Bushwhacking

Yesterday began bright and early (defined by us as anytime before 11 am) with a hike hosted by my uncle Mark and aunt Kathleen. They live in a very luxurious area of Tucson known as the Catalina foothills, in a fairly modest sized, but beautifully remodeled old homestead house. The house is chock full of Native American artwork and has probably the coolest waterfall shower and the fanciest toilet I've ever seen in my life, complete with a full bidet (including a drying function!). Their property sits on a large tract of land right on the edge of, and including part of, a spectacular canyon. It feels like standing at the edge of the world.

 On one side are the breathtaking canyon views, and from the other direction you can see all of Tucson spread out below.

We took off, bushwhacking through the canyon, avoiding chollas and other potentially nasty cacti. Bushwhacking consists of exactly what it sounds like, hiking without a trail, whacking bushes (and cacti) as you go. 

Bushwhacking with Mark and Kathleen

We stopped frequently to take pictures, because the views were just so overwhelmingly beautiful. My uncle, who owns a very successful Native American art gallery is also a photographer, and has taken some amazing pictures around the area.

Yishai taking a rest

Avoid these at all costs

 

We hiked for about two hours, and then went to lunch at a fabulous and very classy local Mexican restaurant called El Chorro (with a silly skeleton, and my aunt Kathleen, below)

After lunch we headed over to my grandfather's girlfriend Gloria Isak-Morton's house and studio. She is a retired English professor turned artist, who specializes in various types of printmaking. She has a great little house with a very feng shui backyard and a fabulous tree house.

She also explained to us all about her printmaking, etching, and the complex construction techniques of her different pieces of artwork. Together, she and my grandfather have recently been creating prints based on his old wood blocks of midge flies, from his entomological research.

Gloria Isak-Morton and one of her pieces

Today we drove to Flagstaff, where we decided to spend the night in a hotel, after some very effective persuasion on my aunt and uncle's part, and after realizing it would be really cold. We will hopefully be checking out the Lowell observatory later tonight, and off to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.

Shabbos 'n more

We arrived in Arizona only about an hour and a half late, after just barely making it out of Denver before a big snowstorm hit and they shut down the airport entirely. We did get a pretty sweet rental car though!

After picking up the car, we got to my Grandfather's house super late (nearly 2 am!) but he was very gracious about it. Friday morning we made a quick run to Trader Joe's and the one Kosher cafe/butcher in the Tucson area, and spending about $60 and an hour and a half in the kitchen we put together an awesome Shabbat menu:

Friday night: 12 bean and tomato soup, shake 'n bake chicken, vegetable rice pilaf, french beans and mushroom stir fry, green salad, banana bread

Saturday lunch: Barbecue spare ribs, sweet potatoes, asparagus, rice (again)


On Saturday afternoon we went out for a short walk around Tucson. The distances out here are just amazing. There are views of the pristine blue mountains from almost every angle, and cacti abound, and yet no one just walks around for the heck of it. There were one or two bicyclists, but that was about it- on a Saturday afternoon! We had a great time just breathing the fresh air and taking in the sunlight. We walked down a desert wash about a mile (the Alamo wash), filled with junk food wrappers and graffiti, but still lovely. Yishai parked down on the grass outside of a bank on the way back (well, what else is it for?), where we rested for a few minutes. All in all, a lovely afternoon. Early February and 75 degrees? Yes, please!

We went out this evening to a fancy Italian restaurant (NoRTH Tucson) with my uncle Mark and aunt Kathleen and their daughter Tori. We had some delicious fish and great company.

The most intriguing discussion of the evening (for me, at least) was with my uncle, who owns an amazing Native American art gallery in Tucson and Santa Fe.  I mentioned my big wool spinning plans when we get back to Israel (more details to come), and he offered to use his artisan connections to set me up on a local Navajo reservation with some artists who could actually teach me the spinning craft. Now I just can't stop thinking about the opportunity. Who knows, maybe if my public policy MA falls through, I could camp out there for a year and do an ethnographic study. The very possibility is unbelievable!

Tomorrow morning we are off to Mark and Kathleen's to hike their backyard canyon, and then check out the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, which is running now. Oh right, and Monday's camping trip outside the Grand Canyon? Only going to happen if we can get our hands on a tent. That's right, we forgot most of our camping equipment, tent included, at home! Luckily, Gloria lent us an awesome low-temp sleeping bag, and hopefully we'll be able to pick up a cheap tent at an army surplus store. It is supposed to be around 15 degrees there though, so better make it a warm one!

Arizona, Here We Come

This is it! Our Great Adventure is finally beginning. All of the various components of the planning process have ended: the large (leaving our jobs, buying tickets, and planning an itinerary), the compact (packing for three months into one backpack), and the unnecessary (dying my hair a very vibrant shade of yellow). After so much time, effort, wine & Netflix (#Aviva's Apartment), it really is hard to believe our trip is  happening at last. I can only describe the feeling as equal parts exhiliration, excitement, incredulity, and terror. We have been dreaming of this for years, saving for a year, planning for months, and running last minute errands for the past few days, including a trip to the Goodwill bins (Tuesday), the aforementioned hair bleaching (Wednesday), and taking my road test (Thursday), all when my last day of work was Monday and Yishai's Tuesday. We still have a short weekend back in NY before we take off for the Southern Hemisphere, but it will be jam packed saying goodbyes, running last minute errands, and stuffing our packs.

As I type, we are on our way to Arizona for a week of visiting family and a brief excursion to the Grand Canyon. Domestic flights in the US these days are a testimony to the crumbling airline industry. It's pretty clear that a group of executives held a long meeting entitled "The Monetization of the Airbus: Commercial Flight Revenue Possibilities", or how to charge passengers for every possible thing. On this flight, we get complimentary drinks, headphones, and seatbelts, but everything else has a price tag: TV ($6), a movie ($8), Pringles ($3). My favorite menu option? From the "Spirits and More" section: Cosmopolitan- A stylish cocktail for the vodka lover, made with 100% natural Funkin Cosmopolitan Mixer. Comes in a metallic pouch.

I know this makes me sound old, but I remember when we used to decry airlines as cheap when they charged a dollar for a headset. Of course, who knows? Maybe ten years from now I'll be waxing nostalgic for the days when using the bathroom on a plane was free of charge. Of course, I have no right to complain given that we snagged these tickets for about half what they usually go for. Plane reinforced by corrugated aluminum? Possibly. Still worth it? Definitely.

So our plans for Arizona are as follows: We arrive in Tucson tonight (Thursday, Feb 2), at around 11 PM, assuming we make our connecting flight in Denver, despite sitting on the runway for nearly an hour. We'll be staying in my grandfather's spare room while we're in Tucson. Tomorrow we will try to scrape together two shabbos meals with the help of the one Kosher butcher in the Tucson area and the camping cookware we brought. My little sister Yael was amazing enough to bake and freeze us challas on Tuesday to bring with us, so worst case scenario we'll have some deli sandwiches, hummus and challah. We spend the weekend in Tucson with the fam, and then head out on Monday morning to the Grand Canyon, which is about a 5-6 hour drive. We'll be camping Monday night at one of the campgrounds about a mile from the South Rim. Tuesday morning we're hoping to hike halfway down and back up the canyon on one of the popular trails, and then drive back in to Phoenix (about 4-5 hours), where we'll be staying until our flight Thursday AM. We have drinks and a brunch planned with my mother's sister Amy and my uncle Jay and cousins Jimmy, Rosie and Ariel (Rosie's husband). I haven't seen anyone in that family in about ten years, so really looking forward to it. We'll let you know more as we do it!

Snowing in Denver