Arizona Trek

I can now say I've been to Arizona! And it's full of cactus, rocks and adobe houses, just like on the post cards.

After a wonderful weekend getaway with two of my closest gal pals, I've lurched into a busy week but wanted to take a few moments to recap a fantastic time and a much-needed reunion. I flew from Houston and my other friend, Medley, flew from Dallas to meet our friend, Jessica, in Tucson. She's been living there about eight or nine months and I've been in Scotland prior to that so it was a get-together that had been a long time coming.

We immediately flounced into her backyard and began taking pictures with the huge cactus we found there, plus some of their lovely view that looked directly off into the mountains. It was really a stark contrast to our hill country scenes in Texas filled with grassy fields and barbed wire fences.

Next, we explored downtown Tucson (which was cute and very indie, but not very big) and headed out for a night on the town with friends. There was even a shuttle bus to, well, shuttle us around to various bars and it turned into a late night. I think our heads hit the pillows just before 5am. Don't judge - there was lots of fun to be had!

Jessica, me and Medley.

We tried the local fare, like a Sonoran dog, which comes encased in bacon and topped with mayo, tomatoes, cheese and mustard. It was... interesting. I had two bites and decided I was going to make chili cheese dogs when I got home.

We also paid our respects at the memorial for the Arizona shooting victims. It was a really moving visit and there were so many prayers, tokens and mementos set out there.

One of our favorite memories was when Jessica's boyfriend drove us up a mountain on the outskirts of town so we could catch the sunset over Tucson and take more pictures of cactus. There were so many beautiful photos so I had to share a few:

Even in the open air perched on a cliff watching the city below us, we are never without food and drink!

Before our Sunday departure, we headed into town on a balmy, blue sky-day and sat out on a sun-drenched patio for lunch then wandered around downtown admiring the cute shops and boutiques.

There was some questionable attire at American Apparel...

...and even Starbucks was adobe-style!

Arizona is certainly a unique place to visit, and we only wished we'd had more to time to go pursue some serious hiking and hedge our bets at the nearby casinos. But alas, the weekend came to a close all too soon and we parted ways at the airport doors just after the wheel on my suitcase fell to pieces. As if that wasn't enough, I had a six-hour travel time because I had to catch a connecting flight in Phoenix (I'd avoided the route that took you from Tucson to Denver then to Houston). On my second plane, a woman passed out and fell out of her seat just as we were preparing to taxi down the runway for takeoff. The pilot taxied back to the gate and the paramedics came on board to fetch the poor woman, who didn't speak any English we discovered as she groggily came to and was hoisted off the plane. Then the pilot had to fill out paperwork. Needless to say, it was well after midnight before I got home! But it was worth every minute, because some things are just to precious to pass up...