Tucson Time with Barbara and Marcus

September 20-25 - - Marcus & Barbara’s House, Tucson, AZ
Cacti tangle the front yard, and two happy faces greet us as we arrive the evening of September 20 after 4100 miles of travel. Our days here have been filled with good food and conversation, visits to the birthing center, men doing projects, bicycle rides, and girls swimming. Les and I have been learning about Tucson days, how to get up early (Marcus gets up to run at 4 am!) to go out exercising, and how to stay inside during the heat of the day. Barbara is doing well at 35 weeks into her pregnancy. She is able to do more moving about, but is still resting a lot, and she has adjusted gracefully to being more confined. She is crocheting/sewing/knitting and does lots of work by computer and phone from her easy chair “office.” She increases her swimming distance each day, and floats for five minutes every few laps. Marcus has done an amazing amount of work remodeling the house and landscaping their desert climate yard. They have a variety of cacti and fruit trees. Marcus and Les hauled in a load of rocks today, and Marcus is arranging them around water channels and cactus gardens. Besides projects, Marcus is teaching a class in environmental history, doing research for a professor, and working on his thesis. Those two are planning some projects and trips for next week right now.
Tomorrow we drive to Las Vegas. We booked a room at the Hyatt Place where the Red Rock riders will gather. We’ll leave the T@B camper here, and Les will return Monday to spend more time with Marcus and Barbara.
We have seen hundreds of horses on our way down here, but not once have I seen anyone riding a horse! I will soon be doing something about that!