Well, I've been in Tucson for a week now, and so far I love it. I'm more or less unpacked, but I'll take a few pictures of the guest house with all my crap in it once I'm fully set up. Just a few random observations about the place so far. First of all, yes, it's hot. It's been about 100 every day so far, but it's really tolerable heat. It doesn't seem to really come on until about 3 in the afternoon, and my little AC unit cranks out the cold if I need it to (or there's always the pool). It gets cooler at night, and it's been quite comfortable sleeping weather; no AC needed.

Haven't gotten to sample too much of the local restaurants, save for a really kickass Mexican place that I took everyone to while Laura was still here. I've seen a couple of cute places, but I still need to try out the local sushi, as well. Oh... I did go to "Beyond Bread":http://www.beyondbread.com/ the other day on the advice of my stepmom (my step-aunt lives here in Tucson), and it was tasty, although completely insanely busy!

They have "Trader Joe's":http://www.traderjoes.com/ here! We tried out the "2-buck Chuck":http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1963794 (actually 3-buck Chuck here), and it's decent! Must get a case. Also there's a "Wild Oats":http://www.wildoats.com/, so I won't lament a lack of Whole Foods too much.

One thing I wasn't suprised about was the amount of sprawl. Everything is all spread out. Laura explained it thusly: "On the east coast, they build up. Out here, they build _out_." Getting around isn't too bad either; much of the city is a grid layout, but they do weird things with streets that change names, or a same name that skips around without being connected.

I've seen some interesting wildlife as well. So far I've seen a few "HUGE moths":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040907_misc/P1010003.JPG, a small (e.g. one-inch long) scorpion stuck to the bathroom ant trap, a tarantula crossing the road (ew!), countless small lizards scurrying around outside my window, and something squashed on the side of the road that was probably big enough to have only been a "Gila Monster":http://www.desertusa.com/sep97/du_gilamonster.html. No javalinas yet, but I've got my fingers crossed.

Got to go for a couple of bike rides, including a fantastic one at dusk yesterday. There's nothing like rolling down an empty road with the sinking sun setting the mountains afire. It's a super bike-friendly town, with lots of the streets having an explicit bike lane, or at least a wide-ish shoulder. Even on the ones that don't, it seems that cars will give you a wide berth. Still trying to figure out how to fit a daily ride into my schedule; it'll probably be in the evenings around sundown. With Arizona not following daylight savings time(!), right now I'm on west coast time, or 3 hours earlier than Pittsburgh. I've been trying to go to work at 6, so getting up earlier isn't a good option for a workout.

We erected the "frame for a backyard climbing wall":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040907_misc/P1010007.JPG! I'll have pictures of that up shortly as well, but the t-nuts and holds are coming this week; the plywood is already drilled, so we might be climbing on it this weekend!

I've been letting the cats run around a little bit in the courtyard, and they seem to be having a good time with it. They might not enjoy it so much today when Morgan (April's sweetheart chocolate lab) comes back today from an extended puppy play date. I'm hoping they'll at least start pooping outside!

Oh, and people here are so nice that it makes me really uncomfortable. I miss East Coast Rude.