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The last time I wrote I promised more pictures of the Grand Canyon and more
details on our jam-packed days in Tucson.
It was exactly one week ago Sunday (hard to believe) that we arrived in Tucson.
We bid goodbye to Albuquerque - Santa Fe and the balloons and headed south.
There was lots to watch for along the way. For example the town of "Truth or
Consequences" ?!!! This New Mexico community accepted a bet from the
host of the 1950s radio show Truth or Consequences. (see Wikipedia for more.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_or_Consequences,_New_Mexico
And the town of Hatch, NM! The chile (pronounced chilie) capital of the US!
We were greeted with open arms by our hosts in Tucson who have a gracious and
graceful home and garden.
But little did we know that they would make perfect producers for a television
travel series. Ken is an organizer...a get-up-and-go-for-it guy who doesn't want to
leave any amount of time wasted. Linda has a different style - more laid-back - but
no slouch when it comes to travel either: she's the official photographer and artist
of the pair.
Monday Morning, Ken had us prepare a list of things we 'might' like to do in
Tucson. The list included a couple of excursions in which we would (if we agreed)
be 'guinea pigs' for Tucson tourism travel expeditions in which Ken might or might not
like to invest.
The list:
-Visit an airplane 'boneyard' which houses thousands of old military aircraft: You can't actually get inside, but Ken drove us along miles and miles chain link fence.
-Travel by electric bicycle through the Sonoran desert to the 'Desert Museum' - a combination desert garden and wildlife park.
The bicycles are a hoot! They carry battery powered motors and whenever you need an energy boost you press the buttom and feel the power kick in. But that didn't stop us from getting our exercise amongst the Saguaro cactus. The name is pronounced 'Sawarro' and we learned that it takes a hundred years or so before they start growing those amazing arms.
Once at the museum we met volunteers with various types of raptors - owls and
hawks - not dinosaurs - perched on their arms. Of course they were tied with jesses but they looked calm and fierce at the same time!
Ken and Linda are avid cyclists. I was one once too. Ken has a recumbant bike - easy on the back, but just as demanding on the legs. He was really keen to get us to try some as well as one of his ideas: To ride up in a van to the top of a local mountain...and then coast/cruise all the way down to the bottom on a recumbant. He even convinced a local bike retailer to lend him a brand new one so that we 'newbies' could try it out! Talk about persuasive!
One thing I should add about recumbants - they're a lot more wobbly than standard bikes...at least at first. So there I was at the top of the mountain...helmet on, hands gripping the unfamiliar brakes. And then we launched! That's the only word I can use for it...racing down a road at the same speed as the cars.
The views of course are amazing...the forest of cacti, rock climbers and the city of Tucson far below.
You know...There's no room left for the list. We visited Kitt Peak - the site of the largest number of working telescopes in the world. WE had a great meal at the Hacienda of the Sun. We loved Tucson...We're ready for the rest of our road trip. It's getting longer, not shorter. But I promise to make the next posting shorter. I promise!
Ole!
That owl! Small but fierce... I don't think I'd mess with him.
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