over and around us: Arizona

We traveled to Arizona last week. Scott had a string of concerts in Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson so we made a family trip of it. Concerts went well. Lots of exploring happened. We did school and practice in the hotel.

We saw prickly pear cactus, geckos, saguaros, high desert, low desert, lots of wildflowers, Colossal Mountain Cave, Mocqui Cave, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, yummy Mexican food, Casa Grande Historical Society, Scott's concert at U of Arizona, a few pools. We listened to almost all of The Chronicle of Narnia.

Scott's grandpa grew up in a tiny mining town in the desert, 80 miles north of the Mexican border, West of Casa Grande. Copperosity is supposedly a ghost town now and he has, for years, dreamed of going there and seeing what remains. The kids have grown up on stories of the ghost town where Joseph Stinson grew up. Mystery and romance, I tell you! And so we set off. Scott had done some research, Google Earthed it, etc. We piled into the car and headed out. We drove through very barren desert, not much around for miles and miles looking for the turn-off that would lead to Copperosity. We passed a border patrol station, drove further, and then turned around, not being able to find the right road. Back through border patrol (80 miles north of the border...) and we stopped to ask for help. "Oh, that's the turn-off right up there", they point. Small pause. "But I wouldn't go that way. That's the biggest drug and human trafficking corridor in the country. One of our guys got shot out there just yesterday. There are snipers on the top of the hills. It's about the last place you want to drive around in the country." So.......yeah. Quite the adventure. Needless to say, Scott won't be visiting Copperosity, or what's left of it, anytime soon. Sad. True. I was terrified!

Flagstaff was wonderful. Phoenix was fine. Tucson. Tucson was just plain strange. For starters, we checked into our hotel (Marriott) and were told that the elevator was broken. After hauling 5 duffel bags, a cello and cello chair, a violin, a viola, 2 boxes of homeschool books, and various other things up three flights of stairs we faced a smelly, hot room with no wi-fi that looked out over a vacant lot and the freeway. We soon hauled all the stuff back to the car and found another hotel. We should have stayed. The new hotel (Hotel Arizona) was in downtown Tucson but felt more like something from the Twilight Zone. Twelve floors. Only about 5 people on staff. It was huge and empty and old and....strange. Creepy strange. And also just plain strange---like, what hotel that is enormous and obviously USED to be quite fancy doesn't have a microwave? In the entire building?