Tucson Stories and Tips

Quote: Arriving at Tucson Greyhound bus station after taking the overnight bus from San Antonio, it was my job to get the hire car from Tucson Airport while my travel partner looked after our bags. This meant getting on another bus, which wasn’t exactly high on…

Quote: We were in Oregon at the beginning of summer 2003 when news of the Aspen Fire burning in the Catalinas and threatening the community of Summerhaven reached us. When we returned to Tucson in April 2004, we decided to take the drive up the…

Quote: One year ago in April 2003, we had no idea that the landscape through which we drove that fresh spring day would become drastically altered by one of the worst forest fires in southern Arizona’s history only a few months later. The fire called…

Quote: We arrived before dawn to watch the sun light up the White Dove of the Desert. Even in the dark, the scaffolding was evident around one of the two bell towers, marring our view of what's considered the finest example of mission architecture in the…

Quote: Back in 1880, copper mining attracted immigrants from Russia, Serbia, Ireland, Mexico, and Italy to this small community, which became the most prosperous settlement in Arizona. Situated just 6 miles from the Mexican border, a conglomeration of architectural styles filled the steep narrow streets built…

Quote: Did you know that 35 species of fish live in the desert? Or that the much-photographed saguaro cactus–-the headless cowboy-looking cactus with upraised arms–-only grows here in the Sonoran Desert? Or that the desert blooms each spring beginning with yellow colors first? Or that the…

Quote: "Listen, do you hear that?" I whispered to my husband around midnight. Eerie howls harmonized in the otherwise still night. "Coyotes," he said, rising to open the patio door so we could hear them better. Abruptly, they stopped, as if on cue. A full moon lit…

Quote: After several trips to Tucson, I started to get bored with the usual. The zoo, been there. Desert Museum, done that. So, I started finding new things to do. My first stop, and the first place you ALWAYS look for social/cultural events?…

Quote: We aren’t big gamblers. Wait a minute, we aren’t any kind of gamblers. When we gamble, we lose. We don’t know secret systems that will improve the odds to win, and we’re not lucky at financial matters. That said, we enjoy…

Quote: We didn’t know what to expect as we turned off Catalina Highway to Summerhaven. We’d read that the community was devastated and largely burned down, so we were surprised and gladdened when we spied the post office and Mount Lemmon Café, which are connected…