I saw my friend Jess over the weekend.She made me dinner, which is the ultimate show of love in my world, and we spent the evening in her kitchen drinking wine and talking about where we can next go scuba diving together. We went to Florida for our last trip and dove under less than great conditions in West Palm Beach; so, we’re hoping for something tropical next time. 

The next morning we drove into Bisbee, a little mining town in the mountains of the AZ/Mexico border. In the last 50 years it’s gone from booming to busted and is now starting (hopefully) to come back. It looks like someone has invested money into the historic downtown area and a couple restaurants are thriving, like this place: 

I had delicious Huevos Rancheros, the beginning of my “I’m in Tucson so bring on the Mexican food!” spree: 

Dontcha love the diner brownware circa 1973?  We ate too much and then drove up the road to Ramsey Canyon to work it off. 

Animals run free here because the canyon is a nature preserve:

 There are plenty of birds, like this little owl hunched down in his tree: 

No hunters come up here, so turkeys are safe: 

And the occasional snake: 

A sunny, cool day with blue skies: 

Jess told me we’d be hiking up to a waterfall but she left the slot canyon as a surprise: 

I’ve never seen a slot canyon in this area. 

I love the way the light comes through 

The waterfall wasn’t raging: 

But the stillness: 

And greenery:

 And relative remoteness of the area made it an ideal afternoon.

Doesn’t this look like something Monet would paint? 

I never see Jess enough so it was a treat to spend a whole day hiking around with her.

I drove into Tucson late afternoon and spent the evening with another dear friend of mine, Diane. We ate Mexican food (twice in one day!) and told stories and I spent the night at her house. Now I’m sitting at her kitchen table drinking coffee, writing and contemplating my day.  I get to unpack my car for the first time since Toronto. I’ll leave some stuff here in my Tucson storage shed and drive out of AZ about 200lb lighter than I came in. Cannot. Wait.

I’ll also have several days to see Tucson like a tourist. Come back tomorrow to see what the Old Pueblo has to offer.

See you then.