Tucson, Arizona.

Earl and I hit the road fairly early this morning, both suffering a little bit from jet lag. You wouldn’t really think that we would be affected by jet lag since we’re not flying on this trip at all, but nonetheless, passing through the time zones is confusing our biological clocks or something. I think I ate lunch before breakfast this morning, after showering during supper.

Anyways, we left Tucumcari, N.M. and headed west on I-40, getting to Albuquerque at lunch time. We opted for the Route 66 Diner on Central Avenue where I had the always healthy “Frito Pie”, a bowl full of chili, cheese and onions on top of a bed of Fritos.

Heaven.

Gut wrenching.

Yet tasty.

Burma Shave.

Following Bugs Bunny’s directions, we made a turn at Albuquerque and headed south on Interstate 25, passing through Socorro, which is the exit for the VLA or Very Large Array radio telescope where the movie “Contact” with Jodie Foster takes place. Earl and I visited the VLA back in ’01 so we waved a familiar hello to Socorro and continued on through Truth or Consequences and down to Hatch, where we cut through the desert on Highway 26 to Interstate 10.

From there we headed west on I-10, passing through some fabulous dust devils which were strong enough to knock the Jeep around a little bit and obscure our visibility better than a Lake Ontario snowstorm, but only for a few seconds. It was all good fun.

Before we knew it we were in Arizona, The Grand Canyon State.

Earl and I have been in Arizona a couple of times before, back in ’01 and then again in 2004. Like the previous visits, we’ve fallen in love with the climate, the geography and the natives and are hoping to retire here someday. We want to call Tucson or Phoenix home.

We arrived in Tucson and checked into our hotel around 6:00 Mountain Standard Time (another time change!) and headed to a local restaurant and bar called Rusty’s on Grant Rd. The restaurant had been recommended by the Hampton Inn desk staff and it was a good recommendation. We’d go back again without hesitation.

After dinner we headed to a local casino, where there were two blackjack tables and a couple of slot machines scattered about. It wasn’t as fast paced as we were used to, so we went a little further up the road and found a bigger casino. We took more money out than we brought in and for a change it was because of my winnings. A slot machine treated us well. Let’s hope the lucky streak continues.

Tomorrow morning or afternoon depending on any further change in time zones were are going to go to Sabino Canyon for a brisk walk before packing up the Jeep and heading to Phoenix for the weekend.