my tucson journal: tuesday

upon finding that i had not brought my camera cord to tucson with me, and the fact that phil's computer has no sd card slot, i realized that i had to suspend blogging for the week and just keep a journal. i just don't think blogs without pictures get as many hits. and you all know i'm just doing this blog to get hits. (that is a joke. i'm actually doing it for the emotionally liberating experience that is gained by expressing oneself through the art of writing and sharing discourse with others on relevant and meaningful topics. okay, they are not always meaningful. but they are relevant. to me.) anyway, now i will attempt to relay the contents of my journal to you for tuesday, october fifth.

went for a four-mile run down and back a road called valencia. made a note to self while on the run, that, when you're staying at a hotel with the word "airport" in the name (hilton garden inn tucson airport), usually the immediate area is not great for public exercising. it was a high traffic, thus, high honking zone. and i HATE it went people honk at me when i'm running. it's like, do you think i am doing this for your benefit? do you think i chart my life on how many honks i receive in one day? and, how much do i need to sweat, spit, and trip before you will find me too unattractive to honk? because i'll go there! (side note, if you can relate to any of this, never go to virginia beach. it's the creepy honking capital of our nation.)

upon my return to the hotel room, fresh towels were hanging, the beds were made, and the trash from our late night pizza feast was cleared...i love housekeeping staff! i want to live in a hotel...and i definitely want it to be a hotel with a lazy river. you know when you get so excited to go lay out by the pool, but then it ends up being really boring, and you can't really read your book without getting a cramp, and you can't write in your journal without getting weird tan lines, so you just go back inside? well, the lazy river solves all of your problems. (and i can only hope that these are the only problems you will encounter in your life.) it is just interesting enough to keep you occupied, the water cools you down without requiring the effort of swimming, and the constant movement of the water keeps all of the people in the pool moving at an equal rate. though, while lazing in the lazy river, i started to try to figure out whether a person's weight affected how fast the water carried them, but i didn't get too far, because then, when i turned over, i was distracted by the designs that the water was making on the pool floor. pretty.

after my second shower of the day, i called a taxi and was picked up at 2:45. the driver was a CHILD and i'm pretty sure he was inebriated. and he decided to tell me that he had only been working for the company for eight days. but, all-in-all, he got me where i needed to go, and he told me i looked 22. so he's okay in my book.

first stop: arizona state museum-it is on the campus of arizona state university, which looks like a pretty fun college to go to, right in the center of the artsy/restaurant district of tucson. maybe i'll do that. who knows? anyway, the museum was a little bit of a let-down, since my trusty AAA southwestern states tour book told me that it would be free, but it was actually $5. the exhibits were mostly about the native americans that settled the area, which was interesting, but it was quite small. the highlight of this museum was the pottery collection, which, though it doesn't look like much in pictures, was stunning--and remarkably well-preserved!

it started raining as soon as i left the museum (yes, i arranged to fly to tucson on the last week of monsoon season, i just found out) so i ran into the first place that i saw where i could get a latte or something. it was called wilko and it was pretty much the most expensive latte in town...$5.26! though i was shocked, i was pleasantly surprised that the cinnamon skim latte was good enough to almost warrant the high price. and it was served in a beer glass with one of those little cardboard heat protector things, so it was LARGE! good. i needed a caffeine boost. (if any of you know me even a little bit, you'll know that is absolutely untrue. i never need a caffeine boost.

i made my obligatory clothing purchases while waiting for phil to come into town after his day of conferencing...and by obligatory, i mean, completely unnecessary, but oh-so-wonderful because i love shopping. and, now i have souvenirs, right?

phil and i ended up going to frog & ferkin for dinner...which was, of course, pizza, AGAIN. but this was a new kind of pizza...pizza where there are no limits. pizza with probably two bags of shredded mozarella on each piece. pizza that weighs like 5 pounds. per slice. it started monsooning like crazy outside, so we stayed there to shelter from the storm for quite a while, and it was so much fun to talk to my brother, who has been so far away. we also spent some time with two pilot friends and much fun was had by all!

CORRECTION: university of arizona is in tucson, not arizona state. thanks, gracie!! <3