If You've Never Been to Tucson.....

"Our winter home"

So, I will admit, one of my personality flaws is that I am a procrastinator.  And the more I put something off, the harder it is for me to start again.  Not an excuse, just an explanation why I haven’t written in so long.  I am far behind on all of our adventures, so I think I will start with our winter in Tucson, and then go back and fill in the blanks. 

We arrived in Tucson in early December.  We found a nice RV Park, the weather looked decent and the airport was nearby making it easy to go spend the holidays with the kids, so we decided to stay into January.  In mid-April, three months longer than we had planned to stay, we left to head north, with so many memories and for the first time, with reservations to return next winter.

"New York, New York"

One of the big things that made Tucson so special was the people.  OK, back up a step.  One of the big things that made Tucson so special was that our RV Park had an awesome bar where we met so many awesome people.  Our first visit to the bar we met Ricardo, the bartender and a native to Tucson.  It may not surprise anyone that knows us, but within a short time we had our own seats at the bar and our own “reserved” signs for special occasions. When Ricardo wasn’t there we met Jeromy, who lives full time on the road with his family, and home schools his kids.  Between the two of them, our glasses were always full and we never lacked for conversation or laughs.  One of the first Friday nights that we were there, there was a singer, Patrick, and his wife Sharon, who quickly had us up on the dance floor and singing along to our favorites.  That first night, we requested “New York, New York” and they weren’t able to do it.  The following week, Patrick came over to us and said he had a surprise for us at the end of the show.  When the time came, his finale was “New York, New York” and we had several people up dancing with us.  For the next several weeks, it became the standard and we had our “regulars” (even the bar staff) up dancing with us.  It doesn’t matter where you are from in the country – people seem to love to kick their heels up to that song.

"Slap-shot

We also realized in the first week, that our friends, Kim & Christi, who had “watched over” our RV in Louisiana while we were away last Christmas were going to be in the same park with us.  It doesn’t happen often, so it was great to see some familiar faces.  They also introduced us to other friends of theirs whom we got to spend an awesome evening with at a local Christmas lights festival, dinner and learning all kinds of new things about life on the road .  Another “people” highlight was meeting Scott and Annie who live in Wisconsin but were spending the winter in Tucson.  We quickly realized when they had their own “reserved” sign at the bar too, that we would enjoy hanging out with them.  We had some fun evenings watching sports, hanging out at their place and even doing our “slap shot” with them.  With any luck they will return next year and we will be able to have a reunion of the whole bunch of us.

The top “people” memory that Tucson brought to us was our first real visitors from our family.  Cliff’s sister and her husband, Kathy & Herb, flew out from Wisconsin and stayed for almost a week.  Our house is tiny for 4 adults to live in, so they stayed in a nearby hotel, but we were able to spend each day with them doing all kinds of fun things in the area showing them around Tucson and spending the evenings hanging out at "our place.”  As  much as we love all of the new people we meet on the road, there is nothing like the comfort of hanging out with people who share memories, who know where you come from and who are truly excited about your new adventure.  I love having the memories of spending that special time with them in our own little house so far from New York and can't wait til they come visit us again.

"Up close with the raptors"

Tucson completely surprised us with all that there was to do.  Probably one of our favorite things was the desert museum.  We have certainly found ourselves in more museums in the past year and half than we have the whole rest of our lives.  This one ranked up there as our favorite so far.  It was described as a combination museum/aviary/zoo, and it didn’t disappoint.  It gave great descriptions of everything that we were about to find ourselves surrounded by while exploring the area over the next few months and it made it so much more fun as we traveled around the desert and had a much better understanding of just what we were looking at. 

Garden Eels..now you see them..

It had an incredible raptor show, an aviary of just hummingbirds and it was actually a zoo with all the wild animals you may or may not see in the area.  My top favorite was the garden eels…one of those things I never knew existed.  It’s hard to explain – but they were like worms sticking straight up out of the sand underwater, and every time a fish would swim by they would slip under the sand so you didn’t even know they were there.  It sounds simple but it was an amazing aspect of nature that just fascinated me.  I could have watched them all day…and was so excited to show them to Cliff’s sister when we took them there.

 We spent a day in Old Tucson, a fun park that was a movie set for hundreds of westerns, old and new, including Cliff’s all-time favorite “Young Guns”.  They did all kinds of shows and tours and you could wander around the sets on your own, imagining what it would have been like bustling with people and cameras.  Cliff got chosen to go up on stage with the dancing girls and play the triangle in their “jug” band and I got chosen to go on trial in the courthouse for being “a woman dressed in blue jeans.”  I was found guilty and sentenced to “leave town” by 6:00 (closing time).

Go Wings

We made two overnight trips to Phoenix.  One to see a Detroit Red Wings Game – our favorite team since the beginning of hockey.  We were anxious about being the only ones in Red Wings Jerseys – but as soon as we got to the town square, all  we could see was red.  It turns out that so many people have moved to that area from Detroit, there are more Red Wing fans than there are Arizona fans.  It made for a really fun evening, and it didn’t hurt that the Wings won.  Our second trip to Phoenix was a huge bucket list item for Cliff... flying an aerobatic plane.  The pilot would demonstrate a move, and then hand the controls over and let Cliff do the maneuver himself.  He was able to do loops, and spins and torque rolls, slides and tumbles, all things that don't sound like you should be doing them in an airplane.  In the end, the pilot and ground crew were all extremely impressed with how quickly he learned and how well he handled himself, the plane, and the “g force.”  He was like a little kid at Christmas for weeks after.. something he will always remember.

We went to the Titan Missile Museum – the only missile site left from the Cold War.  It was an amazing place to visit, especially for those of us who remember living through the “bomb shelter” days.  It was just fascinating to realize the conditions that the entire country lived in during that time.  I was chosen to sit in the commander’s seat to demonstrate taking the call and turning the key that would launch the missile that would change the world.  It was such a humbling experience..one that still stays with me.  It was one of those times that I really wished I could have a conversation with my Mom & Dad and hear just what it was like for them, living through those days, with a total understanding of what was going on.

We did a weekend in Vegas, where, for me the highlights were zip lining over Fremont Street and riding the new Eye in the Sky, the giant Ferris wheel that overlooks the city.  You can get a car that has a bar in it, usually holding 30 people.  We had 6 people, but the bartender seemed to think she still needed to make enough drinks to serve 30, so thankfully we were walking home that night.  The view was absolutely amazing at night..it was a real treat.   We are not big gamblers, but we saw some great shows, shot some big guns and tried to take in as much as we could.

We went to the amazing Air Museum, kayaked in a beautiful reservoir and drove up Mt. Lemmon a couple of times.  It is such a great drive – you start out in true desert, pass through 4 temperate zones and end up with beautiful lush, green trees, water, and sometimes even snow at the top.

Early on in Tucson a lot of people asked if we were going to Mexico, since we were so close to the border.  Having talked to a lot of people in previous places, we had decided not to make that venture.  But after being in the area, and feeling more comfortable, we decided to go for it.  It was very easy (thanks to Cliff's pre-planning).  We drove about an hour, parked the truck and walked across the border.  Nogales is probably one of the nicest places you can cross into in Mexico.  Many of the other border towns have become scary and dangerous.  But this was a lovely little town, with shops and bars and lots and lots of pharmacies.  I have heard people say that they cross the border for their meds, but I had no idea.  In other countries, the locals will be out on the streets trying to sell their pukka shell necklaces, or wanting to braid your hair or charge you to take a picture with their parrot on their shoulder.  In Mexico they stand there yelling.."Valium, Prozac, get your  Xanax here".  I'm not sure how the whole thing works, but we certainly could have come home highly medicated.  All in all though, we were so glad we made the trip.  As much as we enjoyed wandering around the streets, it was a fabulous feeling to walk back across the border and know that we were home.

So for those of you who have wondered, yes we are still on the road and yes we are still loving it. Thank you so much to everyone who has asked about my blog and have said that they miss it.  I will try to be better about it, because after more than a year and a half on the road, there isn't a day that we don't remind each other how fortunate we are and how we look forward to seeing what other adventures lie ahead of us.  And as for Tucson, we can't wait to get back in December and start all over again.