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”.
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!
