What I won't do for cherries and chocolate!

The Capt calls it Errorzona. I call it Aridzona. And when we find we have to make the five-hour drive to that once-familiar land that seems less like home every time we go there, we both want to say, "Let's call the whole thing off."

But this week's trip was unavoidable. The Capt's laptop died, so he ordered a refurbished aluminum MacBook Pro which he couldn't wait to get his hands on. There were meds we had ordered from India, pistons for the Westie and, most crucial, we were out of chocolate.

It's nearing the end of the monsoon season, and the nopal (which we gringos call prickly pear) are topped with bright ruby fruit in abundance. The barrel cacti are sporting crowns of red and yellow flowers.

New experiences helped make an otherwise cut-and-dried trip into something that almost resembled a vacation. We found a hotel we hadn't stayed in before, the Quality Inn at the airport in Tucson, with just about everything we were looking for in accommodations: a bathtub, wifi, a fridge and microwave, a good bed, and a sparkling clean swimming pool not shaped like a kidney so I could swim laps without bumping into curving walls. The price was right: $44 a night.

Near the airport is the Pima Air and Space Museum and when we passed by we spotted dozens of old airplanes dating back to WWII, fighter jets and something that I thought might be an early space shuttle. At last, a museum the Capt could relate to! Maybe on our next trip I can talk him into a trade: if we go there, can we also visit the Old West and Indian exhibits at the Arizona State Museum?

Passing the Davis-Monthan Air Force base, we saw acres of old planes at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), also known as the "Boneyard." If they could all take off at once, they'd darken the sky. But it's doubtful they will ever fly anywhere again.

Then, as thought to remind us how far we've come, a gas station had a display of conveyances from the Old West. An old buckboard, a surrey and a covered wagon.




Of course we made the mandatory stop at Trader Joe's and acquired six of their dark Belgian Pound Plus bars, enough chocolate to last at least until October. True, I'm avoiding sugar, but chocolate doesn't count. Two squares a day is my limit, but it's de rigeur! Especially when I'm working.
In the evening while watching TV we prepared a mailing for our publishing business and noshed on cherries and sweet, seedless red grapes. Oh, joy!

I thought my little Escort was loaded to the max, but on the way home we stopped to declare our purchases at the aduana, and saw this truck in the parking lot. That's a washer and dryer teetering on the tailgate! Hope he got home OK.