Our time in Tucson can be summed up in three categories:
Hiking, Eating and Art
We have loved exploring the various trails surrounding the Tucson area and ventured to Saguaro NP, Catalina State Park, and Sabino Canyon to take on some hiking. Luckily we’ve had some cooler days, so the temperature for hikes has been superb. Although the terrain is similar, Catalina State Park had some washes and canyons that were beautiful and diversified the trails a bit. The ocillo were blooming, we found a rare Cristate Saguaro and the Chain Fruit Charro cactus were fabulous. We would love to see more of the these in bloom at some point….
Tim’s tamale and taco research was abundant so suffice it to say we have had our share of tortillas, chips, salsa, and more! Seis Kitchen with Alison, Todd and her friends Kat and Tom to ring in the Tucson Festival of Books, El Sinaloense for Sonoran Hotdogs, the Cup Cafe in Hotel Congress, Teresa’s Mosaic, Tucson Tamales, Boca on 4th, and a smash burger at Camelback Ranch Stadium in Phoenix (Dodgers beat the Guardians and Shohei Ohtani was fun to watch). All of our finds have paid off with great food and for the most part lovely atmosphere….El Sinaloense is a food truck so the ambience there was gravel..but it was very nice gravel! Oh and don’t forget to grab a drink by the fireplace at the Arizona Inn; that’s a must! Check out the urn on the coffee table….there is a surprise inside!!!
We planned our journey to be here for the Tucson Festival of Books and it was a blast. Tents and authors take over the U of A campus with amazing new books to share, interesting panels, workshops, entertainment, food, etc….It’s two days of packed sessions so you have to be ready to move, and I was fortunate to get into two ticketed events by getting fast passes. Heard William Kent Krueger (whose Rivers We Remember I had just read), Maureen Dowd (who was hysterical) , Leonard Pitts, Billy Collins, Kevin Fedarko and Hampton Sides and a few others. We even watched a cooking demonstration from Bill Mims who wrote Crumbs: Cookies from Around the World. It was a full few days of conversations on mystery, adventure, writing, celebrities, mental health, overcoming obstacles, etc…and we loved it!!! I’ve penciled it in for next year already!
We also discovered the DeGrazia Gallery of the Sun which encompassed the home, gallery and chapel built by Ted DeGrazia, a Tucson artist who studied with Diego Rivera and built amazing adobe structures where he lived, worked and worshipped. The gallery is full of his paintings, mosaics, and sculptures and the small mission/chapel showcasing his beautiful murals was a haven. His easel still stands with his hat, fan and bottle ready for more art and the current exhibitions and permanent collections were beautiful. Not to mention an amazing cactus garden just full of treasures and unexpected scenes. We also found the Southern Arizona Art Guild gallery which highlighted several local artists and the San Xavier Del Bay Mission which, even though it was being renovated, was gorgeous. Stark white (although they are restoring it to some of the original color) in the desert landscape with intricate carving and paintings inside.
Unfortunately we are having problems with our truck and although we FINALLY got it diagnosed and it’s covered by warranty, the part is unavailable and we are extending our stay here to wait for it. That delay made us miss Palm Springs and a meetup with Lu and Shelley and Dusty and Tim but we are still making it out to Oceanside to meet Jim, Lynn, Barb and Bryant. It’s a drag but we are happy to finally know what’s up with the truck and hopefully getting it fixed! The saga continues…..
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