I <3 Tucson

Too excited for words to be back!

Last weekend I finally made a pilgrimage back home to my favorite place in the world, Wildcat Country. My parents and I tried to get the best of Tucson packed into one quick weekend because it's been 14 months since the last time I was there, who knows when I'll be back. Plus we had to show Dan around the desert.

The view of the gorgeous day from the Frog patio.

First we visited the rainforest in Phoenix, a little silly, and terrible food but we had great company, so it was well with it.  On Friday we visited the Gem and Mineral Show, which was a first for most of us, if not all. The show was exactly what the name suggests. There were some pretty rocks, fantastic jewelry, fake fossils, and even some sand on display.  I relived some college times with an old friend and enjoyed the beautiful weather from the patio of Frog n Firkin (#1 on my Tucson list of "musts"). When the sun set, we met other friends down the street and enjoyed the Tucson evening.

18th hole of the Open in 2 weeks.

Tiger's gonna play here!

Saturday was the day to show off the amazing golf courses Arizona has to offer, so we took Dan to Dove Mountain to the course the pros will be playing in a few weeks at the Accenture Open. The views were breathtaking and the course was impressive, to say the least. After showing off our landscape, I had to take Dan to my favorite burger place: In n Out (#2 on my list) then to watch the Cats on tv, perfect timing to catch them on a nail biting win over Utah, followed by some authentic Mexican food at Guadalajara Grill, complete with an eegee's night cap (#3 on my list).

Gotta have my Double Double Protein Style.

Sunday was already our last day so we visited MHT, tried some menudo (which, we learned, included some parts of animals we would normally never jump for), then headed to Phoenix to catch our flight. Before we got to the capitol, we had a few more stops, though. First, to see "Quarry Pines" golf course built into the giant hole once used to mine just north of the city. Then, as we passed Picacho Peak, I realized I had missed out on a huge part of the I-10 journey all this time: Rooster Cogburn's Ostrich Farm! So we stopped and all fed the animals together. One last stop at In n Out, and we were off.

Ostriches are not friendly animals.

...but Lorikeets are!

Time flew so quickly, but we had great hosts (thanks for everything, Mom and Dad) and great weather (thanks Tucson for just being Tucson) so we couldn't have asked for anything more. We already have a few additions to our next list of Tucson "musts". Can't wait till I'm back in Tucson again!