Adjust Your Elevation

 Bisbee, Arizona has an elevation of about 5500 feet.  Oro Valley has an elevation of about 2620 feet. That doesn't seem like a big difference, but on a 100 degree day in late September, it was the difference between 100 degrees and 82 degrees.  

Most hot days, we are up early here in Oro Valley, taking our morning walk at sunrise, playing pickleball, and then back home by 10 a.m. when it starts getting warmish.  Then we are back outside in the early evening to take advantage of the cooling temperatures, although sunrise is as cool as it gets.

This week, we took a road trip in search of cooler temps in the higher elevations.  The first stop was Tombstone, which is the western equivalent of Wisconsin Dells, mostly a place where the locals extract dollars from the tourists.  

There are all sorts of creative methods to do this:  gunfights in corrals, tours of buildings previously housing bordellos or saloons, stagecoach rides, etc.  

The most interesting one that I saw was to rent a gun (a rig, they called it) to walk around town, armed.  If I recall correctly, that was a $50 extraction.  

We walked up and down the streets for thirty minutes or so while keeping our wallets intact. Then it was on to Bisbee, the planned destination to leave a few dollars behind.

Thuy's Noodle Shop

We were last in Bisbee several years ago. Our favorite Vietnamese “pho” shop was still here and just as good. Then it was a short walk downhill to the brewery where we had spent several afternoons on the patio, looking up at the mountains all around us and enjoying the Bisbee vibe. 

Old Bisbee Brewery

I had a double hopped IPA, not to be confused with the much stronger double IPA. Double hopped simply means introducing a second load of hops after the initial boil (dry hopped). It was malty and well balanced.  My favorite stout here is now seasonal, so it was not available.  That's a good excuse to return in the winter.  

Then there was time for walking around town in the early afternoon when temps were quite pleasant even in the sun.

An interesting truck camper

Bisbee is another place that I could live if granted several lifetimes. A quirkiness is present here  that I enjoy and haven’t experienced in many towns. There’s tourism here but the vibe is real with a dose of wishful thinking and escapism that many of us could use during these "interesting times."

Desert People

We have been settling into a routine during the last few weeks--at least, I have.  Julia went back to Wisconsin for ten days for previously scheduled girlfriends' events.  I've been walking the nature preserve early in the morning and sometimes at sunset.  

Also playing pickleball nearly every day.

A new friend’s private residential court

In Julia's absence, I sampled local Mexican restaurants with good reviews on Reddit.  My favorite was St. Mary's Mexican Food, a humble takeout place where you can get meat, beans, rice and fresh tortillas for less than $8.  I ate it in the parking lot, and it was delicious.  

This past weekend, we entertained our first guests--friends from Wisconsin who I've known since college but haven't kept in close contact with.  It turns out that they have been coming to Tucson every winter for about twenty years.  Mike and Kathy were here for a funeral for a few days, but will be back again in February during which time we will no doubt be hanging out again.  

Kathy was amazed at our transition to Tucson.  She said, "Wow, you are desert people now."  I guess we are.  

I'm still scorpion hunting on most nights, but I haven't been finding very many lately.  Julia thinks that's a good sign.  The packrats have continued to visit, and I've been feeding the desert about once a week with the bounty from my rather large rat trap.  Nothing is wasted here, and anything thrown over the wall into the desert is gone by morning.  

We've had rain several times since we arrived, but it's very different than Wisconsin.  Rains have been furious but short--usually over in 10-20 minutes.  Most late afternoons cloud over, and we see frequent lightning. However black clouds and lightning do not mean certain precipitation like it did back home. 

It's still all very new and interesting to us.  

We've been checking out the local music scene.  This was a blues band at the Landing.

Next week, I should have an outing to blog about.  I think we will head down to Bisbee and enjoy a little higher elevation/cooler temps.  This week, it will likely stay below 100 here in Oro Valley--but just barely. Still too hot to open up the windows at night. That's all the news from the Sonoran Desert.