Left in Tucson

A Tucson friend of ours recently sent me a couple of photos of his "pets."  Ray lives on a 4-acre spread overlooking the Santa Rita and Catalina mountain ranges.  The Gila monster is a regular for morning breakfast of fresh eggs.  He was photographed one early morning in our friend's detached garage bathroom.  Mr. and Mrs. Javalina have felt safe enough to raise their little ones on Ray's acres.

One of the things you quickly notice about Tucson is that there are a lot of pick-up trucks around town; and dogs and kids ride in the back, even on the hottest days.  Tucson is where 1967 Ford 150 pick-up trucks come to retire.  I have never seen so many in one place before.  Some have been lovingly restored with vintage turquoise and white paint jobs.  Others wear their years proudly.  More than a few, I am sure, are driven by their original owners.  Some times you might spot a pick-up loaded to the gills with an assortment of furniture and household goods. It seems if you own a pick-up, some believe there is no reason to rent a moving trucking to protect your belongings while in transit.  So what if it's windy, dusty, raining or the hot sun is beating down on your stuff.   Who cares if a few items accidentally fall off the back of your truck as you bump along local roads and highways.  Pick-ups are also handy for hauling your horse and ATV trailers. Something else that is qu

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On Saturday, 4/23/2011, the Tucson Chaparral Chapter of the Mercedes Club met up at Vanderpool's Collision Specialists.  The Vanderpool's, Wayne (Dad) and sons, Jason and Taylor run an amazing operation.  The plan was to all arrive at the shop by 9 AM.  I plugged the street address into Google maps, determined that the place was only a short 20-25 minutes drive to downtown from our east side home, and set off in the White Queen.  No, the White Queen has not been adopted yet.  I followed said Google directions and ended up on the north end of Euclid avenue in the vicinity of the U of A.  The directions indicated that my destination would be only about 1.4 miles from my turn off of Broadway.  Well, I traveled that distance plus up and down Euclid 3 times and did not find Vanderpool's.  A 411 mobile call and a reached someone at Vanderspool's who explained that I needed to be on the south side of Euclid not the north side and over in the industrial section of town.  Than

We recently drove north from Tucson to Phoenix, and I took these two videos on I-10N.  As you can see, there is lots of open desert and light traffic.   If you look closely, you will notice a "dust devil" out in the desert.  These little tornadoes of dust get whipped up frequently in the spring when the air temps and the winds are just right. Also,take note of the yellow wild flowers along the roadside.  Spring in southern AZ is primarily yellow flowers of all kinds.  It reminds me of the northeast in that the first flowers to bloom along the roadsides in NJ are yellow forsythias.  Picacho Peak is of historic significance going back to the Civil War and to prehistoric times when volcanoes were active in these here parts.  Click here.

share The Old West:  Legends, Lore, Facts and Fiction.  This year, Arizona is celebrating 100 years.

Here is a list of things I learned about living in Tucson: The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground. The trees are whistling for the dogs. The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance. Hot water now comes out of both taps. You can make sun tea instantly . You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron! The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly. You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car. You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window. You actually burn your hand opening the car door. You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?" You realize that asphalt has a liquid state. The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper. Farmers are feeding their chicke

Jim and I were in Tempe over the weekend and got a great recommendation for lunch.  A Scandinavian Bistro serving amazing fresh (not frozen) fish entries, plus 4 veggie side dishes!  The owners opened their original restaurant in Canada, so the name of the place is Beaver Choice, with a Canadian Beaver as their logo.  www.beaverchoice.com .  Check it out when in the Phoenix area.  It is worth the trip. 

Spring in Tucson means the return of the White Winged Dove.  I don't care how much you like listening to Stevie Nicks sing about the White Winged Dove, if you live in Tucson long enough, you will find these glorified pigeons nothing but a nuisance. Come spring, they seem to be everywhere, cooing and doing their mating dances.  Last spring, a pair of doves selected the eaves of our backyard patio as their nesting spot.  Each time Jim or I noticed that they had gathered a supply of dried grass or twigs up along the eaves of the patio roof, we quickly removed them, in our vain attempt to discourage them from setting up their homestead.  Before very long, the mother dove was firmly ensconced on her nest.  So, we decided we could put up with sharing our patio with a couple of doves and their hatchlings for a few weeks. It would be fun and entertaining to witness the cycle of life. Soon after, Jim sneaked a peak into the nest and discovered two eggs.  We began to take notice of the c