Almost two years ago I wrote a blog about The Other Road Between Phoenix and Tucson, the scenic alternative to I-10, and the adventures we had there.  They included a roadside stop celebrating the life of Tom Mix and a Greek Orthodox Monastery.   

We traversed that road again a few weeks ago and had the once in a lifetime adventure of driving through a desert snowstorm!

For two people who have declared ourselves “done with winter,”  we sure did have fun stopping to take picture after picture.

The scenery was amazing!

We loved the Tucson newspaper headline the next day!

We drove through the wintry storm to stay with our friends Connie and Warren, and to meet up with friends Paula and Mike.   We three couples attended the same church in Boise years ago and have had a blast making new friendships out of old.

Connie, Warren, Randy and I began the weekend with a Tucson Food Tour.  Randy and I have enjoyed food tours many times and were happy to introduce one to Connie and Warren.

We began at the Congress Hotel, a national historic site, and famous for the 1934 fire that led to the capture of John Dillinger. 

One of Dillinger’s gang asked for help taking down suitcases (of money) while escaping the hotel fire and was later remembered and identified.  That connection lead to John Dillinger’s capture in Tucson shortly thereafter.

Over the course of an entire afternoon we ate small portions at six area restaurants.

Usually we are too full after a food tour to even think of eating again, but that wasn’t the case this time.  We were happy to hook up with Paula and Mike for dinner!

The next day the six of us wandered around, ate again, and rode the streetcar.

We got off at the University of Arizona to wander around the grounds.  The weather was still chilly but the snow was gone.

We also toured the Presidio in downtown Tucson.

This presidio was one of many that Spain built about 100 miles apart in the 1600 and 1700s. Spain had a two part strategy for the native peoples in the new world:   Christianize and Hispanicize those they could with missions, and defend against and subdue those they couldn’t with presidios.

Soldiers enlisted for 10 years and declared their loyalty to Spain. 

The Apache were a resistant force and fought the Spanish to a standstill.  Spain eventually adopted a peace policy toward the Apache in the 1780s and the area that is now Tucson prospered.   The combined cultural histories of native peoples, the Spanish, and Mexicans are very evident in Tucson.

Just as we had for many years, we were delighted to join together at the church Connie and Warren attend for Sunday service.    Warren sings in the Worship Band, something that I enjoyed doing for many years.

Although I seriously doubt we’ll ever have the snow storm again, we’ll definitely be getting together with our friends again sometime soon.