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taz_39**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer.
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This post covers Monday and Tuesday.
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Previous Visits to Tucson:
Circus, June 2013: Look at that, the circus came through here at this same time of year! It was just as hot. I took lots of pics from the train vestibule, having never been this far west before. Visited Chicago Music Store, toured Biosphere 2, and ate at El Minuto Cafe. It was too hot to do much else.
Circus, June 2015: Jameson and I were dating by this time. We drove together instead of riding the train. Took a tour of the Hoover Dam (it was amazing!) and the Grand Canyon (also amazing but VERY crowded.) Once we got to Tucson the daytime highs were in the 110s (43.3°C) so you'll pardon me if I stayed indoors!! In fact it was so hot that we managed to cook an egg on the ground outside!
Tootsie the Musical, March 2022: We played the same theater that I'm gonna play with BATB this week, but stayed at a different hotel. I got a loaf of bread from Barrio Bakery (and met the owner!), and ate at Nook and at Five Points Market, and had nitro matcha at Scented Leaf. Nook was so good that I went back a second time, and their peanut butter protein bread was one of my favorite foods of the entire tour. I explored Historic 4th Avenue and Five Points Intersection, visiting the thrift and vintage shops there. And checked out the incredible landscaping and botany at the U of AZ...they have REALLY amazing plants!
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MONDAY
Fitful sleep, which is not unusual for me on a travel day. For breakfast I'd gotten an "espresso soda" from Whole Foods to try, because I hoped it would be like a Manhattan Special. It was certainly not. Acidic and sour, and it was supposed to be vanilla flavored but it was so sour that you couldn't tell at all. The main sweetener used was agave so perhaps that was the issue. Went downstairs and bought a hot coffee instead. Lesson learned: want a Manhattan Special? Buy a Manhattan Special.
Worked on Foodie Finds, finished packing, and watched anime until the bus showed up at 9:30. We left El Paso around 10am.
The scenery was interesting a few times...
...but mostly it was very flat desert with mountains in the distance, scrub brush and rocks, cacti and blue sky.
We charter two buses for every bus travel day. One is designated the "Quiet Bus" while the other is the "Loud Bus." If people want to sleep, read, listen to music with headphones, etc., they can sit on Quiet Bus. If they want to play games, chat with each other, listen to music without headphones, make calls, etc., they can sit on Loud Bus. As has become our Travel Day Tradition, Holly (Madame/The Wardrobe) led us in some rousing Loud Bus choreo! Thankfully the choreo was easy this time, and we only had to do 1-2 takes before making the recording. I'm right down front, bottom left.
We stopped twice for bathrooms and snacks, but still made it to Tucson before 3pm thanks to yet another time change (I am so confused about AZ's stance on Daylight Savings. whatever guys.) I can't wait to share pics of this hotel room because it's pretty cool. That'll come at the end of the week. Anyway I dropped my luggage, stuffed the thermometer in the minifridge, and Ubered NOT to a grocery this time but to World Market. They have the BEST mini silicone spatulas. I've had mine for several years and it's starting to degrade/get sticky. Picked up another one of those and a tiny travel bottle of plum wine, why not. There was a big mall across the street so I walked to the H&M to check for my favorite black pants (Nope. I HAVE to accept that they're gone *cries*) then it was close enough to dinner time to Uber to Whole Paycheck, eat hot bar stuff, and get my groceries.
I was excited to find some new and interesting foods here!
- Pink Cosmo blueberries: 9/10 Are they really BLUEberries? :p Turns out they are a blueberry with some dominant recessive gene (cultivated/genetically encouraged to reveal itself, of course) that makes them a lovely pinkish-purple color. Some people say they have a flavor like nectarines or peaches. Peaches are my favorite fruit and I wouldn't go QUITE so far, but they definitely taste more tangy, more orange-citrus, and don't have that kinda musky taste that regular blueberries can have. It's a refreshing, summery flavor...I thought they were very good! I know they're expensive comparatively but imo if you see them they're worth trying just once as the flavor is something special.
- Narra Ube Latte: 8/10 An oat milk "latte" with no coffee and no caffeine, sweetened with both sugar and monkfruit. It was I think 150 calories. I liked this a lot! You could actually taste the earthy ube with a lovely creamy vanilla mixed in. The texture was a bit thin imo but it would be easy to just add a little protein powder or yogurt or whatever and have it thicker. I would get this again as a special treat.
I have yet to try the pistachio one (which is an actual coffee-based latte) and will report back!
Back at the hotel, unpacked and typed up this post, chatted with Jameson, and felt like going right to bed at 8pm but made myself stay up until 10. I'm sure I'll be awake with the sun tomorrow. Sigh.
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TUESDAY
Of COURSE I was wide awake at 6:30am, which is now 9:30am EST. But since I fell asleep so early I actually got 8 hours of sleep for once.
A slow morning, working on that pesky San Francisco Foodie Finds, researching flights home from California for the layoff, and sort of making a to-do list for when I'm home on this layoff. It always seems overwhelming and then I inevitably knock 80% of the list out in the first week lol. It was 95°F (35°C) at 10am already, whew. Good thing Tucson has a FREE public trolley! That will come in handy in the coming days, with temps reaching above 100°F most days.
Walked to the theater when it was time, luckily we are very close so it's only 5-8 minutes in the blazing sun. We're playing the Centennial Hall on U of AZ campus. Loads of great shopping and dining around for the students, and I still see the same beautiful landscaping and plants :) The theater is more of an auditorium, no gold leaf or exotic themes, just chairs in an acoustically correct room. The pit is of average size, and the drums are down there with us instead of remoted to another room, yay! We have THREE new musicians this week: two subs (Nancy on horn for Sarah and Joe on drums for Gary who is out for his son's graduation), and Maria, our new clarinet. Everyone did great during sound check, but I'd be lying if I didn't say having a new drummer on ANY show makes me a bit nervous. That's the heartbeat of the band!
After sound check, the usual quick dinner at the hotel and dropping my trunk stuff off. Walked back for the evening show. It went very well, and there was a surprise:
sholanda was here with a friend!! We have never met in person for obvious geographical reasons, but we read each others DW writings. She came down to the pit to say hello before the show started, and took a pic of us! 
and me in my little cage lol. Do Not Feed The Musicians :p
The show went very well considering all the new people we had in the pit, in fact hilariously the only obvious issue came from one of the keyboards. Ironic! But it was fine, he comped through it and I doubt anyone who hasn't heard the show 300 times would notice. And the audience here was VERY enthusiastic, which we of course appreciated very much :)
In closing check out this cactus that I found with bright magenta needles! I've never seen that before/new to me. <3
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Wednesday: Visiting the Gem & Mineral Museum, hopefully getting some gelato, and one evening show.
Thursday: Nothing planned and it'll probably end up being my Slug Day because on Friday I'm taking my trombone to be repaired. One evening show.
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Date: 2026-06-17 06:22 am (UTC)Re daylight savings: we don’t change our clocks! We just…don’t. I like to say “we know what time it REALLY is” because we don’t fiddle with the clocks and make everyone pretend it’s an hour different suddenly. Unfortunately because everyone else DOES change the clocks, it makes it confusing to deal with us. Basically we are with California half the time and with Denver the other half. Simple! (lol)
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Date: 2026-06-17 02:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-06-17 01:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-06-17 02:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-06-17 02:27 pm (UTC)I've never seen a cactus with those colored spikes, and am now moving down a cactus rabbit hole to see what varieties look like that. Mexican Lime Cactus is a top contender so far...?
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Date: 2026-06-17 02:32 pm (UTC)