Fasser Family Blog

Day two in Tucson started out well enough but trying to find our way to the shopping district was a bit rough. We were trying to find the fabulous shopping district that I kept reading about on line which we never really found. Despite the internet being such an amazing resource for us on this trip, it was bullshit when it came to recommending shopping areas. We headed to 4th Avenue which promised to be Tucson’s eclectic shopping district. That is code for stoner head shops and skate punk clothing mixed in with some Buddhist weird ass stuff. We didn’t hang long here as we were in mixed company. However, Lindsay did score a fabulous frock and that made it somewhat worthwhile.

Next stop was downtown Tucson. We saw a lot of impact on the economic downturn of the last couple years. Sadly most of the store fronts were empty. The downtown though is really pretty. I really appreciated how beautiful the public buildings are. It was a really very nice down town. There just was not a lot going on.

We found a great local spot for lunch today. Our people are always up for Mexican food and a local business- man directed us to the fabulous hole in the wall Alejandro’s. There were a half dozen momma’s back in the kitchen fixin’ up some pretty authentic fare. I had the chicken mole and I have to say it was so good! The guacamole was amazing as were the super fresh chips. A+!

Not wanting to spend any more time in the sun that afternoon (thanks to a very angry sunburn on my back from yesterday) Linz & I ditched our group at the house for pool time and Lindsay and I went off in pursuit of retail therapy. We got a few hits and few misses that afternoon too. I had a blast with Linz bouncing in and out of the high end shops of Tucson. We(I) are too cheap to spend the kind of money that they wanted for t-shirts and flip flops so we came home with just a few sweet items.
That night, the classic teriyaki chicken, salad, melon, and left over corn bread. Not bad at all.

Our first full day in Tucson began with a lovely breakfast outside on the patio. The sun is already nice and warm. We were given the recommendation to hike Pima Canyon from Mike Richards’ brother and it turned out to be a great one. Just a short drive from the house we reached the trail head in what appeared to be a residential area. My mom’s place is in the Catalina Foothills, which is a really pretty part of Tucson. We started out on our hike and immediately felt that we were no longer in Seattle. With temperatures reaching the low 90’s that day, we were friggin hot! So, off we went.

It didn’t take long before we were rewarded with substantial views of greater Tucson at our backs. Once rounding a bend, we lost sight on the city and were in this fabulous forest of Saguaro Cacti. It was so hot. We stayed strong and made it in 3 plus miles. Both kids were such troopers.
There was no loop or specific destination here. We could have gone on and on. We learned from returning hikers that the damn was dry and therefore there was no water. We stopped for Jolly Ranchers at a popular hiker stop and then made our way down.
We decided to run back (as we often do on our hikes) and it was so hot that I thought I was going to pass out. Turns out that when you run down a mountain and it is 90 degrees outside, you get over heated.

Okay, so a great start to our vacation. Lindsay’s and my favorite part of the hike were the giant Saguaro forest. Scott’s favorite was the view of Tucson. Jackson’s favorite, had to be the sprint back to the car! He was done with that heat. As promised by the internet, the canyon was truly beautiful and the cotton wood groves deep in the Pima Canyon were stunning and a welcome respite from the intense sun.

Now that we were back in La Paloma it was time to go to the pool! We spent the afternoon horizontal in a pool lounge chair. Linz, Scott & I read books while Jackson splashed in the pool. Scott and I drank cold beer. What a fabulous pool and it is located right across the street from my mom’s place. Dinner was barbeque ribs, baked beans, melon, and corn bread. It was all a perfect end to a perfect day.

Ola!

It’s Wednesday and we’re headed to the Grand Canyon today. We’ve had a blast in the foothills of Tucson spending time with Mike and Shirley. The kids love the pool, we’ve had great Mexican food, we hiked Pima Canyon, visited the Colossal Caves south of Tucson and had a chance to visit downtown. We have several stops planned for today before getting to the hotel – primarily Montezuma’s Castle and the town of Senora.

Greetings,

Lindsay had an amazing adventure with her class to Costa Rica. She’s working on a blog post for that, but I wanted to get some of her pictures up for you to see.