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We arrived in the Tucson area roughly a week earlier than we originally planned—we were anxious to return! Instead of driving in at the first of November we came in late October. Not only did we miss the Old Pueblo and all our family and friends who lived there but we heard the temperatures were still in the mid 90s—our idea of heaven! You might think that sounds sweltering but as I’m sure you’ve heard before—it’s a dry heat. Silly as it sounds it does make a difference, hot and dry is tolerable while high humidity plus high heat feels like being in a pressure cooker—miserable. After our chilly nights below freezing in Williams we were ready to thaw out.

Our first stop was at Lance’s parent’s house in Catalina, roughly twenty miles north of downtown. We took advantage of their absence (Tom and Libby were still in Peru) and tackled an in-depth RV cleaning project. Well, I cleaned and organized and sorted and caulked and washed and waxed… While I’m absolutely certain he wanted to help (wink, wink), Lance was otherwise occupied—working hard on a client’s web site project.

It’s funny, though we downsized dramatically when we sold our house and our belongings shrank in number again when we moved into our first RV, we have a lot of stuff. When we transferred into our newer and larger RV last year we laughed at all the empty cabinets we had. Well, as a version of Parkinson’s Law states, “The amount of stuff one has expands to fill available space.” (Parkinson’s original rule, that he formulated after years of working in the British Civil Service, was “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”) In a way it’s perfectly understandable, as we travel we pick up a few mementos, trinkets and of course, rocks here and there. Obviously, I had a lot to tackle so I kicked Lance and all his computer stuff out of the RV and into his parent’s house. It was a win-win, I was able to empty every cupboard, sort, and clean in the RV and Lance was able to concentrate.

The first week we were busy but it was a great time to regroup and get organized which we needed since we knew the month of November would be hectic. The month did not disappoint—we were so busy that November flew by! There were the usual doctor appointments (why does it seem like we are adding a doctor every year?) and a trip to the accountant on top of all the client meetings. In the evenings and on weekends we met up with friends and family and spent time outdoors.

On the first of November we moved down into town to our “home” for the next few months. Our little RV park is tucked in a sweet spot west of I-10 along the Santa Cruz River just a mile south of Sweetwater Wetlands. Not only did we ride or walk the river trail multiple times a week but on the weekends we’d ride up to the artificially created wetlands and do a little birdwatching. The wetlands are part of the city’s wastewater treatment program that cleans and filters the water for irrigation use. All the golf courses and most of the parks within the city limits are required to use the reclaimed water in an effort to alleviate the groundwater shortage in southern Arizona. The large ponds attract hundreds of water birds, especially in the winter. The original snowbirds!

Part of the fun in stopping in at the wetlands every week is to see the new arrivals. Our first visit this fall we counted American Wigeons, Northern Shovelers, Mallards, Ruddy Ducks, and a few Cinnamon Teals. On subsequent visits we’ve added Green-winged Teals, Northern Pintails, and even a Bufflehead. Probably our oddest bird was a gull which we were unable to identify, unfortunately. While ubiquitous near any salty shoreline they are not commonly found in the middle of the desert. Of course in southern Arizona gulls are not that rare since it is only a little over 200 miles (less as a gull flies) to the Sea of Cortez. This one was gone within a few days, apparently it just needed a place to rest before continuing on its way.

One of the wonderful things about returning to a city where you once lived is that you mostly know where things are and how to get there. One of mildly frustrating things about living on the road is having to learn the layout of a new area each week or so. Don’t get me wrong, we love RVing across this amazing country but every once in awhile we catch ourselves missing the familiarity of our “home” town. Thankfully, we are both fairly good at directions (Lance more so) and Lance has an iPhone so we’ve only had a few truly “lost” experiences.

Upon our return it was fairly easy for us to get on board with local events and happenings, one of which was a concert by Eric Bibb. We were introduced to Eric and his special brand of hopeful blues while listening to NPR as we were driving our RV to California this past March. Since we enjoyed his interview and snippets of songs we purchased his most recent album. When we discovered Eric was performing in Tucson we jumped at the chance to see him live and he didn’t disappoint. Eric’s concert was an outdoor affair held in an intimate courtyard downtown and the weather cooperated beautifully.

In fact the temperatures in Tucson have been higher than average so far this fall, which we love. Our only cool spell in November was during Thanksgiving weekend which not only brought us cold rain but the first dusting of snow in the mountains that surround town. It did seem more traditional that way, although it prevented us from our ritual walk after the big meal. Ah well, we still had a lovely time with family, as always.

In fact, that is one of the main reasons it is so nice to be back in Tucson, not only is the weather fantastic but we have so many loved ones here. We are thrilled to be here for several more months! Now please excuse me as I head outside to bask in the warm sunshine…

Photos: View the accompanying photographs for this post: Back in Tucson.