Arizona Dreamin'

...on such a snowy dayyyyy!

It's been a whirlwind last couple of days, mostly consisting of marvelous rejuvenating visits with dear people.

After renting a new Jeep Liberty (woot) last Friday for our trek into the northern wild, Bert & I made a quick stop on our way out of town to visit a certain Rabbi I used to know. I didn't even know if he would be around the synagogue -- it was simply Saturday afternoon, Shabbat, and where else would he be? So we pulled into that familiar parking lot, moseyed down the hall toward the sanctuary, and I heard a familiar voice singing. There he was as ever: on the bima directing a group of Youth Orchestra and generally just zooming around like the feisty, red-bearded rabbi I remember. I decided to have a seat in the front row and just wait for a break in the rehearsal. But he spotted me walking down the aisle and paused in mid-sentence; did a double-take; grinned; then told the choir when they'd meet for the next rehearsal and descended from the bima shaking his head. It was classic! The first thing he said was, "I thought you were in Germany!"

Me: "Well, I am..."

Him: "No you're not, you're right here!"

We had a necessarily short but wonderful catch-up as congregants buzzed around trying to get his attention (as usual), then said shalom until the next time I stop by Tucson...

The next stop were the ladies at the salon -- everyone says "Hi, Connie!" and sends their love! -- and then we picked up a quick burrito at Los Betos before hitting the I-10 up to Phoenix, and Dave & Nena.

It was wonderful to see them! We showed up on their doorstep on Saturday evening and had a great time catching up over half-cooked burgers (ha ha, Dave!) and tasty wines. The original plan was just to spend the night; but since my buddy Matt was getting over a nasty cold, we forgoed (forwent??) the overnighting at his place and ended up loitering around with Dave & Nena until Tuesday morning, eking out every possible minute to just gab and hang out. They were great hosts, and just as fun and sweet as ever. It was like visiting family.

We fortunately also still got to see Matt, who, despite the germs, showed us the best beer & wine stops in town (can we say, 4,000 wines under one roof?) and cooked us breakfast on Monday. Every time we get together it's like no time has passed -- I only wish we could do so more often. Maybe next time will be on our side of the pond again for more Euro-sploring.

TGiF

We had such a lovely time last night with a bunch of the old peeps!

We met at Guadalajara Grill for happy-hour margarita pitchers and the sort of fajitas I've been craving for a year and a half (!); then it was over to Tina's to hang out some more before heading over to a Feuerzangenbowle party given by one of the new(er) folks at the German department. And it was a blast! It was not only fun to meet the "generations" who've started at the department since I left (lots of great Leute!), it was also an absolute delight to see all the friends I've missed in Tucson.

Thank you for coming out everybody, and for such a wonderful time!!

Fun in the Sun

We're having such a marvelous time!

Just about to run off to hike in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson; but I wanted to write a quick post to say that all is gorgeous down Arizona way. Laying cuddled in our silky bed to watch a beautiful palm-silhouetted sunrise over the mountains from our huge picture windows; seeing airplanes at the Pima Air & Space Museum and going shopping and eating and exploring and catching up with favorite professors and old friends -- we got to take a long walk on the UofA campus with Missy Kosanke yesterday! It was so great to see her! -- and just generally being On Vacation.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we're off to see Dave and Nena, and then Matt Gallucci in Phoenix! After which we'll head north into wild country and see ancient Native American ruins and petroglyphs, followed by a visit in Sedona with my Grampa Dale and Gramma Lois, and finally the Grand Canyon...

Life is good!!

Back to Two-Sun! Days Wun & Too

Oh give me a home, where the rattlesnakes roam
And the exits are blocked through Speedway
But the hotel's a dream
And the air's fresh and clean
And the sunshine is sparkling all dayyy!

Ahhhh, vacation!! We're still being stalked by some jetlag -- it's 8:30pm and we wanna go to bed already -- so I'll keep this short; but pictures will follow!

It's the end of our second perfect day. After a looooooong but mercifully uneventful trip west (think 24 hours, half of them spent in a remarkably small plane) we fell into the silken marshmallow that serves as our bed and conked out until 8:30 am.

Monday, we had a leisurely (and delicious, and free) breakfast at the hotel restaurant before setting out to see some lovely scenery on our way to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I've been to the Museum before, but never get tired of it. It's more a zoo/nature park than your typical indoor "museum", and we saw demonstrations with venomous reptiles and with gracefully free-flying hawks as we wandered the extensive and lovingly-maintained grounds. A quick lunch in the museum cafe, a stop at the grocery store for some essentials to stock our hotel fridge, and we were already turning in again for some well-needed rest.

Today, Tuesday, we woke up incredibly early thanks to still being on Germany time, and again enjoyed our breakfast in the bright sunshine. Then it was off to poke around Sports Authority (didn't find anything, but we can't resist sports/outdoor stores), make some unique discoveries at a few artisan shops downtown (lots of southwesterly gifts to take back home!), stop off at Rum Runner to assemble a nice sampler of American brews (and pick up more gifts), catch a coffee at Bentley's, visit my much-missed Tiny House from the outside, and then swing by the University to pick up Tina. And that all before twelve!

From there, we drove through the bright sunshine down to the Titan II Missile Museum, a former-nuclear-missle-silo-turned-historic-site in Saguarita, AZ. The tour was led by a former crew member, who had personal anecdotes and detailed information to share about life in a missile silo. He selected Tina as his "control commander" and she got to demonstrate how one could have turned the key to initiate mutual nuclear annihilation. Jesus. They make a point of stressing how the existence of such weapons during the Cold War was a necessary part of the military's policy of "peace through deterrence": in other words, if anyone pulls the trigger, nobody wins. Still, it was pretty chilling.

So after ogling some weapons of mass destruction, we drove just a bit down the highway back toward Tucson and arrived at the old Spanish mission, San Xavier del Bac. They've finished restoration on the west side of the two-hundred-year-old building, and it looks beautiful; inside, an organist was practicing for Mass. Quite nice. We took some pictures just before the sun went down and then finished up the day at El Charro, the oldest Mexican restaurant in Tucson.

Well! Sorry for the rather dry report, but I am bushed! Hopefully after we adapt a bit more to the time change, I'll have some creative juice still left at the end of the day for a more entertaining recounting... until then, just wanted to say that the trip has been perfect and beautiful so far. Tomorrow, we're off to view the sister attraction to the Titan site, the Pima Air and Space Museum.

In the meantime there's a silken marshmallow of a bed waiting for me... mm, fluffy on the outside, tall handsome sleepy German on the inside... Nachty-Nacht everyone!