Lamberg Travel: Tucson 2019 and drive back to Baltimore

We did spend another 3 months, Jan-Mar, in Tucson as we did last year and as we will do next year, having rented the same house without too much of a rental increase. I think the landlord knows we are hooked. As we did last year, we shipped the Lexus SUV to Tucson in late Dec, storing it at the home of BJ, a high school friend, until we arrived.

The weather was not nearly as good as last year, with cold days in Jan and part of Feb, and rain we had not seen at all last year. The river beds were flowing when we never saw any water in them previously. Natives said it was the first time they saw water in the last 7 years. Last year we ate dinner outside for all 3 months; this year mostly in March only.

Stan did ride 6 days a week, on average, regardless of the cool mornings, as it always warmed up by late morning. The published temps were those in the shade, but there is no shade in Tucson, so the actual temp was 20 deg warmer.

Lynne worked hard on her book proposal in the mornings and was available in the afternoons when I got back from the bike ride, but often preferred to continue to work, so I made coffee, read fiction, and thought about what to make for dinner.

We always feel there is a lot to do. Lynne and three of her friends stayed in the house for a week while attending the gem show (largest in the world, not just largest in the US) while I moved out and stayed with BJ. Adam came for a week for a bike training camp, and stayed with us at night. The Tucson Book Fair was exciting and we spent both days there. Add to that a day trip to see the migrating Sandhill geese, a day trip to the Chiricahua National Park, trips to the Art Museum, some theater nights with Lynne's cousin Phil and Sheila from Minnesota, several Fri night shabbat dinners with bike friends, with the cousins, or with one of the three couples from Baltimore who are in one of Stan's book clubs and stay in Tucson for Feb and Mar each year. Since the house has Netflix streaming, we also binged on a couple of series.

The trip back to Baltimore, leaving Mar 31, was fun, as we took a somewhat different route from last year that allowed a stop in Kansas City for the Nelson-Atkins Museum along with other museums along the way. We stayed in St. Louis for four days to visit family, then stayed overnight in Indianapolis with Dave Goldenberg, another high school buddy, and his wife, Audrey. We took about 12 days to get home.

The house at night with Giant Saguaro in front

Sandhill cranes (est 8,000 that day)

Chiricahua National Park

At the top of Sabino Canyon, about 9 miles up

Adam on his 'rest' day. We biked to the Mercado for lunch

Bracelet project worked on every evening after dinner

Dinner at home.

A book of photos and notes from friends and relatives that Ryan and Niki put together. I can send a pdf of the book to anyone who wants to see it. It is phenomenal and a total surprise.