the two hour time difference really kicks ya in the rear when you get old.

yesterday, nate and i flew out at 12:30 and landed in phoenix, picked up our rental, and headed south to tucson. of course on the way, we had to stop at in-n-out, which was disappointing on the fry department, as always. burger’s pretty good though. to my surprise, there was a culver’s across the street! (also saw some caribou coffee in the wild!)

anyway, we got to our airbnb and were pleasantly surprised! what a solid little airbnb. the outdoor setup is pretty nice!

i was asleep by 9:30. time zones are weird.

but then i was up at 6. so i guess there’s that. did some yoga on the patio, then nate and i were on the road to the sonoran desert museum.

we spent about 3 hours there, walking through the different desert areas, which showed animal life, plant life, bug life. it was actually pretty cool and worth the entrance fee.

a rare nate sighting.

after being out in the outdoors (dry outdoors, really), it was time for lunch at a spot recommended by our rental car agent. nate had a giant beef rib and a burrito, and i had a couple tacos. after that it was definitely time for a nap, so we went back to our faux home for a bit, then i decided to visit the top of mt lemmon for the sunset. we headed out about 3:30, and it took us til a little after 5 to get to the top, about 25 miles.

there was a lot of driving on windy mountain roads! BUT i was impressed with the width of the roads, even though i was still scaredy scared of the massive drops off the edge, but i was driving and paid attention to the road instead. we stopped at some viewpoints, and then we accidentally happened upon summerhaven! that’s a little winter town if i ever saw one. just primed for skiers when the snow flies up there. (it was 42º at the top of the mountain).

the last mile and a half to the top was on a super narrow road that reminded me of the teeny tiny road that takes you up to mount coolidge. at this this road was paved?

the top of the mountain was WINDY and cold and i ran out in shorts for a few quick pics then got outta there. the city was barely visible through the dust blown up be the wind and it was surreal – it looked almost convex, coming up toward you instead of out to the horizon.

it got dark as we wound down the mountain, and it was fun seeing the lights of tucson start up.

the streets in tucson are dark. i wonder if it’s intentional that there are not many streetlights – are they trying to embrace  dark skies? i noticed a lot of parking lot lights are those that make sure to bounce the light toward the ground. so it’s weird being amidst SO much in-city traffic with dark streets. very weird.

had mexican drive-thru for supper and now it’s bedtime again at 9:15. at this rate, coming back to MN will be easy? just in time for daylight saving time to end!