Tucson AZ - favourite things to do there?

[Lainey]

Looks wonderful, razz. You covered a lot of ground, literally and in the things you got to see and experience. Glad you enjoyed it!

[Teacher Terry]

How long a trip was it? You really got to see a lot.

[razz]

How long a trip was it? You really got to see a lot.

It was a 21 day bus tour. I never ever would have attempted to drive all of this now or at any point in my life or arranged the planning schedule, traffic detours, accommodation, tickets and local guides for 3 weeks to include everything in this tour with additional surprises along the way.

I had hoped to visit the Tucson Art Museum but when I price-checked, it would cost $80 at $3/mile for return taxi trip from my hotel so I skipped that. The sculptures along the way including those in the Botanical Gardens were outstanding and unique.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Tucson.....one of my favorite places on the planet and due to shuttles being able to drive 75 MPH down the highway these days, about two hours from me in Phoenix. Great arts scene there, great independent and inexpensive ethnic restaurants......Sabino Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, a slightly slower and saner pace from Phoenix, fewer aggressively materialistic people.....if you want to make money in Arizona, you go to Phoenix. If you want a saner, slower, less materialistic life, you go to Tucson. If I could do it all over again, I would go to Tucson if doing it all over again entailed remaining in the United States. To me it's a quality place to live and I very much appreciate how close it is to Mexico to offshore medical, dental, vision, and even veternary these days - though I understand the last can be a bit problematic depending how Nazi-ish US CBP is on a particular day with their festering resentments regarding US citizens offshoring as much as possible to cut costs much like US corporations have done for years.

I particularly like Mt Lemmon - driving up you pass through several climate zones and it's green and woodsy and nice and cool at the top. Also there is the Sonoran Desert Museum and people in general there are going to be more the simpler living type than you will typically run across in Phoenix - though to be fair, we have a few Phoenix peeps here and no Tucson folks that I am aware of. Enjoy Tucson!!! Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

Tucson.....one of my favorite places on the planet and due to shuttles being able to drive 75 MPH down the highway these days, about two hours from me in Phoenix. Great arts scene there, great independent and inexpensive ethnic restaurants......Sabino Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, a slightly slower and saner pace from Phoenix, fewer aggressively materialistic people.....if you want to make money in Arizona, you go to Phoenix. If you want a saner, slower, less materialistic life, you go to Tucson. If I could do it all over again, I would go to Tucson if doing it all over again entailed remaining in the United States. To me it's a quality place to live and I very much appreciate how close it is to Mexico to offshore medical, dental, vision, and even veternary these days - though I understand the last can be a bit problematic depending how Nazi-ish US CBP is on a particular day with their festering resentments regarding US citizens offshoring as much as possible to cut costs much like US corporations have done for years.

I particularly like Mt Lemmon - driving up you pass through several climate zones and it's green and woodsy and nice and cool at the top. Also there is the Sonoran Desert Museum and people in general there are going to be more the simpler living type than you will typically run across in Phoenix - though to be fair, we have a few Phoenix peeps here and no Tucson folks that I am aware of. Enjoy Tucson!!! Rob

Came back to add - some really great thrift shops there, better than in Phoenix and cheaper than in Phoenix overall. Also - I can recommend Natty's Shuttle for quick runs to Nogales and back, with frequent and inexpensive trips each way. Wonderful views of the Santa Catalinas (the mountain range the dominates the Tucson skyline in the background, not that Tucson has much of a skyline to be honest, though) abound and there is a feeling even in the middle of the city that you are never that far away from nature nor are you ever completely closed off from nature. And something else - people come from all around the world to photograph lightning during the Arizona Summer Monsoon - due to altitude and the mountains close by, Tucson gets a lot more summer rain than Phoenix does and often with spectacular lightning shows. Summers in Tucson, at least in July and August, can sort of resemble Venice some years, and there are desert washes that cut right through the city where you can sit on benches and watch the water whizzing on by. For an American city, I've always felt that Tucson actually has some soul, whereas I don't feel this in Phoenix these days. It's a great place but once again, if money is your goal, it's not the right place for you......if you want an easier life with less social judgment and the quality of life that comes from knowing that you won't be able to accomplish much, so why bother and just live inexpensively, combined with a fairly large urban area with easy offshoring of various needs across the border to save money, Tucson is a great place. Rob