Color with Linda

Linda left today after a week of hanging out with me and exploring my new hometown. Here's a wrap-up of some of our more colorful moments.

She found this fabulous robe for only $18 at the Crow's Nest in Old Town Artisans. I wanted it badly, but she got her hands on it first, literally as soon as we stepped into the shop. Old Town Artisans is on the site of El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson, the fort built by the Spanish in 1775 to stake claim to the northern frontier of New Spain. Now it's a one-block collection of small businesses.

At the other end of the spectrum, we strolled around La Encantada, a collection of upscale shops in the Catalina Foothills where Linda posed in front of this mural. The main reason we went there was to collapse in big cushy outdoor chairs on a restaurant patio with iced tea after iced tea after exhausting ourselves hiking in the sun in Sabino Canyon. 

Hats were de rigueur because of the sun.

At Cactus Quilts, I bought three row-by-row patterns celebrating Tucson that were designed by the store's owner.

This colorful patio is at Vivace, an Italian restaurant that two of Linda's local friends took us to for lunch. 

Here we are setting off early one morning for another desert hike with the Shady Ladies.

We were lucky enough to see both a roadrunner ...

... and a Gila monster just after starting out. 

Some people live here for decades and never see the elusive Gila monster, but this one took a slow stroll across the trail right in front of us.

Speaking of wildlife, here's a mural that we saw on our walk around downtown Tucson. It's another elusive animal, the jackalope!

And a colorful sky wrapped up one of our dinners on my back patio.

Have a colorful day