J and K Adventures

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Day Tripping

Living in Tucson has really been a dream come true. And adding to the fun were upcoming visits from Jon and Sharon and Dennis and Laurie. But we were still exploring. We took a day trip south of Tucson to to St. Xavier del Boc mission and Tubac, a former artists colony and art center/tourist trap.

The mission church. The mission was started in the 1690's

Beautiful Ceilings

Looking toward the altar

Lots of gold

Looking back toward the choir loft

Further south, almost to the border, is the town of Tubac. It is the site of an old Presidio and former artists colony. Now it is a great place to shop. There was so much to see!

Jeff found some cars that he liked

Mural that captures the desert

The store with the most wind chimes I ever saw in one place

Lovely gardens and courtyards and walkways

Friday, January 12, 2018

Living in Tucson

We rented our condo in Northeast Tucson for the whole month of January. So on New Years Day we got up early and again drove south. The closer we got, the more nervous I got. With only the pictures on the website and promises of the realtors to go on, I was worried that the property wouldn't meet our expectations. But boy was I wrong. The condo at Summertree turned out better than we expected. It is roomy, fully equipped, comfortable and clean. It has a nice little balcony that looks out over the complex and the Santa Catalina mts. to the North. And it has a nice big clean pool at the perfect temperature and a hot tub too. Heaven!

Our comfortable living room looking toward the balcony

Kitchen

Pool and hot tub

view toward the mts

Our front door

Since we got here we have been exploring Tucson and nearby attractions. We've been having a lot of fun in the sun. In fact, it has been sunny and warm almost every day we've been here.

Street mural near downtown

Real Mexican food at El Charro's

Trying out the driving range

the usual temperature

At La Encantada Mall - a real Orange tree

Ahhh retirement.....day drinking

One of our favorite outings the first week we were in Tucson was the trip to Sabino Canyon. Its a short drive from our condo. The canyon follows a creek bed and the road beside it is only open to hikers and a tram. The tram takes you by nine stops to the end where you can continue to hike or walk back down the road. The scenery was spectacular and we can't wait to go back.

The tram goes up and down every half hour.

Amazing rock formations

See the people?

Looking down the canyon

Saguaro cactus

Seems like they grow out of rock

Becoming Snowbirds

Kathy Here: My dream has long been to go to the sun in the winter. Lack of sun effects my mood drastically , and as I have aged, I notice that the colder and damper the weather is, the more my joints ache. Jeff has noticed the same thing. With my retirement, our plan was to get to the sun as much as possible in December, January and February. You already read about our cruise of the Eastern Caribbean. Our next sunny adventure was to Tucson Arizona for the month of January. We took our usual circuitous route via the Oregon coast and Shore Acres, and drove south to Eureka. Then, we cut across California to Williams and from there, over the Sierras to Reno. From Reno we drove south to Las Vegas for New Years Eve.

The Pacific at Shore Acres

Loving all the lights. It never gets old

In the redwoods, and in the fog

Up in the Sierra

The straight road south

We stayed at a casino off the strip in Las Vegas. But it had a great view right down the strip and we were on the 16th floor. The only problem was that Trump Tower was right in front of us. Yuck! We had fun walking the strip from the Mirage to MGM grand. Lots of smiling people, folks in outrageous costumes, Gigantic hotel/casinos and Neon. We went back to our hotel before they closed down the strip and celebrated the New Year while watching the fireworks from our room.