Loving Tucson (and) Natalie!

We are still currently in Tucson. We are having a blast here and enjoying some awesome weather. It has been in the 70s since we have been here and sunny every day. It was supposed to rain one day but in typical Tucson fashion it didn't. We have been getting some rest in here. And by rest, I mean we are riding up 9,000 foot mountains just without the trailer and gear. Since we have been here we have ridden in Saguaro National Park. We did the cactus forest loop there. It is an eight mile loop that is pretty much like a roller coaster for your bike. It is way too much fun to ride. After each loop, even if you are tired, you want to do another one. There is a pretty good climb on the backside going into the foothills of the Rincon mountains which makes it an workout too! The next day (Thursday) we went to Sabino Canyon. This is a recreation area north of town. Awesome area to run and hike trails. We went on a trail called Blacketts ridge. It was an awesome hiking trail that gains somewhere around 2,000 feet. Its an ass-kicker of a climb. You gain the elevation in only 1.7 miles or so. The trail is pretty gnarly looking too. It is cut into the side of the mountain. There are no handrails or steps. They chose to cut strategic areas out of the rock to make for steps up. This makes the trail look really natural. You can barely tell its there if you didn't know. It's pretty much like doing lunges the entire way up. Our legs were pretty gassed at the top. Then, you also have to go down which we thought was worse. It just killed our legs. All we are used to doing is biking. We ate lunch at the top and fed our chipmunk-buddy who hung out with us for a while. We were joined by some lingerers who stayed a bit too long and made the top not so lonely anymore. There are a ton of trails and routes in this canyon. You could run/hike in here all week and not do the same one. It makes us realize what an awesome city Tucson is. You don't see too many lumpkin-type people around here. Its a very fit city and really there is no excuse not to be fit here. There is just way too much to do and the weather permits you to be outside year round. The next day Spencer and I went up to mile 9 on Mt. Lemmon and then back down. We did not want to go too far because we were going to ride to the top the next day. Natalie stayed back and went on a run. The next day (today (Saturday)) we went to the top of Mt. Lemmon. Very hard climb. Spencer and I have done it before but Natalie was a first-timer. She was a champ! She made it the whole way no problem with minimal complaining. Just kidding. She didn't complain at all. She made it look pretty good. She did not get passed by any girls and only a handful of guys passed us. Not too many cyclists go past mile 17 and we took it all the way to the top at mile 27. Mt. Lemmon tops out somewhere around 9,000 feet and change. That doesn't sound very high for the Colorado people but considering we left from somewhere around 2,500 feet it makes for a pretty good climb. Also makes for a long day. We got to the top and had a huge pizza and bottomless cup coffee. Very cold and windy at the top so this helped a lot. After that, we headed back down the long descent and went back to Spencer's house. The rest of the day was spent by the pool/hot tub relaxing in the sun. Really nice here today with temps somewhere around 75 and very sunny. We are all really tired and unsure of what we are doing tomorrow. We will be here until early next week when we will start heading toward San Diego. Everyone is doing well. Natalie is great and looking great! Getting lots of sun and good food here! I hear it beats the sub-zero weather in the midwest. Only about a week to San Diego once we leave here. We are getting pretty excited and can't wait to be there. We still have semi-homeless status though. Still need to find a place when we get there. Shouldn't be a problem though. Keep you updated.

~Drew