Tucson

I had such a great time with Bro and Sis and the Spymaster! I brought cool weather and rainstorms with me. They'd had 105F weather the day before, but when I arrived, it was 70, partly cloudy, and occasional rainstorms! No lightning, though. Anyway, it was lots and lots of fun and I hope we can get together, all of us, including Mr Handsome, soon. Bro can't make it to Seattle.

My first day there, we didn't do a lot, we just had dinner at BD's (something or another) restaurant. Good pizza! And kinda looked around a bit. I was tired, so we didn't go do anything big. The next day, we had our FREE breakfast at Sis and Spymaster's hotel and went to the Pima Air and Space Museum, which was very interesting! I could've stayed there a lot longer! There are lots of planes to look at, up close and personal, both inside and out.

When we were wandering around the outside, it started POURING rain, so we hid under an F-15 (I think it was an F-15, I dunno, really, Spymaster would know. All I know is it was dry under there)!

The Super Guppy looks like a cartoon plane, such an enormous body and such stubby little wings! How did this sucker ever fly? Mr Handsome says NASA has a newer version. All I know is, this one looks like something Mr Incredible would fly! I shouldn't call it cute, I guess, but it was cute! Awwwww!



The grounds also have a Space museum. It was this weekend that the University of Arizona landed their Mars vehicle. Very exciting! They had a small exhibit about that and lots of other stuff in there. I was pretty tired by then, but I still enjoyed it and wished Mr Handsome was there; he would've really enjoyed the Air and Space Museums!

There was a museum dedicated to the 390th Bomber group. I don't have any pictures, but it is a very nicely done museum and memorial space. Lots of fascinating stories to listen to and pictures to look at and artifacts; I wanted to stay longer in there!

We went to a restaurant called Chuy's after that for lunch and walked around 4th Street; lots of quirky shops and stuff. Fun to walk around! We just went back to the hotel after that and watched a movie, took a nap, I sat in the hot tub until I got splashed out by some rotten kids. Actually, they were nice kids, but had no manners. Neither did their parents. grrrrr.... Anyhoo, it was fine, just mildly annoying. Spymaster and Sis went out on the town, while Bro and I hung out at the hotel for movies!



The next day, the 24th, we had our free breakfast again (hee hee!) and went to the Arizona-Sonoma Desert Museum. This was the place I REALLY wanted to go to, to see the Aviary and the Hummingbirds! It's a very large facility and we saw EVERYTHING! There was also a "Live and (kind of) on the Loose" show, where a couple of naturalists taught us all about a gila monster and a rattlesnake. It was nice to get out of the sun and see these creatures! The man was very insistent about people controlling their children, which I applaud!!! Awesome! So often, people just let their spawn run wild and loose in public settings. It's so annoying!

My favorite part of the Desert Museum was probably the "Desert Loop" which is a half-mile trail through a natural desert setting. We got to see a coyote and javelinas. And lots of cacti! Sis wanted to see cacti in their homeland, so this was a good opportunity for both of us. I got to see the birds and she got to see the cactus! Bro got to see a coyote and Spymaster got to take a nap during the critter show! It all worked out great!

Afterwards, we considered going to "Old Tucson Studios," thinking it was the original settlement or something like that, but it looked super-duper ticky-tacky tourist-trappy. So, instead, we went back to 4th St, to a Mexican restaurant, I can't remember the name! It was named after a revolutionary... had a cute interior, not cutesy, but genuine, like people other than tourists go there, y'know? Good food, good to rest. I was bushed. As was Bro. It was a long day in hot sunshine. I've got tons of pics. So we all went back to the hotel again, napped, read and watched movies. Mostly, everyone napped. I read. YAY! Reading! My favorite thing!



That night, we went to see the Red Elvises at Plush nightclub. It's a band the Spymaster really enjoys and plays on his DJing gigs. They're a fun band, along the lines of the B-52's and have a VERY dedicated fan base! Sis and Spymaster even did a little dancing! Sadly, Bro and I were truly drained, really exhausted, so we weren't much fun to be with. Poor Spymaster! We left early. He was a good sport about it, though.

Let's see, the next day, the 25th, Sis and Spymaster had to leave, but we had time to check out "A Mountain." It was named by University of Arizona students in 1915. At first, I thought they named it A, as in ABC, which showed a marked lack of imagination, I thought. Then, much later, I realized it was in honor of Arizona! Duh!

So, we climbed to the top, checked out the view, and then Bro and I climbed down the A, painted on the mountain face. Two days later, I can still feel the effort in my muscles. It was STEEP! And I am FLABBY!

I'm really tired still, just got home last night around midnight, but had such a good time. We leave for Seattle the day after tomorrow! I look forward to meeting Mr Handsome's sister's baby daughter and taking him to Beth's Cafe and Duck Island Brew House. Sis is going to take us on a "food tour" of Seattle, too! I'm just excited to be traveling again!