Tucson, Arizona

We just got back from Tucson and it was awesome!  What an unusual part of the country!  Before this, the only kind of cactus I had ever seen, were in tiny little flower pots at the grocery store.  Arizona was unbelievable and loaded with cacti!

Before we even got to our hotel, we knew we had to hit up El Guero Canelo to get a Sonoran hotdog.  This hot dog trumped all the other hot dogs in the universe.  It was, by far, the best hot dog I've ever eaten in my entire life.  Why the hell the rest of the country hasn't picked up on this phenomenon, is beyond me.  It's a bacon-wrapped hot dog, topped with beans, fresh tomatoes, onions, jalapeno sauce, mustard and mayo, tucked in the most buttery, heavenly roll you could imagine.  It was the best!

We were way too full and tired after traveling to keep exploring so we headed to the hotel instead.  It was incredibly beautiful but we were so overwhelmed by the dramatic change in landscape.  If you told me that we were on another planet, I would have believed you.

The next morning, we ventured off on an early morning hike with a tour guide. We learned about lots of different species of cacti - even ate some, saw javelina pig poop, tarantulas, snakes, and petroglyphs that were dated to be between 8,000-10,000 years old.  It was total nerdy fun.

Ranger Rick and petroglyphs on the rock.

The cactus we ate.  It tasted like green pepper and made our throats swell slightly.

After that, we headed to the Old Desert Museum which was a complete snooze fest.  Skip it, if you ever head out that way.  We did see a few cute animals and some really gorgeous views though.  It was kind of cute, I guess.  It would have been perfect for families with little kids and it really made us miss ours.

We were in desperate need of some 'normal' after that, so we headed over to the mall to shop for awhile and eat some fabulous sushi.  It was nice to put on some blinders to all the dust and brown for a minute.  We grabbed some wine and headed back to the hotel to hang out in the pool while the flute player dude on the hill did his spiritual indian music thing at sunset.  This is the only silly video I took where you can actually hear the flute guy.