French Friend in Tucson

Our friend, Astrid arrived in Tucson yesterday, with her friend, Florance, for a one month visit to southern Arizona.  We met them at their hotel this morning at 10, then walked to the old Pima County Courthouse.  We visited the Tucson Visitor’s Center, then the Gem and Mineral Museum, recently moved from UA.  We had lunch at Street Tacos downtown, seeing several beautiful murals along the way, then drove under the “rattlesnake” bridge and to the UA campus.  We walked around Old Main and stopped at the Center for Creative Photography.  Afterward, we went to the Arizona Inn, where we had several glasses of lemonade.  We had a busy day!

Hot Pink

We have hot pink flowers blooming in various places in our garden.  They bloom just two days, but there are dozens of blooms.  Beautiful!

Fort Lauderdale for Ice Hockey

Whitney invited me several months ago, to join her and Greta in Fort Lauderdale for a National Girls Ice Hockey Championship.  I was there Tuesday-Saturday, and had fun taking Greta to the ice rink, watching her games, taking her to the beach with her teammates, going to the team dinner, walking with Whitney every day, eating Cuban and Italian lunches together.... I had a great time!  Greta's team won their first three games and lost Saturday morning.  It was a good run! 

Yellow Blooms

Palo Verde trees and brittle bush are blooming in our yard.  Their yellow blooms are beautiful!

Murals of Tucson

There are over 1000 murals in Tucson, most downtown, with others scattered about the city.  Some of the muralists have become well known outside of Tucson and now do commissioned pieces elsewhere.  The artist that did the mural below, Joe Pagac, https://joepagac.net/murals, has been found!  He does incredible work, with a great sense of humor!  This is my favorite, with photo taken out my back passenger window when I went downtown for a haircut appointment.

Sabino Canyon

Papa and I took the tram up Sabino Canyon this afternoon.  We got off the tram at stop #9, end of the line, and walked 3.8 miles down to the Park entrance.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon.  The Creek was running, the cottonwoods growing along the Creek were wearing their new shiny green leaves, the wind was blowing up the Canyon.  It was perfect!  

Cajun Dinner at Home

Last evening, Ornella and Donato came for dinner.  I made a Cajun seafood boil, with black beans and rice appetizer.  Ornella brought fresh bread, and we made bananas Foster for dessert (lit with rum!).  It was a delicious and very messy dinner.  We had fun in our breakfast room with stacks of napkins and a bowl for shells and corn cobs.