Tuscon - Vancouver in 4 days or less
We arrived to Vancouver this year in record time: three and a half days from Tucson, AZ. Not that it was a marathon exactly; we just took an efficient route that brought us Tucson to Las Vegas, LV to Boise, Boise to Bellingham, then a short jaunt from Bellingham to Vancouver. Maybe we'll take a bit more leisurely route back in the Fall (friend in Coeur D'Aline, for example), or maybe we'll just repeat the bee-line hither to yon.
Vancouver is our annual "city experience". 11th story view of the waterfront (well, "a" waterfront; the city of Vancouver is kind of a peninsula), yet just two blocks from city life and culture.
Our plan for returning to Tucson is a bit vague at this point -- Kathy and I may return separately, she first with me driving solo a couple of weeks later.
Labels: travel, Tucson, Vancouver
The Tucson Return. The Kitchen Wreck
We recently returned from our 2400 mile jaunt from the Florida Keys back to Tucson (Scott drove both ways; Kathy flew out and we drove back together) [note depending on where the blog software positions this; "recently" means January, 2009]
The trip was... long. But having driven from our previous home in New Hampshire, to British Columbia, and back, multiple times, wasn't
unexpectedly long, just... long. The furthest day was when we drove (Scott, actually) drove from Sherman, Texas (about an hour north of Dallas), to El Paso, TX which is about half-way across New Mexico, in the hunk of Texas that's underneath NM. About 710 miles:
One long day
Anyway, we're back. We are also in the midst of a kitchen renovation, and this wasn't a surprise (we've been in touch with the Contractor throughout) but it was still a bit of a shock to come home to a giant black plastic wall separating the "job site" from the rest of the house. The only think of use left in the kitchen is the microwave. Lean Cuisine R' Us for a couple of weeks yet.
When you travel a lot (and I apologize for probably saying this over and over), being "home" carries special meaning. When you drive for a week, arrive "home" and find it isn't "like home", it's rather disconcerting. This exacerbated by being "cumulatively tired" from 7 days of driving. I'd have broken down and cried, but I was just too tired. Better now.
The Kitchen Wreck:
A giant wall of plastic isolates us from the work (mostly the dust). A couple of giant zippers serve as doors. This leaves us with bedrooms and something resembling a studio apartment. The only functioning part of the kitchen is the microwave -- our new frig sits in the middle of the construction site and we're using our old one in the garage.
Tom Tuloss,
Arizona's Best Contractor and, not-surprisingly, a fine human being. Here he's relocating some electrical switches for a wet bar we'll have installed as part of the kitchen renovation. Behind him is our heating/air conditioning; since Arizona homes don't have basements, the system lives in the attic.
The "new" kitchen as of 1/10/09. The existing cabinets are temporarily in the garage as are the old countertops and the old range. Everything from the kitchen cabinets is filling the dining room -- table, floor... everywhere.
The trench is just a couple of inches wide and about a foot deep (hence the rubble in the left side of the photo) is for a gas line for the new cooktop that's on order. The concrete slab had to be "
radar-ed" to determine where the reinforcing bars are located; this technique of slab design is called "
post-tension" and while my inner-Geek finds it fascinating I won't bore the rest of you with it.
Labels: travel, Tucson
Sedona Weekend
After years of attempts, Kathy succeeded at scoring us an upscale vacation (cheap... about the only way we travel...) via
Luxury Link. Sedona Arizona (location of one of ex-presidential-hopeful John McCain's many homes) is a lovely resort town north of Phoenix, know for stunning views, hiking, biking and back-country tours, and strangely enough, Psychics/Mystics and the "Crystal and Crunchy Granola" set.
The deal we "won" through luxury-link was three nights at a resort hotel plus $400 in services (meals, spa treatments) and a couple of trolley tours -- all for $650. Kathy got the spa treatments, the food was great. Not sure I'd do it again just the same way, but nice experience.
"Toto, we're not in Tucson any more". At about 50 in the morning, you'd think frostbite was imminent. Bought a long-sleeved shirt at the local thrift shop. Now, onward!
Highlights were some stunning views and a
jeep tour. Low points were downtown Sedona (Tourist Town Anywhere), and getting rear-ended by a little old lady, about 15 minutes into our return drive. Sigh.
Photos to follow...
Labels: LuxuryLink, Sedona, Tucson
Scott & Kathy's Retirement Rancho
We done it. I'd say "packed up and moved", but we sort of just moved without actually packing up. Let's recap the last 4 months: we left NH with a car (the RAV4) full of stuff and headed for early-winter in south Florida at Kathy's Dad's. Some of that stuff was just for a stop in Connecticut, others of it were for Florida, and just a few things were destined for our "wintering" plan in Arizona. That might be because weren't actually
planning to buy a home there ("here") just yet, we were going to hang out for the winter, check out the sights and the housing market, maybe narrow down, or
possibly even arrange to buy a house. But in about 3 weeks, we'd seen several dozen potential homes, made an offer and two additional counter-offers on one, got the money, and closed on our new home.
Jeez... Overachievers or what?
Our new home (and this replaces New Hampshire, leaving
British Columbia for the summers (which are intense in Arizona) and the rest of the world for our continuing
wanderlust. As we've mentioned before, we were looking for a home we wouldn't feel the necessity to leave for the winters (which we've never much cared for, in New England).
So, how did we manage to move into a new home without much more than the clothes on our backs? We bought it furnished -- completely furnished down to the wall hangings and silk plants. The furniture is all Danish-modern style, very
chic, nothing we'd ever actually buy for ourselves. I had some favorite kitchen items (my knife set, one good pan, a few other items I travel with) and we'd put a couple-hundred dollars into the sort of things you need for a new household, for the place we were renting. So we were equipped with cleaning stuff, a few towels -- it's amazing how little you can manage with, if you buy a furnished home and know in a couple of months you can have your
other favorites (the ones in your other house...).
So there you have it: spirited from frozen New England to sunny Arizona in less than a season.
Labels: Arizona, Tucson
Desert Oasis
We've been in Tucson a few weeks now; you knew that from the previous blog, but we really didn't say anything about our "digs" -- we have rented this fabulous house in
Catalina, AZ (in the northwest part of Tucson). After sifting through literally hundreds of houses in the Arizona
Craigslist.com, Kathy found this great place. A summer home for the family (they live in the Santa Barbara area, but he has a business based in Tucson), the place features gobs of space and is in
immaculate condition.
Idyllic location, fantastic views, just a few minutes drive to parks, shopping, restaurants, a few
more minutes and you're in downtown Tucson. That is, if you can drag yourself away from the inviting pool and hot tub.
There's a small shopping center just 8/10ths of a mile away with a great
supermarket and a couple of places to eat; a mile or so
further "up" (north) are several more restaurants as well as a convenient library branch. If eating
out isn't your style, the kitchen features nice granite countertops and premium appliances.
We really lucked out on this property. Dave, the owner, has been super helpful and friendly. We're mindful that we're are guests in someone else's home, so we're being especially careful to treat the place with respect -- not that we'd do it any other way -- but it seems right to meet kindness with kindness.
If you're looking for a place to warm up from the nasty weather in a simply lovely setting, do check out Dave's ad on Craigslist (I'll add a pointer to it if I get one). Tell him we sent you!
Labels: house, rental, Tucson
Tucson at Last
It seems like I've been driving
forever. Actually it's just been a few days: after the cruise (which was great) we drove Miami to Pensacola, then to Gladewater TX. We stayed with our wonderful friends there for 3 days -- a luxury. Then San Antonio, El Paso.
The route looked sort of like this:
The weather en route has been cooler than we'd planned for, warm for New Hampshire but we've been in south Florida for going-on two months and kind of got used to 80s. So light jackets but 38 degree rainy weather (in parts of Texas) haven't been pleasant.
But things are looking up! As I write (Saturday, 1/19/08) it's sunny with temperatures in the low 60s planned for Tucson. We arrive this afternoon and will start looking for a permanent home as early as tomorrow.
We've assembled a few
photos for your viewing pleasure :) [PDF format, 4MB]
Labels: Florida Keys, Texas, travel, travel driving, Tucson
Keys Christmas '07
At left, our new "pet". He moved into a nearby bush and is a frequent visitor. We named him "Iggy". Comes and goes -- pretty independent lizard.
We're still down in Florida. While the northeast (of the US -- where our primary residence is at the moment) is getting pummeled with snow, we've been having sunny but plenty-hot & humid days, punctuated with some impressive rainstorms. Impressive because they come up suddenly, it rains torrents, and generally they're gone as quickly as they came. Unfortunately, afterward the humidity goes from unpleasant to almost unbearable. It'd be tough for me (Scott) to live in this climate on a permanent basis. Either that or I'd need to win the lottery to pay the aircon bill.
Our lives
here aren't much different than any other place we call "home". We get up, have our coffee (Kathy gets hers delivered in bed), breakfast. Spend too much time with the computers (laptops, which occupy a not-insubstantial portion of the dining room table; fortunately with just me, Kathy and her Dad, we don't need the space). I prepare most of the meals for us which is both fun (generally) and of course I pretty much get to pick what we get to eat. Kathy and Jack (her Dad) go fishing on his boat, and generally "bring home the bacon". Oh, Kathy also monitors the canal off the back of the boat, sometimes she brings lobsters back. Try
that in New Hampshire in December.
We'll stay here in Florida into the first week of January, take a brief cruise (that's another story) then head off to Arizona for the winter.
Labels: Arizona, Florida, Florida Keys, Tucson
