TUCSON!! — Kristin Genovese

On our way to Tucson, we stopped briefly at Tombstone to do the tourist thing. It was exactly that. We walked the street, stopped for ice cream and met a man and his horse. The horse stole the whole show for Sophia.

TUSCON! Otherwise referred to as “Tuck-son” during our stay. ;) We loved it here. We found this county park called Gilbert Ray Campground on campendium.com and now we know why it’s so well reviewed by so many. It’s part of the Tuscon Mountain Park and just miles south of the western part of Saguaro National Park. The campground is nestled in the beauty, no cell service, no wifi, but it was so alive. There’s a max stay of 7 days and we get that now too (affordability plus fabulousness is hard to come by). People come and go, spots are rarely empty for more than an hour or so. Everyone is friendly and the weather was gorgeous so everyone was out. We met other full-time families, the kids had other friends to play with, and the trail system rocked. I ran, Ben hiked, the kids biked the paved camping loops in the park.

One of the highlights here: Sophia asking to help with the dishes. I washed, she rinsed and dried. Bless. These are the moments that get us moms through the rest.

We went into Tucson twice for shopping, park play and laundry. It's maybe a 25-30 minute drive through the pass (did you see my driving video?). The part of Tucson we were in both days reminded us of Austin. Parks were nice and there is a really nice running/biking path along the entire river (read: wash) through Tucson. We got ice cream on 4th Avenue and it felt like Guadalupe Street in Austin thanks to the University of Arizona. Combine the city's vibe with the February temps and it felt a little like home. But in July, my guess? No thank you.

The sunrises and sunsets were fabulous and our last night here we sat out in the road on chairs, eating microwave mug brownies and watched the full Snow Moon rise. Heaven.