We flew into Phoenix on Wednesday the 12th. Justin met us at the airport. He looked so good. I hadn't seen him since last Christmas. We went to our hotel, ate supper, changed clothes, then went to the Mesa Temple for an Endowment session. That is a beautiful temple. The next day we drove to Tucson, going the scenic route so we could just see the countryside. It is very rugged, a lot of scrub plants and cacti. I was looking out the window at everything and all of a sudden I saw a cow, just standing out in the desert - actually a long-horned steer I guess. He just looked so out of place.
Then we got to their apartment in Tucson and got settled in. We did several day trips - going up to Mt. Lemmon (8,000 feet! - with snow on the ground), going to Tubac one day for shopping at quaint gift shops, eating Mexican, Italian, just eating. I tried really hard to stay on my diet. We just had a really good time. I saw tumbleweeds, a roadrunner, and heard coyotes howling in the middle of the night.
One day we went to the Desert Museum. That was a fun place to visit. It was like going to the NC Zoo and seeing the Sonoran Desert section, except it was ALL desert section.
On Sunday afternoon we had dinner with some of Justin and Vanessa's friends from church. Their home, like most of the houses, was made of cinder blocks and looked like it was sitting in a vacant lot with all the scrub brush in the front "yard". We went in, and inside it was beautiful and roomy. Then we went out the back door to sit at their patio table. Their back "yard" was amazing. The ground was just dirt - but not dirty. It was kind of sandy and rocky, but looked like it had been swept clean or something. There was no scrub brush in the back but several mesquite trees shading the whole walled in area. Yes, most homes have walls around them. They had pomegranate bushes and a coy pond with a sparkling fountain over big rocks. There was a trampoline at ground level that their grandkids were jumping on. And they had a small area (maybe 30x20 feet) of grass growing with borders around it. It was kind of the opposite of our yards with our bordered areas. Anyway, like I said, I was just amazed at everything.
We took a few pictures. This is me and Justin in front of the Mesa Temple.
These are orange trees growing on the temple grounds.
Me and Justin just in the desert.
The desert.
Me and Bennie.
Justin and Bennie.
More desert.
Saguaro cactus. I liked these the best.
The weather was perfect all week. One morning Justin and I went running at a local park trail. It was in the 50's around 8:00 a.m., and by lunch time it was in the 70's every day. And the sky was that perfect clear blue the whole time. We had a really good time, and Justin and Vanessa are great hosts!
