Theres no place like San Diego

I mean -Home. I am excited to wake up at the crack of dawn to catch a flight tomorrow morning to San Diego to spend a fabulous week with my family and boyfriend. It could not be a better Monday :)
Be back soon Tucson, I might miss you. Well I will miss the monsoons, if they get here already!

-flying away

Spontaneous Hike

So Friday evening, Jeremy and I were determined to make our Saturday pleasant by getting out of the house and doing something. We figured since its 110 degrees in Tucson we could drive somewhere cooler and hike. Enter: Mt. Lemmon -Perfect! So it was about 45 min drive up the mountain to the ski lodge where we parked. The unnamed Beemer handled well up the curves, way fun. Anyway, we hiked the Aspen somethingorother trail head. about 2 miles to the top of Mt. Lemmon. It was beautiful! All the pine trees, bushes, etc. Smelled like christmas! It was also about 76 degrees which made it WONDERFUL. :) and yes I still got a little sunburned regardless of sunscreen and tree cover. The only problem I have with "the outdoors" in general is the insane amount of insects. A bee chased me twice, flies and such ran into me along the trail. EW! So I carried a small branch to swat away various critters as they came buzzing by. Anyway, It was awesome because after our hike, just about noon/lunch time, we drove two miles down the hill to the adorable dining establishment called the "Cookie Cabin: and Pizza Too." It was a typical tiny cabin, family owned business where there are little wooden made signs with cute sayings of which I have forgotten. Jeremy and I shared a pepperoni pizza and each had a Sioux City Sarsparilla Root Beer (Delicious). But before we walked up to the lunch place, I ran into my old astronomy professor and graduate teaching assistant. He was heading up to the observatory also on Mt. Lemmon. He gave me his cell and offered us a tour of the observatory when we finished eating. YAY! So we got to see the 60 inch telescope, a 15 inch one, and the control rooms and everything. Most people pay money to have a tour like this! Incredible. Anyway we learned some history and got a behind the scenes look at the famous Mt. Lemmon observatory behind locked gates to the public. :) I felt special.

Here are some pictures of our fabulous day

Here is Jeremy trying to locate the trail head. Look at those trees! I couldn't believe this was 30 miles away from Tucson.

This is close to the ski lodge at the dinky ski resort they have. The moon is on the left side of  the mountain- neat!

before the hike and pre-sun burn

Top of Mt. Lemmon, crazy hair, Jeremy's sausage finger over the lens, and Tucson in the background

Hello Tucson

Found a dandelion and simply had to make a wish and blow

One of the many highlights of the day: Strange man with tiger striped TIGHT bike pants! PAHAHAHA

-Marvelous Saturday