I have acquired a sun hat.

And SPF 50 sunscreen. At the market, they only had Banana Boat Tanning Oil (the opposite of sunscreen), or SPF 50. Nothing in between. Given all the sun damaged skin I've seen in these parts, I went with the 50. I will be applying two coats. Seriously, you should see the wrinkles out here.

I Believe I Have Achieved the Rank of "Professional Nerd"

I’ve always been a nerd, never ashamed of it. Today may have bumped me into a new category of nerd-dom. Today I saw something that was so cool, I can hardly describe it.

Today, I went to Biosphere 2.

I know!! It was totally fantastic. And, the tour actually takes you INTO THE BIOMES! I’m not kidding. It was wicked awesome. I can not imagine living there, though. Apparently the second ‘human mission’ in the ‘Sphere was abruptly cancelled due to interpersonal drama. I guess you lock up 8 scientists for 6 months, and it gets all Real World up in there.

The door that sealed the scientists inside. Kind of ominous...

The grounds of the Biosphere are quite lovely as well:

Another Hatless Walk Through the Desert at Noon

I really had intended to get to Saguaro National Park in the early morning, but slept through my alarm...by a few hours. And, still haven’t found a sun hat. So, I doubled down on the sunscreen and hit the park. I did two short hikes, very nice. SO peaceful.

It wouldn’t be a weekend in Tucson without discovering something else that can kill me. Today’s discovery: Africanized Bees. Much like Gob, I’m not down with the bees. The National Park Service’s advice should you find yourself under attack: "run away as fast as you can. Bees don’t like to get too far from the hive, so after a half mile, they’ll stop attacking." I doubt I could run a half mile under the best conditions, the bees would surely win that one.

I still am amazed at how blue the skies are here. The cacti set against the sky are gorgeous, the photos don’t do them justice:

Well over 100 years old:

"Baby saguaro", probably 15 years old.

Birds and other animals live in saguaro, seeking shelter from the heat and water stored in the cactus. Here's a close up of an entry point:

Skeleton of a dead saguaro.

View of the valley from the summit of the hiking trail:

Tohono Chul

Friday afternoon I headed to Tohono Chul, a park/garden in northern Tucson. At the admission counter, I was greeted with this beauty:




I decided to go in anyway. It was lovely, lots of pretty things. Mercifully I saw no snakes on the trail. Pictures below.

I then went to Zinburger for dinner, and it was fantastic. I should have pushed the car home to work off those calories, but it was totally worth it.

Enemy, thy name is "Woodpecker"

Nature. Bah!

At least he's a lazy woodpecker, just pecks a little then leaves. Guess that's the good kind of noisy bird to have attacking the house.

This Week in Tucson

A pretty good week in Tucson. At Beth's recommendation, I went to see an interesting band on Wednesday night at a bar on 4th Street, had a very lovely time. Haven't been sleeping well, so Friday I took it easy and went to bed early. Not Eric early, but early for me.

Saturday I went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Not really sure what I was expecting, but I clearly didn't plan the trip well. I went on this walk through the desert at high noon (84 degrees in the strong sun), without a hat, wearing black. Way to go! It was lovely, despite the "watch out for snakes!" signs. Pictures below. I'm already sick of all the clothes I have with me, so last night I headed to the Tucson Mall. Please insert your Jersey girl/mall jokes in the comments.

Today I went to Kartchner Caverns. Photographs aren't allowed, which is too bad as the caves were beautiful. That link will take you to some lovely shots.

Being a northeasterner, I'm always shocked when things weren't discovered hundreds of years ago. Half the towns I lived in in Massachusetts were founded in the 1600s. It was shocking to learn that this cave system wasn't *discovered* until 1974, it didn't become protected land until 1988, and, it didn't open to the public until 1999. 1999!! It just shocks my Yankee sense of history. Also shocking my Yankee self? Signs for what to do if you encounter a mountain lion. Apparently I was in "cat country". One of the tips was "if attacked, fight back". Good grief.


Photos from the Desert Museum. First the animals, or, 'Things that could possibly kill or maim me on the walk back to the car':


Lizard/Iguana/something on the rock (apparently I wasn't paying much attention at the museum). When I turned a corner, I looked back and saw a squirrel perched atop the rock. Popular place.

Billy Goats:


Prairie Dogs with a Road Runner:

That tortoise was wise enough to seek shelter from the sun, so "image not found":

Wolf:

Mountain lion:

I couldn't bring myself to photograph any of the two dozen+ types of rattlesnakes on display. *shudder*

The iconic Saguaro cacti:

Assorted types of Agave:

Desert Garden:

Message Received, Universe!

My current landlady called to check on how I was settling into the house. When I asked where to put the garbage, she said, "behind the animal pen". Behind the what? Don't know how I missed that yesterday. Apparently she keeps a few pets in the back yard.

If there were any doubts that I wasn't in the right place for me right now, they have been erased:

I mean, come on. Are you kidding me?!?

New digs in Tucson

The new house in Tucson is adorable. It's very retro, probably built in the 50s, but in lovely condition. It's right near the University of Arizona, a part of town I haven't explored yet, so looking forward to getting to know the area better.

Front yard:


Back yard:

Dining area:

Kitchen:

Adorable stove, can't wait to test it out:

Guest bedroom, in case you come to visit:

Master bedroom. I will need a stool of some sort to get into that bed. It's a wee bit high.

And lastly, the office:

So long, Shangri La

Well, that's the end of that. It was a lovely week in the hills of West Tucson. Aside from the internet and phone being down for the last two days. Eh, what can you do?

Moving to a new place for the next two weeks later today. I'm sure it will be lovely, it just won't be a palace in the hills.

The other night I went out to dinner. Found a place that sounded great, although it seemed a bit far away. I figured it will be a good way to see that part of Tucson. Well, saying that restaurant is in Tucson is like saying O'Hare is in Chicago. Bit of a haul, is what I'm saying. Very oddly, as the restaurant was kind of hip, it was filled with seniors. I was the youngest one there by at least 25 years, and it was 7 pm, not the early bird special hour. So, kind of a bust, athough it did give me this lovely scene:

It looked better in person. Really need to figure out the special light settings on the camera.

"45, feels like 39"

Sigh. This is not quite what I was expecting. See the funnel of snow between the light posts?



It was odd, there were literally pockets of snow, but otherwise skies were blue and sun was shining. I'm guessing high altitude and mountains created this phenomenon.

Things did clear up at sunset, so hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and warm. Although, it was pretty funny to hear everyone complaining about "all this rain!!"; I think they got an inch total. Perspective is everything.

Weekend in Tucson

Tucson is about 70 miles north of Mexico. Imagine my surprise to find that it was 41 and rainy outside today. Then the thunder started, and then, hail:

So much for exhibition baseball today, maybe next weekend. It is still raining. There's actually a snow advisory. Insane!

Yesterday I tooled around downtown Tucson, saw some of the older parts of the city. Nothing terribly exciting, but some neat colors:

This is the town hall:

Dude. Seriously.

The drive from Sedona to Tucson was very deserty. Not sandy, but very arid and scruby, and lots of cacti:

And construction. All the interstate roads seem to be under construction. They must have a senator who's getting all the tax money for some reason this year. Anywhoodle...


I haven't really seen any of Tucson yet, so no thoughts on the city, but I'm sure of one thing: I love this house. When I showed the on-line photos to Jill, we both agreed it looked a little like something you'd see on MTV Cribs (is that still on?). Well, the reality does not disappoint. If anyone would like to join me this week, get a ticket and head on out, plenty of room.

I should say I ended up here because it was basically the only property available in Tucson this week that wasn't booked, oh, 9 months in advance. Most people plan ahead, more than three weeks ahead of their trips, so beggars could not be choosers. It is so much more than I need, but I totally love it. I may park in all *three* garage spaces, just because I can. Word.

Dining Room:

Formal sitting room:

Here's one of the guest bedrooms:

Master bedroom (totally needs something over the bed, doesn't it?):

Master bath, which is ridiculous. The walk in closet could sleep four.

Kitchen, with a gas stove, yahoo!

Kitchen dining area:

Living area off the kitchen:

Views from back yard: