From New York to Arizona: The First Few Weeks

Week 1 - Susan's Birthday and "A" Mountain

My sorry attempt at celebrating Susan's birthday on the road.

The first week or so was really dedicated to getting settled in - getting the apartment set up, figuring out where to shop, finding good dog parks, etc. Susan started orientation on Wednesday and was learning about her new job. I took the week off and focused on the apartment. Also, a priority for me was celebrating Susan's birthday, which had been on one of the days of the long journey across the country and I sucked at recognizing. I found a little bakery nearby and placed an order, just hoping that the cake would be good. I also booked a sunset horseback riding trip through Saguaro National Park for the two of us. I picked up a few Wii games from a local box store and got some amazing magnets for her collection from a cute shop on 4th Ave.

Our new owl friend!

Friday, Susan ended up not having to go into work, so we explored the area. We went to 4th Ave, which is a cute street, kind of like Monroe Ave in Rochester, or Haight Ashbury in San Fran. The bookstore where I found Susan's magnets (and bought them without her noticing) gave me a free book just for buying something. They get lots of advance copies of books that they aren't allowed to sell, so they have a section where you can go pick one out for free. At this other store, I found some animal sculptures called Brushkins. They're really cute and I fell in love with an owl, so we brought him home with us!

View of Tucson from A Mountain

After 4th Street, we drove up to the top of "A" Mountain, called that because of the giant A made out of rocks to symbolize the University of Arizona. Technically it's called Sentinel Mountain, but whatever it's called, it makes for a really good view of the city!

Day of her "Birthday Celebration" started out pretty good. It was raining quite a bit in the morning, but cleared out early in the afternoon. We had cake for breakfast, which turned out amazing. It was chocolate with a peanut butter mousse filling. Definitely will use that bakery again! In the afternoon, we set out for the horseback ride, but were surprised to find that it had been cancelled due to weather. The rain doesn't really soak in around here, so it drains into these gullies, called "washes", and the trails in the park were still waterlogged, long after the rains had stopped. Instead of making the 45min drive for nothing, we drove around the park and explored the desert. We actually wouldn't get to go horseback riding until two days later because of the rains.

Week 2 - Ride Through Saguaro National Park and a Drive to Mt Lemmon

The day of the ride was hot, but the heat here is much more bearable because of the lack of humidity. (People here complain about the humidity, but it's nothing compared to back on the East Coast!) It ended up that nobody else had signed up for the ride, so it was just the two of us and the two guides.The horses we got were older, so they were nice and slow. Because of the rains, there was a lot more greenery than usual along the trails, so they kept wanting to stop and snack along the way. We saw lots of cacti and desert greenery, saw some lizards and a few rabbits. Best way to show it though, is with pictures!

Some big Saguaros in the background

Lots of prickly pear cactus.

Barrel cactus in bloom

Prickly pear fruit

Javelina Rocks in Saguaro National Park East

It's hard to take video while on horse!

Week 2 Continued

The week was pretty uneventful. I interviewed with a local university, community college and an agency. Susan did more orientation and desk work because school still wasn't in session. I had coffee with a fellow Rochester interpreter that moved to Tucson just bit before I did and we had a great talk about what things were like in our new work environment. Most nights we took the dogs to the dog park before the sun set, or took them on a walk around the apartment complex if it was dark. Otherwise, we just kept settling in and getting used to things.

Sunset as seen from the Northwest Dog Park

Saturday we took a drive to Mount Lemmon, which is in the Santa Catalina Mountains, just north and east of us. Technically, it's part of the Coronado National Forest, which is an odd place to be so close to the desert. It's not that far from where we live, but the lack of highways and the abundance of switchbacks made for a lengthy ride, which left Susan feeling very car sick. At the top is "Ski Valley" where, obviously, you can ski during the winter months. During the summer months, they keep the main ski lift active so people can ride to the top, which is what we went to do. Again, pictures are worth a thousand words, so here you go!