Jim Carson

On the way south from Phoenix, I took a side trip off of I-10 to go through Saguaro National Park and Tucson Mountain Park. Both areas brought back fond memories.

I have a business trip there at the end of the month. It’ll be my first visit back since living there in the mid-70s. I’m hoping that I’ll have some time to sneak away and site-see.

As the other commenter said, Terminal B, Continental Express, is a teeming mass of humanity and too few seats. It’s a terrible place to sit.

Terminal E, where I am typing now, has good wireless connectivity and some kind of second level area. Pappasito’s Cantina does passable TexMex (not as good as the civilian version); just around the corner is the Little Creamery featuring Blue Bell ice cream. I recommend the vanilla.

And while you’re connecting terminals, cheer my photo of the statue of

George H.W. Bush, for whom the airport is named. (This is not the image that I have when I think of GHWB.)

Oh… my… it’s effing hot here. Today’s hit 99°F, which with the humidity, feels more like 310°K. The smog isn’t as bad as it was yesterday.

I don’t know if it’s the heat, but drivers are hyper aggressive. Four times now I’ve put my turn signal on only to have the person behind me scoot over (where I wanted to go) and accelerate, preventing me from switching lanes. (Contrast this to Seattle, where natives will go to the other extreme to let you in.)

I saw a bike lane leading out of the airport, which was pretty cool. The only cyclist I’ve seen was some dude biking the wrong way down the shoulder of Interstate 75.

The food’s good, with a wide selection of chains and non-chains. I ordered a medium rare hamburger and got a medium rare hamburger. No argument, no pretending that “medium well” is the same thing, and no request to sign a waiver.

A tree just melted. Did I mention that it’s hot?

Went today with Kiri. After a few hours, the store is overwhelming, but in a good way. I think it’s important to have a “buddy” to keep you from having to take out a second mortgage to pay for all those great, new books.

(Referring to the original on India) The menu is simple, but the food’s great and relatively inexpensive. Don’t be put off by having to enter through the deli.

Winter isn’t the best time of year to visit, but it is a lovely city ;-) I would go back (especially in the summer).

Got here late Friday. Though it’s been sunny, the temperature is convincingly below freezing. The sidewalks and roads remain icy. Forecast for Saturday: more snow! This will no doubt please the large contingent of Austrians (including, I’m told, some former Olympians) headed towards a skiing tournament at Ar.

Though I still feel extremely guilty about knowing insufficient Norwegian, I’ve been able to navigate around well enough.

I’ll be visiting a customer site in mid-February, but I am trying to finagle taking a couple of days of vacation time to enjoy the city.

Given the time of year, I wasn’t going to bring my bike. However, I am intrigued by the Trampe Laurel mentioned.

I had a great time during my three days here this summer, and am especially glad I went. The recent flooding damaged several of the campsites and roads surrounding Mt. Rainier National Park.