Cowpokes and Cacti

I spent a wonderful couple of days under the big-West sky! What a fantastic time. It was great to be back in the Mountain West Time Zone, with beautiful, open vistas and azure skies. I loved every moment - from the drier air to the dust that kicks up around your feet. As depicted above, I even enjoyed a western night - and lucky for me the moon was full. It would peak above the horizon just after sunset - 6:00pm ish - as a huge bright orb! Looking at the mountain line against the deep purple sky was incredible. The air a comfortable temperature and a light breeze on your face. I couldn't get enough of it.
After my meetings - a required lock-in at the local hotel - I escaped into the Arizona day to explore Tucson some. I ventured straight west - following my somewhat vague tourist map. The road turned into the suberb hills, where it undulated up and down sharply. I even got some air coming off one of the giant bumps!! You couldn't help but want to scream YEE-HAW out of the sunroof. This eventually took me Suoguaro National Park - populated mostly by just cacti and shrubbery (Yes shrubbery). A pretty foreign landscape among jagged mountains that enclose the valley.
A winding road led up the mountain pass, and opened to a gorgeous vista of the next valley. Some hairpin turns and several cliff drop-offs later I came down into the valley proper. I could see my target instantly - a lone outpost on the edge of the desert - Old Tucson Studios.

You may recognize the building - or not - from the now classically funny 'Three Amigos.' The town was built in 1937 as a movie studio to initially shoot the movie Arizona. Many, many western epics have been filmed here since, including most recently 'Tombstone.' It's also used extensively as a commerical and still-photo shooting site.

You really did feel transported to old Tucson circa 1880. The dusty streets, adobe brick buildings, even some cowboys and saloon gals walking around. You could see the lots used in 'Little House on the Prairie' as also the fake mission (seen below). At noon they even put on a little gun battle in front of the bank!

I miss the West. I loved the feeling of huge openness. Getting lost in a wide open plain is so much different than in a forest of steel like NYC. The pure air, breezes and clear skies!

And there is something about the Southwestern appeal. Whether it's the fusion of Mexican and Western quisine, or cultured gardens of cacti - you just can't say. But people are kind, down-to-earth and a little bit more akin to nature. (And I'm not talking about the Southwest cactus-huggers) It clearly provided one of those Yee-Haw moments!

HRP