Tuscon for potential snowbirds
 

We are in the two week Tucson portion of a three week trip that will end in Albuquerque. After sitting on the Tarmac being de-iced we luckily did not miss our connection and arrived at the compact and art filled Tucson airport on time.
The landlord of the house we are renting in the western hills suggested Teresa's Mosaic Cafe for lunch and it did not disappoint us with delicious tamales and tart lemonade. We then made our way to our home in the desert with amazing views of several different mountain ranges and surrounded by the amazing suguaros, many 100 years old as well as many other varieties of cactus, numerous birds.
The last time I was here I was three and I have no memory of that so this is all new. We are exploring places to spend a month or two in the winter and we have a good friend here.
More later.

I hope you get to visit Kitt Peak!
http://www.noao.edu/outreach/kpoutreach.html

We are waiting for the snow to melt!

My snowbird friends in Arizona are in Buckeye, Apache Junction and Yuma.
On Tuesday 2/12 I was in Tucson to see the largest tree in Tucson (6' dia-19' circumference).
That night I was in Silver City NM which has most of what I'm looking for in a snowbird town.
I'm back in Oregon now. Next week I'll probably go snowshoeing again.

Mike
I follow your blog already!

Ready to follow along on your trip report jubilada :-)

Are you going to have the chance to visit Madera Canyon while you are down there? One of the sky islands, and not far from Tucson. I haven't looked at the weather, but I hope it is warming up for you!

We have been busy exploring the past few days.
We visited the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum which we expected to love but we were disappointed. It was very crowded to the point where indoor exhibits were impossible to view. The house we are renting is very near this site and I think we did not experience the awe that many do seeing the museum because we have been living in these surroundings, without any other people within sight. However, the ride there through Gates Pass was spectacular.



The Mission of San Xavier del Bac was absolutely gorgeous. This is the oldest Catholic mission in the US in Mexican Baroque style and has been painstakingly restored. The artistry is endless and one can feel the spirit of those who have prayed there over the years. This white moorish style building stands against the blue sky in the desert and is breathtaking. We recommend the 25 minute video explaining the building and restoration, narrated by Tucson native Linda Ronstadt. Afterwards one can stop at one of many stalls where fry bread is being sold.

We also visited the West and East Saguaro national parks. The East has the oldest saguaros, up to 200 years old . There is a gorgeous 8 mile drive through the park with scenic overlooks, picnic areas and places to embark on hikes. We had a great time. And since we are old admission was free with our $10.00 lifetime National Parks Pass.

We also got to experience a rare daytime snowfall , disconcerting but beautiful. It snowed about half an inch, making the desert look like another planet. In the morning, it all melted except atop the very highest peaks.

We spent an afternoon meandering down 4th avenue, with boutiques and restaurants reminiscent , in a good way , of the sixties. We spent a good hour in Antigone's, a bookstore which began life as a Women's bookstore and has now expanded to some general offerings too. It still has a great gay and lesbian and helpful knowledgeable staff. There are comfortable chairs in which to loll. It is a rare example of a great independent bookstore in these days of Barnes and Noble and I admire Tucson for keeping it alive.

Food so Far: We have returned to Teresa's, this time for breakfast. I highly recommend the enchiladas stuffed with softly scrambled eggs, topped with a nutty mole and sesame seeds. It is served with handmade corn or wheat tortillas.
Their horchata and homemade lemonade are made in large quantities and are both excellent.

We also enjoyed Mariscos Chihuahua, a family owned Mexican seafood place . Being from New Engalnd, and often traveling to seaside destinations, we were dubious about seafood here, but the shrimp seviche was delectable. We also had shrimp and fish ( a white firm fish) in a creamy chile sauce, very green and very rich, which was delicious. There are now a few of these in twon but we ate at the original which has a wonderful mural of the ocean and a great outside seating area.

We tried a Bosnian restaurant recommended on Chowhound, Chef Alisha's, whcih was overall a disappointment. The appetizers were pretty good and a lamb stew heavily flavored with paprika was good; the stuffed cabbage was not.

WE had a great early dinner at Poca Cosa, a neuvo Mexican restaurant downtown.The menu changes daily and is presented on a chalk board. We had chef's choice which was a different set of three entrees for each of us served with a huge salad and rice and beans. Everything was great; standout was a chicken with one of the chef's many variations on mole. We could have ordered one plate to share as we took home enough for another whole meal, and we are very good eaters. This is a sleek , modern, very comfortable restaurant to which we hope to return.

We have also made two trips to Frost gelato, owned by Bologna natives. Magnifico! My favorite combination so far is salted caramel and dark chocolate. We are thrilled to learn that there is a franchise in Albuquerque where we are heading next week.

We still have six more days here, and have many plans. Tomorrow we head for Bisbee, AZ, an old copper mining town about 100 miles away for a day trip with our friend.

We have been overwhelmed by how nice and friendly everybody has been, very different from the reserve we are used to but don't love about New England.

More later...

San Xavier del Bac is beautiful, I'm glad you enjoyed it. We had a pretty good Navajo taco from one of the vendors outside as you mentioned.

I have read a number of the JA Jance books based in Bisbee, it will be interesting to hear your impressions.

It sounds like you are having a great trip!

It all sounds wonderful!

It is indeed wonderful; we really feel like this might be the snowbird destination for us.
I forgot earlier to say we had excellent excellent NY style pizza slices at Brooklyn Pizza. It brought me back to walking home from school in Brooklyn in Junior high. And at lunch a cheese slice and a ( refillable) fountain soda is 2.88. Interestingly, their whole operation is solar powered.

We have been surprised at the relatively small number of solar panels we have seen given the huge amount of sunny days. We see a lot more solar in dark New England, at least in our area.

I am bummed out since we just checked the calendar for our really wonderful rental house and the dates we want for next year are full. We will no doubt find something else.

Marking for leisurely read!

The independent book store speaks well of Tucson and the restaurant/gelato availability sound good, too. (esp salted caramel and dk chocolate).

DS visits with a friend in Mesa who customizes jeeps for offroading. Apparently the extensive govt lands are open to all kinds of recreation. Would love to drive to an isolated lake for a picnic. (I did a Pink Jeep tour in Sedona.) That would be another difference between there and here - more open land.

Te open land is indeed amazing dfrost as is the open sky. Off to bisbee now.

Nice TR, jubi! Snow on the desert makes an amazing mind picture. Mission SX and the egg enchiladas sounded wonderful also.

More please!

Enjoying you TR, jubilada!

A few 4th Avenue restaurants to try....
The B-line, breakfast, lunch...good vibe
Athens on 4th..good Greek, open only at dinner
Delectables..great salads, outdoor seating
Lack of solar is strange..perhaps because the state is very, very conservative(not Tucson.)

We ended up postponing trip to Bisbee because of very high winds and cool temps there. Instead we went to the Center for Creative Photography where we saw a show about the NYC jazz scene in the sixties by Eugene Smith we had hoped to see some of the archived Ansel Ads works but no go. We then drove around looking at rentals for next winter, some awful,some nice but filled for Feb. many properties in gated communities or unappealing subdivisions both of which we dislike.
We ate at Teres's yet again because we love it. Fish tacos today...delish!

J: I am following along with great interest. I will be looking for someplace interesting to spend a good chunk of time next winter and your reconnaissance is a big help!!

Our priorities include a large heated pool (indoors or out) for lap swimming, which narrows things down quite a bit! Keep your eyes open for me!!

Good luck and happy travels...so enjoy your reporting!

The biggest tree in Tucson is on W Congress St. just off I-10.
It is a Red Gum Eucalyptus 6' in diameter.
My recent look for a snowbird spot led me farther east into New Mexico including Deming and Silver City.

Eks
There are many outdoor heated pools here
Both at clubs and places like the Jewish Community Center. Also many of the gated communities have them. Have only seen JCC one and one at a tennis club both very nice. The club actually has two pools,one four lane lap pool and another used for classes and general swimming.
Tom I prefer NM landscape and politics but it is a little cooler, maybe too cold for us.