Tucson in July

Dear, dear friends,

I want to share with you some insider information. Call it a pitch, or take it at face value. Up to you.

Most people think that the best time to visit our corner of the US is in winter and spring. Mostly, they come for warmth - to escape their bleary winter days and experience some sun in the middle. Here, in my opinion, is where they go wrong.

NOW is the best time of year to be here. Why? You ask. Let me pontificate.

Once the monsoons begin the weather here is paradise. It's not 105 anymore (that's usually just May and June). In fact, it's a high of 90 or 95 with glorious breaks in the day when there is a lovely thunderstorm and it is 70 degrees! Now, before you wince at the 90 -95 degree declaration, remember what the humidity is like in the desert. You know, it's a DRY heat ;) What that means is that it's probably about 13-15% humidity. Midwesterners: BEAT THAT!

When it rains all the plants in the desert do a happy dance. That dance (called photosynthesis and growth) makes everything around us green and beautiful. Seriously, it looks Hawaii in them thar hills! The roadsides are flanked with green grass. For anyone who has already come to visit, I'm sure you can attest that your first reaction to Tucson was "it's so brown." Not at this time of year, friends. Not at this time of year. I've attached a picture (poor though it is, taken with my camera phone while driving) as proof. Look at the hills! Green! Be still my beating heart.

Finally, because most people choose to visit in the winter and spring (and are not privy to this insider info) the plane tickets to Tucson are the cheapest during the summer. Talk about a deal for a get away or a vacation!

Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox. I just wanted to share this with everyone. This season should last thru August and then it's on to "second summer." If you have a free weekend and you're looking for a get away, call :)

Cali-forn-i-a

At the beginning of the month I/we took a little vacation and toured around a good chunk of California. I started out driving west and camping overnight in Joshua Tree, which was beautiful. I had not been there before and am really glad I stopped. I basically rolled in just before the sun started going down and took pictures until it was gone and the stars were out. Then I set up my tent and attempted to get some sleep. I say attempted because it was actually quite windy. In fact, I had originally planned to have a glorious morning yoga practice amidst the Joshua Trees...well, that plan had to be scrapped due to wind, but I did get to discover a funky little coffee shop in town and have a bagel and coffee there before setting out.

My next stop was Santa Cruz where my dear friend Katie is finishing up her grad program (Paleoclimatology, in case you are interested). She has already blogged about our visit here. To get to her I drove up Hwy 101, through zillions of lettuce patches. At the end of the day I passed numerous farmworker buses carting workers back to their living quarters. Once in Santa Cruz, our three days were filled primarily with eating, talking, some walking, more eating and a lot of baking. Much fun was had with heavenly strawberries. I think we must have done more than that, but really, it was a classic Katie-Micha few days.

Dylan flew into town from Miami (where he had been sweatin' it out for work) and we traveled together up to the Santa Rosa area to visit his uncle John. We got into town just in time to go hear John's jazz trio play at a local winery, enjoy the sun setting over the grapevines and reflect on how lucky we are in so, so many ways...

The next day we went with John into Forestville to see the annual parade and hang out for the first day of the 2-day music and bbq extravaganza in the park. I'm not sure you can get more of a vacation feel than that!

We finished up our trip with a whirlwind visit to Liz and Woody in Pasadena. I've got no picture love to show from this visit, as we were literally there for less than 12 hours (and we slept during that time...). Hopefully, though, there is another trip in the near future, one where I can spend a little more time catching up with Liz :)

Vancouver birthday café

What a smiley surprise...the barista didn't even know it was my b-day!

sweet sweet music...

Who knew that Monday night out in Seattle could be so happenin'?

STP!

more pictures at web.mac.com/michaeleen