Day 2- Tucson

Thurs 2/9/17

We met up again with our friend Chris around 9 am on Thursday morning and he chauffeured us to Tucson, where his parents live. Chris and James grew up together in Georgia and Chris’ family moved to Tucson when he was a teenager. 

Along the way we stopped at Rooster Cogburn’s Ostrich Ranch and fed the critters. We then had lunch with Chris’ parents at their house before heading into Tucson to see the University of Arizona. We walked around the campus, which had shocking numbers of grassy quads just like any other university. U of A is a more modern school compared to UGA, but it was a pretty campus and the downtown area bordering the college was cool. 

We stopped for coffee and then drove to the other side of Tucson to visit Gates Pass, which is a park and scenic overlook area. We hiked a short ways up a small mountain (hill?) and took some pictures. It was really pretty with tons of saguaro cacti dotting the landscape as far as the eye could see. I guess I never really realized cacti grow in “forests”; I just always had an image in my head of one giant, lone cactus standing by itself out in the desert. The Pass is probably a great place to watch the sun set, but we left before that happened. There is a little hut at the top of the hill w/a grill, so also a good place for a picnic.

We then drove back to Phoenix and ate at a fabulous restaurant in Scottsdale called Diego Pops. Really cool décor and the food was amazing. Highly recommend.

Day 2 observations- college kids look younger than ever, I have been pronouncing "Saguaro" incorrectly my entire life, there are a lot of strip clubs in/around Phoenix.