Laura is my “oldest” friend. We met in the 5th grade, which means we’ve known each other for nearly 40 years. That is almost unfathomable to me – not only that we are *that* old but that our friendship has endured for so long. Late in 2019 I decided that 2020 had to be a year when I let go of almost everything else and instead committed to traveling and to re-connecting with friends. So I told Laura and Mark that I was coming to Arizona! I had not seen them in 10 years! And I bought my ticket in early February and I flew on virtually the same day that everyone started freaking out about the Corona Virus. So the flight over and back was filled with internal reminders not to touch your face! And constant hand sanitizing! And hoping I didn’t end up on the plane next to someone who was coughing or sneezing. 

I arrived at the Tucson airport around noon and my friends had a full weekend planned for us! We went directly to the good stuff: Saguaro National Park. Because we were getting a late start we just did the driving tour and got out of the car for a couple of small forays off the road and into desert to take a closer look at things. Of course, this was like nothing I’d ever seen before! I was immediately in awe at the beauty of the Sonora Desert. 

Day 2 we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and saw a variety of different animals in addition to all the unique cacti. I was so enamored with the landscape and those Saguaro littering the hills in every direction you looked. And I don’t think I could begin to count the number of different types of cacti that I saw. 

Day 3 we were threatened with rain but we drove over to Sabino Canyon anyway and took the open air shuttle tour up to the top.  I didn’t snap too many pictures because I didn’t want my camera to get wet. I think the rain clouds made for some very dramatic scenes. It was another day of feeling in complete awe of the beauty of this planet. Sabino Canyon was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was pretty magical.

On the morning of my last day we drove over to Tubac, Arizona, which is a small artist community with tons of small stores full of local art.