues to develop and change. You are able to take two different tours, and for this visit, we chose the Rotunda tour which has types of formations that I have never heard of before and is an active bat maternity ward. This part of the cave is actually closed to visitors from April 15 – October 15th while the bats mate and have babies. Arizonans value bats for their insect eating abilities! The original discoverers found a sloth skeleton from 80,000 years ago in the cave. The care taken to keep this cave “living” is extraordinary! Tour guides give you instructions at the beginning of the tour that if you touch anything besides the built railings, that if you tell them, a flag is placed there so that evening, the cleaning crew can come in, and get the oils that are on your hands cleaned off so the cave continues living!
Tucson Art Museum – We visited on a Thursday night, when it was open ‘til 8 pm, with children’s activities. Although we did not love the special exhibits, they were interesting, and there is some wonderful sculpture and native American art. They also have an incredible café with great coffee, food and art.
Mexican food -There are so many options for authentic Mexican food, it makes your head spin. Standouts have been El Charro and Café Poca Cosa. For breakfast, the Little One Café, owned by sisters of the Poca Cosa chef, excelled for amazing food, great prices, and an even better vibe. And the tamales everywhere! I know I have mentioned how much I love tamales, and we are staying pretty close to the #1 place In Tucson called Tucson Tamales.
The Little One Cafe in downtown Tucson
The music is not that loud. And the hug is for real!
Yes. Tamales for breakfast (sweet green corn tamale).
Tucson Food Bank – Since we were going to be here for 2 months, a great opportunity to learn more about the community was doing community service at the local food bank. The Tucson Food Bank is huge and has many programs; an organic garden, community kitchen, food drives, community garden plots, gardening lessons, weekend backpack programs for children, produce rescue, and senior meals, to name just a few. I volunteered at the food bank directly, taking jobs that required little or no training. Most of the people volunteering for these jobs were court ordered in some way (mostly for parking violations or DUIs), although there were a few others like me who did it because they wanted to give back. There were two high school students from Italy who were in Tucson living with families and doing an internship at the food bank. We packed boxed food that came to the food bank into smaller quantities for people who then picked up at the food bank or other locations. I have never seen so many tomatoes and spaghetti squashes in one day before! Tucson, Pima County and the surrounding area has a lot of hunger, so this resource is a gem in the desert!
The people – We are so fortunate to have my friend from college here. She and her husband have been so welcoming and include us on all kinds of events with their Tucson “family”. After being here for so long, with no actual family here, they have created a community of friends that are their family, and that we have greatly enjoyed! Their daughter visited for 2 weeks and we got the opportunity to get to know her as an adult (along with her lovely boyfriend.) In general, people here are pretty nice; not just exceedingly polite the way folks are in the south, but genuinely interested in talking and helping.
My dear friend Vikki who lives here in Tucson and I on a hike.
We have also had visitors. We welcome anyone who will be in the areas we are visiting, or near these areas to stop in for a visit. Chris’ sister, Annette, was here for a week, and 2 friends from college have visited as well! Quite frankly, there are times when I am a little desperate to have that social interaction that you have with someone that is not your spouse. This has happened less in Tucson than other places because we have a little built in social network.
One more week here and then on to Sedona/Cottonwood and Albuquerque!
The landscape in Tucson, although incredibly stunning, takes some getting used to if you recently lived in the Northeast. Even though it is spring and there are blooming cacti, flowers, trees and bushes, there is a lot of sand. In the Northeast, if there is dirt, most often, it is covered by grass, weeds, or other types of landscaping. Starting in April or May, the green is lush and cannot be missed. But in Tucson, there is a lot of sand and a lot of rock. Anything blooming stands out to you, and viewed from the perspective of the flats of the city, there are mountain ranges in every direction. The sunrises and sunsets decorate the sky on a regular basis like there is a party going on.
Maybe the starkness of the landscape is why there is so much public art and bridge decorations? In any case, we really enjoy the bridge decorations, and wanted to share some of them. These photos are from “the Loop”, 131 miles of bike/pedestrian path around the city. The highway bridges are often decorated as well, but much more difficult to stop and photograph.
There is a pedestrian/bike bridge downtown that is built like a rattlesnake. (Click here for a link to photos of this bridge.)
There is so much fun stuff to do in Tucson that we can’t get to much of it!
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum – Visiting is a “must-do” with anyone who wants to see the sights of Tucson. It is a large, mostly outdoors museum with 98 acres that include a zoo, botanical garden, art gallery, natural history museum and aquarium. Highlights were the raptor free flight show, cactus garden, walk in aviary, and the company!
Great Horned Owl during the Free Flight Raptor Show. These birds fly so close overhead that you could reach up and touch them (is possible but frowned upon because you can hurt them). Birds of a different feather below (the human kind!)
Some of the amazing flowering cacti and agave we saw at the museum.
March for our Lives – The walk and rally was an overwhelmingly moving event. I didn’t know about it until the morning it happened when I overheard some women talking while I was walking down Tumamoc Hill. Luckily they were very happy to have me ask them more about it! I got there late but was able to hear the speakers talking to the crowd on the University of Arizona green space. Since the event was organized by high school students, most speakers were students who spoke about how gun violence impacted them; daughters who lost their mothers; teenagers who worry each day about whether they will leave school on the bus, or in a body bag; adults shot at the same time as Gabby Gifford. The Gabby Gifford shooting occurred here at a Safeway grocery store in Tucson, and is an event that changed lives here forever. Most politicians in AZ still will not embrace any kind of change to gun laws, but there were a couple supporting this, and one of them was shot in the same event as Gabby Giffords. But the most moving for me was to have teenagers (still children!) be so articulate about the events. Their feelings shaped my views on this important issue forever.
“Dinner and a show” (and Shabbat) in the desert – I am visiting synagogues to find out more about them so we attended a hike, service and dinner in the National Saguaro Park East. We sat facing a sunset that was absolutely breathtaking and met some very wonderful welcoming people.
Museum of Contemporary Art – Located in a huge old fire station with garage doors and so much light, this small museum had really interesting exhibits and collections.
Cyclovia Tucson – A day where a 2.5 mile route on Tucson streets is closed for bikes and pedestrians, and there are events and activities along the way. It was really wonderful to ride with hundreds, as well as walk with my friend for part of the way. There were so many families on bikes, and even a couple of young toddlers riding their tricycles. I found an acai food truck and had a great smoothie. And also found a new neighborhood (Lost Barrio) where historic warehouses are being renovated to house businesses.
This is Dead Cow bike, a well known sight. I did not see the man who rides it, but the video online shows how the legs move when the bike is ridden.
Yoga – There are so many studios here in Tucson (and even more massage therapists.) I practice 5 days a week and spent 4 weeks at 4th Avenue Yoga, but am now trying out a variety of studios. The strength and calm that I get each day from this practice is inspiring. Last week, I visited studios called Yoga Oasis and Yoga is Therapy. This week, I plan to visit Sessions Yoga and Om Yoga (where they offer yoga using silks, a tool used in aerial circus work.)
“Are we really doing this?” has turned into “how do you do this?” How do you live in a place that is not your home, make it feel like you are at home, and learn enough about it to determine if you want it to be your home? This is different than being on vacation where we fill the days with interesting things to eat, to do and to see. We are living our lives but in different places, without a place to call home. As far I can tell, you do this with a really open mind and heart, a few important belongings, and constant research of the environment around you.
Here are some tips we have found helpful.
Bring along some pictures of family and friends to decorate wherever you stay.
A couple days before you arrive, or when you arrive someplace new, research at least one thing you want to do so you can start living your life immediately. For me, that is finding a yoga studio or gym, along with hiking spots. For Chris, it is finding bike routes and groups to bike with.
It is fun and helpful also to have a “project” or two to help explore the new place. In Tucson, project number 1 is an exploration of a bunch of different coffee roasters, and recently we have started to try as many breakfast restaurants as we can.
Pillows are important, as are comfortable beds. We decided to take our pillows along, and as a result, I actually sleep the first night in a new place.
If you intend to cook some of your meals versus having takeout or going out all the time, a few kitchen items are important; a couple of good knives, cutting board, French press pots and coffee grinder for us, commonly used spices, containers for leftovers, pot holders, garlic press, citrus squeezer, rubber gloves, and vegetable peeler. (Thanks to Susan S. for her thoughts on living away from home for several months at a time. I expanded what you told me a little and we are pretty happy that we did!)
You need way less clothes than you think especially if you are in the southwest. I did not want to feel like I was on vacation and living out of a suitcase, but have been putting away clothes for storage in Rochester since we got to Northern California.
Living and working remote can be a little isolating, so for us it is important to have a few activities outside of the house that we are passionate about (hiking and biking for us, museums and tourist attractions for others). Volunteer work can be a good way to get to know a community so if this was part of your old life, make it part of your new life.
We are mostly staying at houses and apartments found on Air B&B and VRBO. It is important to have a sense of humor about the places you stay. They are all different in some way from what you expect. Communicate positively about what you need to the hosts, and be realistic about what you can expect. We have learned that we may need to pay a little more to stay closer to the center of cities, but that this is worthwhile to us, because we want to be able to walk and bike short distances to where we want to go. If the place has been seriously oversold, consider moving to another place. Air B&B will work with you on getting refunds.
If you are used to purchasing some items online that you cannot easily find in stores, free Amazon delivery with Amazon Prime across the US may be something to invest in.
Talk to everyone you come into contact with. Find out what they like about their town, their life, and hit them up for tips on whatever you are interested in.
It is super helpful to have someone reliable as a forwarding address to get your mail (thank you, Annette). Pay all your bills online so you can get rid of as much mail as possible, but have someone who can forward your mail on a regular basis.
The Tucson landscape and architecture is so different from what we are used to that it takes some getting used to. The city is surrounded by four mountain ranges, the Tucsons, Rincons, Santa Catalinas and Santa Ritas. The city is relatively flat but wherever you look there are mountains. Many times, because of the intense light, they look 2 dimensional, as if someone has surrounded the city with very large beautifully painted poster boards.
Tucson Adventures
It’s been a good whirlwind since we hit Tucson. The first weekend, we spent time with my college friends (one who lives here and one in from Alaska), and explored a great restaurant called Café Poco Cosa and went to a fundraiser for a non-profit called ICS. The second weekend, another college friend, from Portland, was in town and we explored the Tucson Festival of Books, a large festival where there are tons of lectures and readings, book signings, food stands, activities for kids, publisher and author booths. We heard Jeffrey Kruger, Time Magazine writer and the author of multiple books including Apollo 13, who also happened to go the same Baltimore high school as my friend. We ate roasted corn, tamales, and Frost Gelato. We also attended Scott Simon, author and host of NPR’s Saturday morning weekend edition’s talk. Scott Simon was definitely the highlight as he spoke about my hometown, his book about my favorite ball club, the Chicago Cubs, politics, relationships, gun control and a number of other topics. The weekend ended on Sunday night at Sidecar, a fabulous craft cocktail bar with house made ingredients.
NPR’s Scott Simon
That same weekend, Chris and I took our first hike in Tucson at Sabino Canyon National Recreation Area, to Seven Falls. This is considered “touristy” to the folks who live here, and heading back to the car felt a little like being on the trail version of a super highway, but this eight mile round trip hike ended at seven falls and pools of water where you could swim (too cold for me), that are there in the desert most of the year. We started out early which was nice because it was pretty quiet on the way there, and there was lots of time to see the views. There are a ton of different cacti, including the many saguaros (the ones that look like they have arms.) Sometimes the way they were all lined up in a row, it looked like we were hiking past a saguaro cactus farm.
We both got big hats. The sun is so strong!
Two mallards at the falls
On the way back, there were a lot of hikers. At times, Chris and I felt like we were an advertisement for others being able to make it to the end. (Imagining the other much younger hikers looking at us and saying to themselves “well if they can make it, no problem for us!) I saw my first roadrunner about a mile from the end of the trail, which was very exciting, and a tiny, tiny cactus covered with flowers.
Arizona Fishhook Cactus, about 4 inches high
Flowering barrel cactus
Since we have been here, we have also seen a coyote on the bike path (which headed away from us as soon as it saw us), and several other roadrunners and birds. I have yet to see a javelina, a wild pig like creature that sometimes is even seen in neighborhoods near downtown Tucson.
Our hike last weekend was to Romero Pools in the Santa Catalina State Park. This area was home to Hohokam Indians from 500-1050 AD, and has a rich history of ranching after that time. On a Sunday afternoon, we did a self-guided biking tour of public art in and around downtown Tucson.
Blooms we saw on our way to Romero Pools (the largest one is called Fairy Duster and is very popular with hummingbirds)
We saw this great house while on our art tour.
Some of the amazing murals and one sculpture that can be found in and around downtown Tucson.
We have discovered such a great bakery that we keep going back. It is called Barrio Bread, and is a local bakery whose baker works with local farmers to grow ancient grains. Sidecar, a craft cocktail bar, is another place we have gone to multiple times. During our breakfast exploration project, we have visited Frank’s and Francisco’s (where we sat at the counter for “breakfast and a show” and where their motto is “elegant dining elsewhere”), the Bizbee Breakfast Club, where I had what seems to be a Tucson original, blueberry granola pancakes, 5 Points Market and Restaurant, and Eclectic Café. For coffee, we have purchased beans at Ombre, Raging Sage, Cartel Coffee, Exo, and Shot in the Dark. So far my favorite is Raging Sage, but I still miss my JamaicaMeCrazy decaf beans from Canaltown in Rochester!
It has been 2 hectic weeks since we left Redding. Since we left, we have explored Joshua Tree National Park, stayed at the Space Age Lodge, moved into a new casita, visited with three of my college friends (!!), had a couple of very good Mexican food meals, biked on the Loop trail, eaten sorbet at Frost Gellato, eaten roasted corn and attended 2 author talks at the Tucson Festival of Books, done yoga, worked, seen two coyotes and three roadrunners (beep beep), had an amazing cocktail at the SideCar, bought bread at the Barrio Bakery, and coffee at Ombre Roasters and Raging Sage Café, and hiked to Seven Falls at Sabino Canyon. On Friday, it will be two weeks since we arrived in Tucson. But I will talk about Tucson in another post.
We left Redding a day early. We got up that morning and Chris was really twitchy, and I was ready to leave as well. After canceling my afternoon meeting and packing up in about an hour and a half, we said goodbye to the ‘rents (our landlords in Redding), and got on the road. Joshua Tree was a long drive but a logical place to stop so we could be in Tucson easily from there. We planned to camp at Cottonwood Spring Campground on the southern border. We got there around 11 pm, put up our tent in the moonlight with a headlamp, rolled out our mats and sleeping bags, and went to sleep. All was well for a while, but in a couple of hours, I started to notice that I was cold. I already had warm clothing on, but the thermostat dove lower than we anticipated, so I was up at about 4 am, unable to fall back asleep. I moved my mat and bag closer to Chris and snuggled in, thinking that would help. No deal. Finally he noticed and kind of enveloped me partially within his bag as well, so I was able to stay in the tent until about 6. At that point we gave in, and decided to pack up and get ready to hike. I knew I was not spending another night camping in the same conditions.
Panorama view of the desert.
We hiked 8 miles through two palm oases (plural of oasis) in beautiful sun, but windy weather. In the desert, the landscape changes so much from place to place, so the morning was full of pointing out desert landscape objects. The hike turned around after reaching Lost Palms Oasis, where there are more fan palms than any other place in Joshua Tree. When I knew we were headed to an oasis, I thought there may be visible water, but that was not the case. When the ancient Native Americans lived here, they did have spring water. On the trail, we passed a rock that had a depression hollowed out from these ancients grinding corn on the rock. We got back to our car shortly after noon, and decided to go on a hunt for Joshua trees, which Chris had never seen. Then we found out that there are no Joshua trees in the southern part of the park, which is part of a different desert. So we drove north, and I had some momentary excitement as we passed Fried Liver Wash (because I liked the sound of the name.) The real excitement came when we went around a bend and a coyote was trotting down the road. We found our Joshua tree, and headed south and out of the park to Chiriaco Summit Coffee, where we had coffee and french fries, and plotted our next steps.
The depression on the left in the rock is from natives using the stone to grind flour.
First view of Lost Palms Oasis
Happy couple with palms
We looked at staying overnight in Phoenix, and when that did not work out, found the Space Age Lodge in Gila Bend, Arizona. Hoping against all odds that Gila Bend would have gila monsters, we arrived at our hotel by 8 pm and skipped dinner because of the approximately 15 cups of Trader Joe’s popcorn we ate in the car. I crashed pretty quick so it was morning before we could explore the Space Age Lodge.
I made an alien friend in the gift shop!
I am happy to say that although the Space Age Lodge was not really a notable landmark, my love of kitsch took over when I saw the murals, signs, and building design. With all kinds of images of space travel everywhere, an older motel had been purchased by Best Western and newly renovated, so we had a clean comfortable place to sleep after our camping debacle.
All the interesting or flowering stuff we saw in Joshua Tree.
As we drove from there to Tucson, we saw crops in the desert and palm tree farms. We also passed the Boot Barn, which we have seen in several towns in the West. Because we have seen them so many times, I thought it deserved a visit. Chris disagreed saying “you are more of a ‘stomp on it’ versus a ‘hee haw’ type of girl.” True that!
