Sept 15 – Tucson, AZ (part II)

I got a very brief glimpse of Tucson in the less-than-24-hrs I was there.  There are two “downtowns”: the high-density commercial area and the adjacent historic-slash-University funky area.  Decidedly walk-able and very cool to visit.  When visiting, please note that there are numbered streets and numbered avenues . . . it’s very confusing to cross 6^th Street at 6^th Avenue.  You’d think they would’ve started using letters at some point, but no.

We (my hosts and I) had dinner on 4^th Ave then took a walk around the funky side of town.  I was lucky enough to be there on a Friday night, when the SkyBar has a group of fire-dancers working outside.  They used batons, hoops, etc, and grooved to some great electric mix music and live bongos.  My camera is useless for night shots, so I’m going to try to reproduce the memory on colored paper with conte and ink stick wash (if the two are compatible) or pastel.

We also visited the Hotel Congress where infamous bank robber John Dillinger was captured.  The interior of the hotel lobby is awash in copies of news articles and mug shots, which is an interesting contrast to the muted tones of tribal designs on the stucco walls.

The following morning I was headed out of town, but took a quick detour to the east side of town to the Saguaro National Park.  Did you know Saguaro cactus only start to bloom when they’re about 40 yrs old, and only start to branch out around 75 yrs old?  And that they have a “skeleton” made out of woody ribs that natives would use for fences?  I didn’t.

I didn’t make it all the way up into the deepest part of the park (the ponderosa pine forests), but I did manage to get a few pictures down in the desert portion.  Note to self: when wandering through lush desert aimlessly taking photos, try not to walk through low-growing cacti (again).  Got a couple of spines embedded in my ankle for my carelessness!  The park is gorgeous and I’ll be coming back to do some more exploring, though I’ll have to be on the lookout for more than just tricky cacti that jump in front of me when I’m not paying attention: there are tree snakes, jaguars, and mountain lions in the park, too.

The pictures aren’t fantastic or many, but I wanted to share for those that haven't been to the Sonoran Desert.  Click the picture to see the photo album: