Tucson/Phoenix

I REALLY wanted Jake to write a post about New Mexico.... and I think he will. It's just taking a while so I'm moving ahead with our trip documentation because I've gotta get some of this blogging out of the way. I remember visiting Tucson once with my family when I was about 22 years old. It must have been the hottest day of the year and I thought to myself, how could anybody live here? We tried to sit outside but there was no shade, so we sat on a big rock. A brown rock, surrounded by brown dirt and brown houses. The air was dry and dusty and as far as the eye could see, well the eye couldn't see that far because of the heat distorted light waves, but there was no plant or animal life in the vicinity. Maybe it was a new housing development out in the middle of nowhere, but it seemed like a very depressing place.

However, this trip to Tucson was surprisingly pleasant. The weather was perfect and the downtown area had plenty of old trees and good mexican food. "Old" Tucson was very charming. We also just happened to be in town when the Gem Show was there and we were able to appreciate some million year old fossilized dinosaur eggs. Our couchsurfing hosts were also very cool. They met each other in the Peace Corp and she is about ten years older than him. He works at the University of Arizona and was able to give us a tour of the Pottery Preservation Collection. It was very impressive.

Jake also walked up to and met his first Saguaro Cactus. Seeing cactus covered hills on the side of the freeway is one thing, but to get up close and personal is a whole other experience. Jake didn't realize they were so ENORMOUS. The desert definitely has it's own kind of beauty, sunsets usually produce some lovely colors. We also saw a couple of really pretty coyotes crossing the highway, honestly, their coats were white and fluffy and gorgeous. Tucson certainly made a better impression on me this time around. I think I could actually live there.... but if I were to live in the middle of a sandpit, I think I'd choose a beach over a desert.

We saw this guy "driving" his horses down the street somewhere between Thatcher and Tucson. I think he had just ordered from the Burger Kind Drive-through. I guess crazy gas prices are making some people try crazy things. I'm glad my camera was handy because this was just too ridiculous of a photo to pass up.

The next stop we made was in the gigantic city of Phoenix where we hung out with our awesome friends Travis & Angela for a week. We played ourselves some frisbee golf and had a blast at the super cheap farmers markets. While Jake and I were riding in the back seat of their car I didn't give them any warning up front I was going to take their picture. I just said SMILE and tried to snap a very candid shot-- but they vogued it up so quickly it was like second nature to them. Look at how weird these two kids are! That's why Jake and I get along with them so well. I like the reflection of Angela's mouth in the mirror. This picture couldn't have been more well unplanned.