I must say warm sunny weather on your back beats staring down 5 feet of snow here in Flagstaff any day and that’s exactly what we did by driving south for a few hours. Some friends of ours from the east coast were visiting their friends in Tucson so we joined them for a long weekend. First up was a “meet and greet” happy hour to decide on an itinerary followed by our first of several delicious Mexican food meals.
The next morning we headed to the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum which is a 40 minute drive west through a part of the Sonoran desert where the saguaro cactus stand tall to greet winter visitors. This is mostly an outdoor museum along a mile and a half trail where one is exposed to all manner of southwest history along with flora and fauna accompanied by lots of desert animal life. On display, although napping in the sun, were a family of havalina’s that look like small thin pigs but are actually categorized in another family of the animal kingdom. Many animals were in hibernation but we did get a close up look at a large mountain lion sunning itself on a rock. Numerous large colorful glass mosaic butterflies are strategically placed throughout the park and a small gallery with nature inspired work. I was even able to overcome a long held fear of the hummingbird aviary having had a bad experience there several decades ago; the hummers were a little less active during this visit heading off a panic attack followed by a quick audible attention grabbing bolt through the exit. This destination is not to be missed when visiting southern Arizona.
Paul got in several early morning mountain hikes along with a group hike that I skipped opting instead to visit a new outdoor Mercado shopping/restaurant complex in central historic Tucson. Other highlights for me included visits with two colleagues whom I haven’t seen in a while and it was wonderful to catch up with them. Paul had breakfast with a friend one morning and another evening we had dinner at the home of a former colleague of Paul’s; they have two small sons who are a delight. There was a final night out with our visiting friends and their friends at a lovely Italian restaurant and I am still thinking about the hearty pasta bolognaise I enjoyed. Our trip back up the hill was uneventful and we are now, once again, ensconced in our snowy winter Flagstaff haven. They say maintaining strong social connections is important for healthy aging and I think we more than met our togetherness quota this weekend.