Advertisement
Published: April 25th 2014
Edit Blog Post
Ernest and Priya lived on the outskirts of Tucson. It was a single story sprawling house with beautifully kept gardens in the front and back with a swimming pool in the back garden. It was very private as there were no houses in the back ( there was a flash flood run off at least 100m wide with bushes and cactii). Ernest had taken time off take us around Tucson. On Sunday after church we had our first trip to the hills surrounding Tucson. The hills give Tucson a insulated atmosphere and probably protects it from extream weather such as tornados. It is an arid place but something strange happens as you drive up the hills which are approximately 7000+ feet (2000+m) high.
At first there was only some bushes in the arid plains, the vegitation changes exclusively to cactii as we climb the hill. Soon the vegitation changes to greener bushes. At the top it is almost alpine vegitation, wooded forests with tall trees. There were skii resorts at the top it being covered with snow in winter. Later had a delicious Labanese meal in a restaurant in Tucson. Being a developing down there are facilities catering
for all tastes here. The town itself sprawls between the hills often overflowing out where there was a gap. On our trip next day to Phoenix we drove more than 40 miles before the urban areas vanished.
The very next day we went shopping (yes, shopping you have to cater for the better half as well) in Phoenix. Later had a meal in the Mall. Regarding anything we wanted to know we only had to ask Tony who was the resident encyclopaedia, who could give us everything we wanted to know in a jiffy, if he did not know it, a few key strokes and you had the answer. The weather was pleasant, the temperatures had not climbed to their dizzy heights as would happen later in summer. In the evening there was a cooling breeze to make you sleep better. Tucson was a bit easy time to relax and prepare for the next lap.
Originally we had not planned to go to Sidona but a couple of Ernie’s friends advised us it was well worth the visit. It was not a big detour on our trip to Grand Canyon and we decided to take it.
What a pleasant surprise it was. Sidona was a beautiful place full of character and awesome red rock formations which we enjoyed. There is a church in the town which is located in a lofty area which gave a panoramic view of the surrounding and is well worth the visit. Very strange to see the first “roundabouts” in USA. There are no traffic lights here. But I think the visitors were a bit confused by this European import. In the USA at a junction without traffic lights all vehicles stopped and first to the junction was given first priority. So, when they came to the roundabout they were all stopping a little confused with priorities
Advertisement
Tot: 0.103s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 14; qc: 47; dbt: 0.06s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb