Winter drags in New York, and I found myself spending free time searching cheap flights to warm places. I ended up visiting grad school friend Alison in Tucson, Arizona for a few days in mid April. It was a great dry heat and we did a lot of fun activities.
There were some travel issues on the way: the first flight to Salt Lake City wasn’t able to land due to strong winds and after a shaky hour we landed in Idaho Falls. We sat on the tarmac for an hour, then tried again and made it to SLC. Unfortunately I had missed my connecting flight. The airline put me up in a hotel for the night. I was only there for about 6 hours but it was very nice and I was glad not to join the people I saw sleeping on the airport floor. The next morning I took 2 more flights via LAX to Tucson. I met up with Alison and Nick, got some food, and checked into their house.
We did a lot of eating good food and catching up. I got to see Alison’s office where she works for a city council member. I was especially interested in this activity because we have very similar jobs in very dissimilar locations and real estate markets — their office was a whole building and everyone had large offices with couches plus large meeting rooms and event space. Things are quite the opposite in Manhattan where if you aren’t sitting on top of each other you are lucky. I went to a fundraiser bingo night for Alison’s rugby team and met some of their friends.
Alison and I went on a great hike in Saguaro National Park with the saguaro cacti. I learned that loose-fitting white long-sleeved shirts help keep you cool in the hot sun. We took a day trip to a real old west town called Tombstone and saw a reenactment of a gun show (plus lots of stores selling guns, open shooting ranges, etc), and later that day drove to a cute town called Bisbee and went on a tour of an old mine. I also spent a day on my own exploring the botanical garden and an art museum/garden.
And on the last night we drove to Mount Lemmon – a peak I drove all the way up the last time I was in Tucson during my 2014 train train trip. It’s unique because the geography changes as you climb, from desert cacti to rocks to pine tree and a ski resort up at the peak. The drive takes about a half hour without stopping and there is hiking along the way. It’s very beautiful. This time we didn’t go all the way, but instead I got my first experience rock climbing outside. It was so much fun, even though it was much scarier than the gym and my hand was shaking when I came down. We ended up finishing up after it got dark out which was also a cool experience. It inspired me to get more into climbing and start going to the climbing gym more often back in NYC. I went back to work feeling very fulfilled and rejuvenated from this trip, which I really needed as I got into two very busy months at work!
travels.of.tara 