Let's Go! Get your Tucson!

We had a great couple of days with our friends Seth & Kindra (and their little boy Brandt). They moved out to Tucson from Indianapolis a few months ago and, through a series of events, were looking at possibly moving elsewhere. I won't go into why, but they seemed a lot more comfortable with their situation than I might have been. I'm convinced that their faith has kept them strong during this time.


Seth & Kindra were a part of the small group at our church before moving out to the Wild Wild West (only 70 miles from Tombstone, AZ). We occasionally have game nights with our small group and they always seemed to be the "game" type of people. We had a good time playing Euchre and Hoopla. Maybe too good of a time. If you walked by the window of their house, you probably would have suspected we were drinking we were having such a good time. Who needs alcohol to have fun, right?

One morning Doni, Ava, and I drove up Mount Lemmon outside of Tucson. Tucson's elevation is about 2000 ft and Mt. Lemmon's is about 9000. Seeing how the high for the day was going to be, oh, about 104 degrees, I was hoping it would be a little cooler up top. We found our way to the start of the road to the top. There was a sign that said "Risk of Fire" with an arrow pointing to "High". Apparently it is someone's job to keep that sign up to date. I want that job. Let's just think about this. It's Arizona. It's so hot plants just wish they could spontaneously combust to end the pain. Allegedly there is a monsoon season in Arizona, but I'm not buying it. Even if there is, ten months out of the year that sign is going to read "High" or "Grab the Fire Extinguisher". Do you think that job pays well?

I learned that there are a lot of bikers in Tucson. We're not talking the burly, Harley-Davidson type. We're talking the spandex, put-your-foam-helmet-on type. Even if I was an environmentalist, it takes a lot of conviction to bike in 100 degree plus weather. Not only that, but there were people biking up Mt. Lemmon. I tip my hat to these people. At the bottom of the road to Mt. Lemmon you have 7000 ft to pedal straight up in addition to all the pedaling you'll be doing horizontally. Their quadriceps must be like Redwoods.


We got to the top of Mt. Lemmon and there was a little town called Summerhaven. Seth had told us about a pie shop at the top of the mountain. Apparently these pies are to normal pies what a filet mignon is to a round steak. I had to try this pie. As we pulled into Summerhaven there was a place on our left called "Mount Lemmon Cafe" with a sign in the window that said "Pies". Unfortunately there was another sign on the door that said "Closed". In the words of Donkey: "You cut me deep, Shrek. You cut me real deep just now." The sight of two guys exiting the door with bowls of pie in their hands brought a ray of hope to my weary heart. I ignored the sign and walked in the door. It turns out they weren't "officially" open yet. They wouldn't be able to run the cash register for another 45 minutes until the owner came in to open. However, if I had perfect change I could pay that way. Being early in our vacation, all I had were a bunch of twenties and a couple ones in my wallet. They must be really proud of their pies too, because they charged $7 a slice. I walked back to the car dejected. When I told Doni what happened we decided we should just buy three slices and take some back for our friends. I walked back in the store with a smile on my face and walked out with slices of Strawberry-Rhubarb, Red Raspberry, and Blackberry pie. To say they were good is an understatement.