Week 33: Visitors in Tucson (pt. 3)

Last week I didn't write a blog post. This is because my family was visiting me in Tucson! This group of travelers included my youngest brother, Lincoln, my parents, and my Ohio grandparents. They flew into Tucson on Thursday, picking me up from work and taking me out to dinner downtown. Friday we went to the desert museum where we met hummingbirds, cactus wrens, doves, javelinas, beavers, bobcats, wolves, and many more desert inhabitants. Saturday, Lincoln, my dad, and I went on a 17.6 mile hike in the Sabino Canyon recreation area, part of the Coronado National Forest, while my mom and grandparents enjoyed the informational shuttle ride and a guided tour. 7 hours, a few cholla pokes, and 6 tired legs later we completed the loop and headed for dinner at Whataburger to replenish our calories. Saturday was also April Fools day and I think we pranked ourselves a bit by stopping for lunch at Seven Falls which was a great location but only 4 miles into our hike.

Sunday, my family attended Shalom, treated me and my housemates to lunch at El Charro Cafe (with 9 of us, we were actually able to get a reservation), and checked out the Tucson Folk Festival for a bit before heading up to 4th avenue for some light shopping.

Monday we took in the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. This museum provides headsets to patrons so that you can hear all of the instruments that you're seeing in the displays. The museum was split into geographic regions with most country's musical traditions represented. My favorite was the octobass, a three-stringed bass that's a whole octave lower than a double bass, as well as the famous air-guitar.

Tuesday was full of some other shorter hikes and trips back to Saguaro National Park East and West and Sabino Canyon so Lincoln and I could get our National Parks Passports stamped. Unfortunately, I didn't have this passport until this weekend so I guess I'll just have to revisit the ones I've already seen.

This trip was full of good food, hikes, and sharing where I'm living this year with my family. Thanks for spending your spring break with me! Wyatt, you'll get to see Tucson soon, too and I'm already planning a good backpacking trip for us.

Besides the family visit, this week at work I was busy researching country conditions for a case involving an immigrant from Peru who had also spent time in Mexico. I scoured the internet for articles and documents relating to what they shared with us about their experience in Peru and Mexico. I was also working on revising some more of our Pro Se guides, putting together a criminal history chart for another case, and doing my usual emailing, phone calls, and mailing. I'm feeling busier at work, partly because I haven't had a full week of work for the last two weeks and won't until May due to other trips.

This week and weekend also included Easter and Holy Week events. Thursday night I attended Shalom's Maundy Thursday service and appreciated participating in the rituals of foot washing, communion, and some contemplative prayer. In the more secular vein of Easter, Harper and I dyed eggs today (which will be turned into deviled eggs for lunch tomorrow). Tomorrow will include a sunrise hike with Shalom, an Easter service with brunch, and an Easter dinner as a house with a few other Shalom members.

Over the last two weeks, I've walked many miles, switched up my bike route to and from work, and thought through many things at home, work, and on the phone. We're in our 8th month of VS. Kind of crazy. We were commenting as a house this week that it feels like we've been at 6 months for the last two months, kind of forgetting that all the things we planned for early in the year are starting to happen. These are good things. We are continuing to move forward and thinking more concretely about what next year will look like for us. But we still have a few more months here in the Sonoran desert, and the heat is yet to come.

We still have not finished the Van Gogh puzzle but are getting close (expect an update next week). As always, here's the link to the shared Google photo album to view more of the pictures I couldn't post here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rFXtPMJf9GjWMsFd9.