Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

After a weekend of snow and catching up with people in Phoenix, I took the scenic route south, past the Superstitions to head to Tucson.



Once there, I met up with my brother and we wandered down to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. There we were positively overwhelmed by all of the vendors and the endless tables of (as you probably guessed it) gems, minerals, fossils and just about anything else you could think to sell at a booth.



We ogled meteorites and a few other goodies, but found we had an unfortunate lack of disposable funds coupled with a short attention span. So we hopped back in the car for an afternoon drive up Mt. Lemmon.



From the base of the mountain to Summerhaven, the little town at the top, the Catalina Highway is a spectacular drive that takes you up out of the desert...



...up above the scrub...



...to the forests that await you at the top. The rock formations along the way are pretty impressive as well.



Mt. Lemmon is also home to another one of my very favorite street names. Incinerator Ridge Road. Gotta love the sound of that one.



Due to the splotches of leftover snow and the biting icy wind that greeted us at the top, we didn't linger long and headed back down just in time to catch the sunset. This is a shot of the aptly named Thimble Peak as we zipped around one of the many curves.



Back in Tucson, I parted ways with my brother and caught up with another friend to relive old times by going for a nighttime walk through the downtown and Bario districts. This time however, we realized we had never followeded the blue painted line on the pavement that is the Turquoise Trail. Connecting some 23 historic sites, the line winds through the Presidio as a little tour. We followed it dilligently until we were thrown off by conflicting lines and one that led us to nowhere and ended. We suspected hooligans with blue paint and a sense of humor. Defeated, we just blamed our inabilitiy to find the line on the darkness.