ON TO TUCSON - July 12, 2019

We slept very well Thursday nite, some arising early to a surprise sprinkle that late risers didn’t believe, as it had already evaporated in Anthem’s dry humidity. The temperature was already on its climb to over 100 F by 9:00 AM. We had breakfast of poached eggs, sausage, toast, juice and coffee and then lazed around while Deb worked for an hour or two. Del and I went to the car wash, Karen to the pharmacy and then Del and I took the Mustang GT for a test drive - boys and their toys.

At noon, Del made a wonderful lunch of roast beef sandwiches and fruit salad. Deb and I packed our bags and loaded the car for the final push to Tucson. We left Anthem around 1:30 for the “quick” drive to Tucson, some 115 miles away. Phoenix metropolitan area is some 10 million souls, 2.5 million of which live on I-17 and I-10, going at least 70 mph and cutting in and out of lanes for sport.

Not my best type of driving, particularly in a strange city, never knowing for sure which lane to be in for an upcoming route change. Since you are reading this, you have correctly guessed that we survived this bumper-car-o-rama, but we have noticeably aged.

Tucson is surrounded by mountains, again in the high desert. Temperatures are the same as in Phoenix, that is to say hotter than hell, but a “dry” heat, just as in an oven. Seeing the mountains all around, with their promise of moisture above, must bring some solace to the citizens. Tucson metropolitan area is just a bit larger than Omaha metro - some 1.1 million people.

We arrived at Tom, Kevin & Liam’s rental unit around 3:30 and unloaded the car trunk and our bags. Little did we know of the fresh bottle of Johnny Walker Blue label in the trunk. Of course if Kevin had told us, it might not have survived the trip. TKL have rented this 2-bedroom condo on a golf course community for 3-4 months while they search for a permanent residence. It is nice, well located and accommodating for their needs. A good base from which to start.

After a few cocktails and gold fish snacks, we headed to dinner at a restaurant called Harvest, of which Tom had received a recommendation. Food was good, a salmon risotto, a chicken salad, a cheese burger and a truffle burger, all washed down with a couple of excellent bottles of Pinot Noir. Only sour spot was their inability to tell the difference between medium hamburger and mostly rare hamburger. I sent it back and when it returned it was hotter but not any better cooked - just spent some more time under the heat lamp.

We were in bed by 11:00 after a night cap. At 4:00 AM on Saturday morning, our alarm went off, we dressed and gulped some coffee. Tom had mapped out the route to the airport, and, after a few quick wrong turns, we arrived at 5:45. Not a lot of traffic on Tucson’s freeways at 5 AM on a Saturday morning. We hopped on our Southwest flight, headed to Denver and then on to Omaha. We arrived at 12:50, right on time, and Abigail picked us up from our excellent adventure. Our thanks to our hosts along the way. We saw friends and places we had not seen before. We now have multiple reasons to head to the southwest in the winter; so be prepared.