Ringing in the New Year in AZ

We visited Karen and Joel in Tucson where Joel is wrapping up his masters degree in international relations at the University of Arizona.






Had a great meal together at Casa Vicente, a Spanish restaurant complete with a flamingo guitar player and singers.







Sonoran Institute

















Stopping for lunch en route to Wasson Peak, 4800 ft., in Saguaro National Park.







Like a desert dork, I stubbed my toe into a prickly pear cactus!! Karen helped me remove the 8-10 small, hairlike prickles called glochids from the top part of my toe!

In this picture are 2 saguaro cacti (with Dan, Joel, and Karen in the background). Saguaros take about 75 years just to grow a side arm, and many live as long as 150 years!


The summit.  It was 7 miles to the top and back.








New Year's Eve fireworks in the backyard.








Contented pyros








Wonderful hosts!!







The Christmas gift in this last picture caused a stir at the airport by the TSA. They had to extract the mud bath powder container from my backpack and conduct 2 tests to make sure the mud was void of explosive material.