A Few Weeks in Tucson

Boy oh boy the time sure flies, doesn’t it? We spent our first week in the States at our usual first stop in Amado. Much of our time was taken up with errands and just plain relaxing but we did manage to get over to see a place we'd noticed from the highway for years. The Longhorn Grill is closed right now but I just had to get a picture of the entrance & the sign in front. This is the kind of kitsch you only get to see when you travel! 

 

The entrance to the closed Longhorn Grill.

Be sure to enlarge & read the sign. It is hilarious!

Our next move was a whole 30 miles up the road to our new “find” in Tucson. On our way to Mexico we discovered a lovely 55+ mobile home/RV park that we just fell in love with and that is where we returned. Because the park we usually stay at was so full in February that we couldn’t stay as long as we wanted, it was necessary to find a new landing spot. It produced many “Ahhhh’s”. The spaces are huge (by RV park standards) and level, everyone is exceedingly friendly, the laundry is the cheapest I’ve found and, even though it is close to the airport, it is NOT under the flight path. So…we settled in for a couple weeks. 

Home Sweet Home

Tucson was a good time and, mostly, the weather was perfect. 

One of our first trips was to the Barnes & Noble store. Our “traveling library” is certainly not lacking (I rarely travel with less than 50 books) but both of us love spending a few hours browsing in bookstores. We took in a couple movies, went to Costco, got haircuts, did lots of reading and got pedicures. This was Chris’ first pedi and he has not stopped thanking me for introducing him to this small luxury! It will not be his last!

On March 24^th we joined thousands of Tucsonans for the “March For Our Lives” that was organized by the students from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. After these students survived a mass shooting at their school they have organized and become a real force to push for reasonable gun control. That is something Chris & I are very much in favor of and we hope that this young generation will actually be able to get something accomplished in that arena.

 

March For Our Lives

While we were in Tucson we had lots of time (for a change) to get together with Chris’ family. One of the gatherings was at a local restaurant to enjoy a concert by Chris’ brother, Earl, who is a professional musician, and another well known musician. The program was a showcase of music that was originally done by a folk duo known as Bud & Travis. Travis was Chris’ uncle. What a fun evening with good food, great music and lots of family.

 

Chris' brother, Earl on the right. Great music!

We were also able to get together for visits with friends from the Portland area who were traveling through the area like us.

 

Spent a day at the Desert Museum with our Portland friends, Bill & Vicki Sanborn.

Just before leaving Tucson we drove out to the San Xavier Mission (also known as the White Dove of the Desert). This mission was founded by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692 and construction was completed in 1797…so it has been around for a LONG time. The mission is on the Tohono O’Odham Indian reservation (which, conveniently, is where our “new” RV park is located) and is still serving this community. It was a very hot day and there was a special event taking place inside the church so we were not able to see that part, but there were still plenty of things to see and learn about.

 

San Xavier Mission

The next morning, we were off to the town of Ajo and THAT is a very interesting place! Stay tuned.