Today we were in Tucson for the first part of the day. We spent the morning working and went up to the top of

Sentinel Peak (of course we didn’t have a camera, that would be way too easy), and then had lunch at Barrio. It’s an absolutely lovely restaurant in downtown Tucson; the lunch crowd was mostly middle aged professionals doing Business Meetings. The food was sort of upscale Mexican/Southwestern with some twists. From our research before picking that particular place, that upscale southwestern style seems to be Tucson’s claim to fame. Max had salmon tacos with a pineapple pico de gallo and I had a taco salad with grilled beef and warm cheese and beans and a papaya vinagrette. Both were absolutely outstanding. The place itself was very attractive, with a sort of chic frontier vibe. I know, weird, but it worked. For example, the wine was stored in these giant stone wine racks that had circles drilled out of them so the bottles nestled in there like honeycombs or the cliff dwellings or something. The bar stools were wrought iron and the ceilings were high and there was a lot of light and shade all at the same time. There wasn’t much that was specifically “Mexican” as far as the decor went; the name of the place and of some of the dishes were the most “Mexicany” things about the restaurant. For instance, Max had to eat his taco with a fork — the first time he had ever done so, he says. Instead of the ubiquitous tortilla chips and salsa, the waitress gave us some yummy sourdough bread when we got there. She also let us sit and work on our laptops for an hour or so after eating, so thanks to the cool vibe at Barrio we are now up and running with the blog!

I should mention that Tucson has a college town feel — last night when we rolled in we somehow (by instinct?) navigated to the alternative / grad-student side of town. We ate at a diner that could have been in NYC or DC or Boston or SD, full of young people with funny facial hair and piercings (kids these days, I tell you…). The food was quite good, although really what I was excited about was the beer. We had had quite a time getting to Tucson because instead of driving directly from Phoenix to T-town, we decided to detour through the Tohono O’Odham nation reservation. We had been inspired by the Heard Museum (thanks to Adam Sawyer for the recommendation!), and were interested in seeing what it was like especially because it’s on the border and we’ve heard stories of migrants crossing through the reservation. Sure enough, there are border patrol check points at the reservation entrances (although that certainly doesn’t stop people who really want to make it through or who know what they’re doing). We had a couple of run-ins with the law; we had to stop and show documentation as we were leaving the res and a certain individual doing this trip was pulled over at one point for driving a touch fast. Hint: it wasn’t me. But we escaped with a warning and a feeling of massive good fortune. Thanks, friendly Tohono O’Odham police guy! We’re much more careful now… And speaking of thanks, MANY many thanks to Aviva for her navigational awesomeness and to Leah’s dad for his excellent logistical support. And to Adri, Crissy, and everyone else who has provided suggestions of places to go! Last but not least, many gracias to David Keyes for his help getting this blog set up.

Because we are who we are, we also drove through — literally — the border today on the way to…where are we? Oh right, El Paso. Incidentally, we were not able to go to Cafe Poca Cosa in Tucson, despite everyone’s rave reviews, because they don’t open on Mondays. Likewise, we skipped Chope’s in Las Cruces because it wouldn’t have been open, and got caught by the Border Patrol in Columbus, New Mexico, instead. But that story will come tomorrow, since my eyes and fingers are tired.