What the?

Gas in Tucson is down to $2.89. Guess that's the silver lining to this recession cloud.

Flagstaff and the Great Outdoors

A few months ago, Skip and I took up hiking. Exercise, nature, quiet moments of contemplation. Bug bites. Cactus needles. Being lost in the woods. Getting pulled downhill by the dog. It's been a little up and down, but we've finally worked out the kinks and have had a few hikes without getting lost or being injured. We enjoy it quite a bit. Especially since we acquired a first aid kit. And a compass.

This weekend we headed to Flagstaff and the highest peak in Arizona, Mt. Humphrey. A towering mountain I first saw in April. Mt. Humphrey is the highest of the San Francisco Peaks. Snow capped no more, things look a little different in the fall:



Well, still a little snow up there. But, it was still very fall like at lower elevations:

At 12,000 feet, it's no easy hike. We hiked up to 10.3k, that was all I could take. I'm not so good with the altitude; breathing gets a bit tricky. The dog and I headed back, but Skip continued to the top. Sometimes crawling on hands and knees as the wind was gusting up to 80 mph, but he made it. Sniff. So proud.

The next day we headed to the Grand Canyon, only 90 minutes from Flagstaff. If you don't miss a crucial turn. But, hey, it was a fortuitous detour as we saw some gorgeous parts of the Painted Desert. We forgot to take pictures of that.

We did remember to take pictures at the Canyon:

Hard to believe that 'tiny' river carved the canyon. Astounding.

It was freeeezing there, literally 60 degrees colder than Mexico the weekend before. Thank goodness we stopped to buy scarves and hats. Brrrr. Made it hard to be outside for long periods of time, so we didn't walk around too much. We'll have to go back when it's warmer, but before it gets too crowded. That's probably a very narrow window...maybe four hours on the second Tuesday in May?

Mexico, Ole!

The first weekend in October we loaded the car with food and drink and headed down to Punto Penasco, Mexico. It's a popular get-away for southern Arizonans as it's just a 4 hour drive. We didn't know what to expect, but, hey, weekend at the beach. Can't be that bad.

Um, yeah. Not bad at all.

When we walked into the condo, I think all our jaws dropped at the same time.

I mean, we could quite literally roll to the beach from our room. At the very least, we could roll right to Mexico's premiere cash-only swim-up bar. "We'll take wet cash!" Yeah, not helpful.

It was a good thing we were so close to the water, it was 100+ when we were there. Yikes. It hurt to walk on the sand.

The resort had a very strict "No Tolerance Policy" for rule breaking. Odd to see so many rules and regulations and seriously uptight security guards at a beach resort. I get that they want to crack down on huge parties and spring breakers (all for that), but it was a little like vacationing in the "No Fun Zone". We had a great time, but those who crossed the securidad came to regret it.

We got a big kick out of the signs posted throughout the No Fun Zone. The exact literal translations were a crack up:

I think this might be the least enforceable rule ever:

What are they going to do? Put a time stamp on your hands and check? And as Jeff pointed out, they serve food at the swim up bar - they are giving you food while you're already in the pool. Good one.

Note, the pool closes at 8:45, and the guards are standing by to lock it down. They weren't messing around. My favorite pool rule:

Behave morally. Good reminder. Although I'd think "use bathing suits" would be covered by 'behave morally', no?

There may have been a few cocktails consumed during the trip.

Before:

After:

In addition to the fun we made for ourselves, we also witnessed the most poorly organized Triathlon ever. I guess you can't expect much when the race is run at a beach town in Mexico, but, man, glad I wasn't competing. Later, we witnessed a lovely wedding on the beach. Only a few people yelled "don't do it!" Touching. Perhaps they shouldn't have set the wedding up right next to the beach-access stairs.

Looking forward to the next trip to the No Fun Zone.

Urgent: Watch Jay Leno Tonight!!

It pains me greatly to say that, as I'd rather stab myself with a sharp stick than watch Jay Leno. But, you really need to watch to see the astoundingly talented Marc Broussard.

We saw him last night at Club Congress, and, WOW.

Hard to describe his sound. Best I can say it's a bluesy-rock with influences from New Orleans, Stevie Wonder, Amos Lee, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band. He's the most soulful white guy I think I've ever seen. You might know his song "Home" (it's on his Myspace page).

And his band was excellent. Usually I don't notice the band. To me, there's no difference between Natalie Merchant and 10,000 Maniacs. But these guys, WHOA. Each was a huge talent. And man, did they blow the doors of the joint. I was exhausted just listening to them, don't know how they play so hard every night.

Tonight they're on Jay Leno. Then they're back on tour, really just starting their tour. Many dates near you, go see them and prepare to be amazed.

Earth From Above

While I have many fascinating things to share with everyone, I haven't had a minute to get them out of my head and onto the blog. BUT, I had to quickly share this...

"Earth From Above" is a series of stunning photos taken by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. I saw his work in Chicago a few years ago and was just blown away. His exhibit is going to NYC in 2009, and I encourage everyone in the area to see the exhibit. His website shares nearly 2,000 images for free. You can easily spend hours looking at them.

The Boston Globe's fantastic The Big Picture - News Stories in Photographs (see link on side bar) is featuring some of his work this week. Check it out. Then book your trip to NYC.