So many things

We had a really great two weeks in Tucson, but it was also a little exhausting with everything we tried to pack into those 14 days.

Up until Tucson we hadn’t really been going out to eat much or experiencing much of the nightlife of the cities and towns we’ve passed through and I think we might have over corrected a bit.  That’s not to say we didn’t have a great time in Tucson, we did, but hopefully we’ll find a bit more balance moving forward.

Last weekend we did our best to get the full experience of the Sonoran desert landscape. We spent Saturday hiking around the Tucson Mountain section of Saguaro National Park and visiting the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (which is really a zoo, botanical garden, aquarium, art gallery, and natural history museum all rolled into one). It was a long 9-hour day out in the sun, but the sights we’re well worth it, and there are so many different types of cactus!

On Sunday we visited the Rincon Mountain section of Saguaro National Park on our way down to the Kartchner Caverns. Both were really cool and it was great to get another cavern experience for comparison and perspective after our trip to the Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park.

Other than the busy weekend seeing all the sights, we also ate at some really great places. We had multiple meals of really good Sonoran/Mexican food at a bunch of different places, but we also had delicious wood-baked Napoli-style pizza, super tasty Nepalese food, and a few loaves of amazing fresh-baked bread from a small local bakery that always sold out by noon. And we found a local cidery where we spent one night sampling a tasting flight while playing trivia (and Lauren took home some of their prickly pear cider).

Like I said, it was a really full and great couple of weeks but I think we’re both looking forward to a few weeks where we aren’t going out every night. And, luckily for us, we’ll get just that over the rest of November.

We left Tucson yesterday and are currently in El Paso, Texas, at an RV park for the week but then we’ll be heading into New Mexico for almost three straight weeks of boondocking. I know I’m eager to get back out in the wilderness for some peaceful days and quiet nights under dark, starry skies.