swimming in space: a summer in tucson -

Act 1 - What I did in Tucson, in a nutshell.

This is my nephew, my cousin, and my beautiful mom. NOW You know where I got my good looks from :)

Irene is a bonafide cubs fan now. Just accept it ok?

More family pictures. With my dad in the middle.

My besties from Tucson, Chani on the left, I've known since PRE-SCHOOL! Jess on the right I met my freshman year. I love those girlies. And I love nachos. You know Irene.

My dad. He's a handsome dude, NOW you know where I got my good looks from :) DUH

We went to a AAA baseball game in Tucson, it was fun! Chani and Irene with the mascot. A retarded looking snake.

Chani enjoying herself some nachos.

The first day we got into Tucson we went up to Reddington pass and shot some guns. it was very CSI I felt. Naturally.
I realize now that I didn't really get any pics of my brother in Tucson! I suck. So stand by for pics of the sibling.

Act 2

I don't know a lot of people who would choose to visit Tucson, AZ in the dead of summer. But Irene and I, brave as we are, packed up swimsuits, teva's and 50 proof, and headed South--to Sea-Tac Airport, where we boarded Alaska flight 648--bound for sunshine and all the adventures that the old Tucson has to offer.

Well we found some adventure. Let me just briefly share my first and most certainly my LAST hiking experience. Everybody I know has been hiking at Sabino Canyon. It's beautiful, and the hike may seem long, but when you reach the seven falls at the top it's supposed to be worth your walk. Well let me tell you, we didn't reach the seven falls. We had been hiking nearly three hours when Tucson's mysterious monsoons began to creep its sassy little drops upon our heads. Then came the lightning, and then the flash flooding. The trail that took us three hours to hike up took us 45 min to RUN, no, SPRINT down. I've never been in a lightning storm. I'm used to the monsoons in Tucson, but honestly, who's been stuck in one before? I haven't. I'm usually in the comfort of my home when the thunder begins to shatter the windowpanes. So as Irene and I were running hand in hand down the mountain, I was thinking "What would Bear Grylls do?" Ya know, Man Vs. Wild. Well, I wasn't hungry so I wasn't needing to stop for berries, I wasn't thirsty so I didn't need to know how to syphon or filter water from the root of a tree. I needed to know how NOT to get killed from the lightning that was crashing all around me. Well, Bear wasn't around so I did the only thing I knew how, fuckin run.

Take a look at the sign we saw on the way up the mountain. High mountain lion activity. We should have just listened to the damn sign and stayed off the mountain.

We ended up getting some amazing pictures. When we reached the bottom we were soaked to the bone and resting on a rock when we saw a pair of deer staring out at us. I snapped a few shots. Needless to say it made it worth the hike. I think.

Irene resting after our brush with death. Maybe I exaggerate, maybe I don't. We seriously ran from some righteous lightning though . . . .

Pictures of the hike. Not a whole lot to look at, just cactus, mesquite trees, and rock. Somehow though you cannot deny its beauty.

Arizona is known for these . . . girls who swing big stick. – nooo, cactus! Crazy. You believed me for a second there. Irene's always gotta be swingin something around. I didn't know whether to be afraid of getting an eye poked out or getting eaten by a mountain lion. i kid i kid!