"Go West Young Man" The Tucson Chronicles (part 1)

We weren't around for several days in case anyone was wondering. Last Tuesday we flew off to Tucson, Arizona for a week of fun in the sun! Upon arrival we picked up a rental car and headed straight for a little Mexican restaurant for some lunch. After that we headed straight for the antique stores since we couldn't check into the Bed & Breakfast until the late afternoon! We did really well. After looking in some 5 or six stores we hadn't spent a penny!

Then we headed north west on Oracle Road to the Oro Valley, some 15 miles from the center of Tucson on our quest to locate "The Cactus Quail" which was the name of the B & B. When we found it (if you pass the Catholic Church you've gone too far, and we should know. Twice!) I made sure to take some pictures.
Here is the sign;

and the view from the sign;



This is even harder at night! There are restrictions on light pollution in this part of the country but it may already be too late. It is hard to believe that an entire generation of Americans will never see the real night sky. Unless you are somewhere like the Rockies you may never see the Milky Way.
Here are some more pictures from the B & B;



I was really intrigued with the tile roof, this picture shows how it is constructed. Just in case anyone was interested.


That is mortar under those ridge tiles and at the base of the chimney, you know, lime, sand and Portland cement.

I also thought this was a cool thing to do with bricks!



Now the best thing about the place (besides the fact that it costs $130 a night) is the view from the back yard;





That is all State and National Park land back there so I expect this view is good for several administrations!

The distance to those mountains is 3 miles as the crow flies. Tomorrow I will explain how I know that (and why we never got all the way to them.) You will also learn about my experience with the "Jumping Cholla" (pronounced choya) which is a particularly nasty cactus plant and YES we did meet up with some other housebloggers while we were there so I can tell you all about that too! Since I haven't done this in a while, if you want to know how to keep a house blog reader in suspense CLICK HERE!