I wasn't raised there, but Tucson was the first place I lived as an adult after moving out of my parents' house, and I suppose that's why it holds such a special place in my heart. It's also where two of my lifelong friends still live.
While I loved the years I spent in San Francisco, Tucson will always elicit the warm fuzzies of "Home" for me. No matter how long I've been away, or how much the city (slowly) changes, I always feel welcome whenever I go back.
While I know Ben is resistant to the idea because of the cut in pay he would suffer by moving, if we do decide to go somewhere else when his indentured servitude in Denver comes to an end, it is my sincerest wish that Tucson be our destination. I know the politics in Arizona right now is Crazy Town on steroids, but in that sea of deep red madness, Pima County (the Gabby Giffords shooting notwithstanding) has always been a relative island of clear blue sanity.
Even if we don't move back, it is my intention that Tucson be my final resting place. And when thinking about exactly where I want my ashes scattered there when that day eventually comes, for me it's a no brainer—Sabino Canyon:
The following photos aren't of Sabino, but were taken in northeast Tucson on the same trip in 1997.
You've got to admit that the place is photogenic…
Terrific photos.
I've lived in AZ a few years now and have been to Tucson a half-dozen times but never really spent much time exploring there; something for the to-do list.
As for the red/blue environment, I moved here from an ultra-liberal midwestern college town so all of AZ seems pretty 'red' to me but Pima has a rep for being more respecting of diversity than Maricopa County. That doesn't set the bar too high but when one lives in the desert any oasis is a welcome site.
I hope you guys do find your way back to Tucson someday. And that it's a long time before your final visit to Sabino Canyon! I live about a mile from there and visit often. Think for me when the time comes…somewhere in Redington area would work just fine.
My family and I scattered my grandmother's ashes in Sabino Canyon and it was a glorious earthly conclusion to my Memaw's life. The light, the clouds and the vistas are glorious out there. I hope in the far, far future you attain your wishes.
Me, too. I will eventually end up back in Tucson some day. I'm enjoying small city life right now, when I get tired of looking at Lake Superior from my back porch I will probably get the hell out of Duluth. I have such good health care from MN that it would be stupid for me to move until I get on medicare.