Arrival

December 14, 2020

We left Wickenburg this morning with the thought that we might take a hike in South Mountain Park, on the western outskirts of Phoenix. When we got there though and saw the number of cars already there, we thought again about leaving our car with the bicycles and gear in an unguarded parking lot for a few hours and decided to just drive through to Tucson instead.

We arrived in Tucson at 1 and went straight to the HUB Restaurant, where Rachael had reserved us an outdoor table for lunch. It’s sunny, windy and 65, but unfortunately the restaurant is on the shady side of the street. It was just a bit chilly sitting there in the wind, but the meal was great. I’m sure we’ll be back here again before we leave town, wearing an extra layer.

Cool meal! Grilled salmon, with bourbon dijon molasses, roasted potato hash, garlic sauteed spinach; and fettuccini with chicken, corn, tomato, onion, poblano, cilantro, queso fresco, elote cream sauce.

Afterwards, we drove over to our new home for two or four weeks, depending on how you look at it. For the next two weeks we’ll be staying in this delightful place in the University District, just north of downtown. It’s like that beautiful casita we stayed in last winter, only even better. It’s an interesting linear structure, with three segments: a squarish living room that’s roughly 20x20; a narrow kitchen at the waist, 10x20; and at the back the large 20x25 bedroom, with a squarish 10x10 cutout for the bathroom.

Another place large and well organized enough that we could take up long term residence. But it’s only for two weeks.

A confusing photo of the kitchen, with the left and right halves stacked. There was no place I could stand to get a whole-room perspective.

The bedroom at the back, looking inviting in the glow of the afternoon sun.

This would be ideal, if there were only a washer and drier. Which there is! If you open that back door from the bedroom, it leads to an outdoor utility area, tucked in next to the ocotillos.

The plein air utility room. It’s a shared facility, also available to a second, smaller unit behind it.

So. Two weeks, four weeks, what’s that about? Well, there’s a funny story there. When we first plotted out this trip south, we always intended to work our way to Tucson. We booked a place for two weeks, planning to be here over New Year’s after spending the previous three weeks between then and our stay in Morro Bay with a week in Death Valley, another in Boulder City, and then Christmas week in Borrego Springs.

When the stay-at-home order for Southern California came through, we decided we couldn’t count on staying in either Death Valley or Borrego Springs. That opened up two weeks we needed a new place to stay, and Tucson still looked like the right answer. The casita we had already booked wasn’t available unfortunately, so we booked this place we have just checked into instead. So, we’ll be here two weeks, and then pack up and move to that other AirBnB place for another two weeks.

It should be a pretty easy move though. After we made this second reservation, our new host contacted us to clarify our intent. We hadn’t noticed at the time, but our new host is also our old host; and our new street address is also our old address. When we leave here, we’re moving to that unit out back behind the washer and drier.

So, the relo should go well. We won’t even have to move the car.

We were just in Tucson ten months ago, and not much has changed in the meantime. Same old Loop, same old Mount Lemmon, same old roadrunners beep-beeping their way across the bike paths. We’re going to take a bit of a blog break for the next month, and treat this stay sort of like we do when we’re back in Portland. We’ll post something from time to time when it feels like there’s something worth saying or remembering, but it likely won’t be every day.

After we unloaded the car, Rachael and I went out walking on our own to explore our new neighborhood. These first few photos are of other casitas on Hazel Street.

One thing that will stir me to post from time to time is the wonderful diversity of plant life here. What’s this?

Or this? A fairy-duster (Calliandra eriophylla)?

The Arizona State Museum, on the University of Arizona campus. We could go here, on a rainy day. If that ever happens. And if it’s even open during the pandemic, which it likely isn’t.

Hanging out on the UA campus. We’re happy to see that mask wearing is nearly universally practiced here in Tucson.

A collection of doves, beaks downwind. Why would they do that? You’d think they wouldn’t care for the wind blowing up their tail feathers.

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Gregory GarceauYour hacienda on Hazel Street looks like the kind of place I could stay well beyond two-to-four weeks, or even six-to-60 weeks. Nice find.

I'd like to second Bill Stone's recommendation of Organ Pipe National Monument as a great place to bike. It's a couple hour drive from Tucson, I suppose, but the density of cacti, including the namesake organ pipe, is like nothing else in the U.S.
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3 years ago

Suzanne GibsonLooks like a great place to spend two or four weeks. Are you anywhere near Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West? Maybe it's closed for visitors now, but I found it fascinating when we were there several years ago.
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3 years ago

Suzanne GibsonOops, I got that mixed up. Taliesin West is outside of Phoenix, not Tuscon.
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3 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonIt depends on your perspective. If you’re in Bavaria, I imagine it looks right next door to us. Closer to home though, it looks like about a 2+ hour drive.
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3 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Gregory GarceauTwo days in, it still feels like a great place. If we don’t consider what the heat of summer must be like here, it’s easy to imagine putting down roots here.

Two votes for Organ Pipe, from opinions I respect. We’ll definitely keep it in mind when we start heading west and north again.
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3 years ago

Kelly IniguezMake that another vote for Organ Pipe - We did a short tour from Ajo south into Mexico and drove past Organ Pipe. I had fantasies of bicycling it. We stopped, but the road looked too sandy for my recumbent. We didn't even drive through. Jacinto isn't near as enamored of cacti as I am. Wayne Estes did a tour through there years ago and camped inside. He has some amazing photos.
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3 years ago

Kathleen JonesEnjoy your holidays, including the holiday from your daily updates.
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3 years ago

Bruce LellmanWe drove through Organ Pipe once (by car) and were stopping constantly to take photos. It's truly a unique and beautiful place.
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3 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Kathleen JonesThanks, you also. And stay well!
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3 years ago