Brad's Tucson Trip ...

Well, I spent the last two days in beautiful Tucson.  Usually I think of Tucson as a dirty, nasty town but for some reason it didn't bother me this time.  In fact, I finally found some very good restaurants (which in my rating system is a requirement for making a town acceptable).  Maybe it's because the last time I went to Tucson for work I went with another person and he annoyed me and wanted to eat at Red Lobster.

Anyway, I went to Tucson on Monday afternoon (for work, again, in case you missed that).  I stayed at "The Varsity Clubs of America."  It happened to be half hotel and half interval ownership suites which in everyday talk means time share.  Funny thing.  I was looking at the other properties available and one of them was Rancho Manana in Cave Creek, Arizona.  To most of us this means nothing - but it's actually a resort owned by my friend Matt's family.  I've only been there once but it was beautiful.  It was ironic to me because the "hotel" I was staying in was nothing spectacular.  I'd never spend more than the $125 a night my company was paying for me to stay there yet this beautiful resort in Cave Creek (just north of Phoenix) was also an option.  Huh.

I was supposed to be in Tucson all week but it seems that the world's largest communication company has issues communicating.  The work force I was supposed to be training was at a different training all week so my first class on Tuesday only had three people - which was fine because they were all business reps.  I was supposed to have an afternoon class on Tuesday as well but it was cancelled early last week.  So, I asked the participants in the class where I should go hiking.  They recommended a place called "Sabino Canyon," which is where I ended up going. 

I hiked a total of about 5.5 miles round trip and went up 2,500 feet.

Here are some pictures from the hike:  Click here.

I've decided I've gotten a little to plump and made a promise to myself to not be a fatty when my child is born.  I also made a semi-intoxicated promise to my brother's girlfriend, Kelly, that I'd do a mini-triathlon on September 6.  Therefore, I've been picking up on the working out and overall activity since May 1.  I am hoping to do that triathlon ...

Today, after I went to the hotel where I was conducting training and nobody showed up, I decided to drive to Mt. Lemmon which is only about fifteen miles east of Tucson but about 30 miles of road and an hour of time.  When I thought (ten years ago) I was going to go to The University of Arizona I had read about Mt. Lemmon which promised snow skiing in winter which amazed me considering the winters in Tucson were usually in the 70's.  So, since I had nothing to do today I took that drive to see what all the talk was about ...

The drive starts at the entrance to the Coronado National Forest.  It's 100% desert with huge saguaro cacti powering through the rocky desert floor.  That was an artistic sentence, wow.  Five minutes later, due to the altitude, there are no longer any cacti, just small bushes.  Twenty minutes into the drive pine trees begin to appear.  By the time you get to 8000+ feet you are amidst a dense pine forest ... pretty amazing to see everything from desert to deciduous to pine in one one-hour drive!

Here are some pictures from that drive:  Click here.

I was planning on hiking today too but I got the "go ahead" while driving up to Mt. Lemmon to cancel the rest of my classes and go back home so I decided to do that instead.  But, to keep up with my "training" I did work out right when I got home.  Then I ate a great pasta bake I made for us for dinner.  I need to work on the "good eating."