We’re a handful of days into our Arizona adventure, and while acclimating to the desert Southwest we’re also learning to navigate this huge and sprawling city named Tucson.

Tucson covers almost 500 square miles. To provide some context, Boston, Massachusetts occupies less than a tenth of that area at just over 48 square miles. The City of Tucson’s population comes in at 542,000 souls, and the population of the entire metropolitan area is double that.

The entire state we live in, Vermont, has less than 650,000 residents. So there are sharp contrasts between home and here. Some initial observations, presented in no particular order:

• Everything you could possibly want in the way of shops, services, activities and restaurants are here in Tucson.
• However, due to the crazy sprawl of the city, getting where you want to go can take awhile. Driving cross-town can easily take over an hour without ever leaving the city.
• The roads are generally good, and traffic is usually heavy. Especially during the morning and evening commutes.
• My observations of Tucson drivers find them overly aggressive. Speeding, often excessively, is the norm and not the exception. Being passed on the right is common, and directional use seems to be optional.
• From what we’ve seen so far, Tucson is a fairly well-kept city. Cleaner than most I’ve seen, and definitely better than any city in the Northeast.
• The geography and scenery is fabulous. Mountain vistas surround the city.

I’ve not met a lot of folks yet, but those I have have been really friendly, especially those met on the trail. More about that in a bit.

Over the weekend Youngest Son, Wife and I visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It’s adjacent to the Saguaro National Park, and not far from where we are staying. This museum features a zoo and aquarium, and the entire grounds is a botanical garden. We arrived there mid-morning on Saturday, and while it was fairly crowded, we managed to take in many of the exhibits over the 3 ½ hours we were there. We walked almost 3 ½ miles, too. Here are a few photos:

After the museum visit we stopped and grabbed some lunch from Mr. Totos, a roadside food truck on the way back to the house. I experienced my first Sonoran hot dog, and it was better than I expected. 

Yesterday I hit the trail for the first time in Arizona. I decided to give the Sendero Esperanza trail a go, as it was rated a moderate trail, and located not too far away in the western district of the Saguaro National Park.

The trails out here are different. The rocks & roots commonly encountered in the mountains of the Northeast aren’t here, nor is the “green tunnel” effect. Trails are dirt, sand and various grades of gravel, and the views are always there as the flora is short. The tallest thing I saw on that hike were saguaro cacti. They top out around 10 feet or so.

Traversing the trail was much easier than I’m used to. No rock hopping or boulder scrambling. The incline was also eased by many switchbacks engineered into the trail; I found myself taking fewer “pauses to refresh” than I normally do on home turf.

But those views! You can see for miles and miles once the smallest elevation is achieved. While on the Sendero Esperanza I could see the Jeep even when over three miles away and 1200 feet up. Views of the surrounding mountains and Tucson were fantastic. 

Being a weekday, and a cold day by local standards (around 40°F with some wind), I didn’t see too many people on the trail. Those I did see were friendly. No dogs on this trail, as they’re not allowed on the National Park trails. Here are some photos from the hike:

More exploration and nature walks are in the offing this week, and I’m planning and hoping to keep somewhat current capturing our experiences while visiting Arizona.