Tucson Adventure - Day 3

[Composed: July 8, 2023, High in Tucson: 107°F]

Today, we learned two truths about our Tucson Adventure. The first is shown by this photo:

In this pic, J and G (the rest of us are behind Shira's camera) are trudging through a set of trails that are near our Airbnb. We wore hats and long sleeves to protect against the sun. The landscape is gorgeous, and yet the sun makes it abundantly clear that we are not welcome here. We explored the trails for all of about 45 minutes, and while I would have loved to check them out longer, the kids weren't having it. The temperature was climbing quickly, so I couldn't argue with them. It was hot, and getting hotter.

The timestamp of this photo: 6:32am.

This, to say the least, was humbling. I figured we might be able to do outdoor time comfortably until 9 or 10am; but no. As soon as the sun came up, being outdoors was a challenge.

The second truth is captured by this photo:

Here we are, frolicking in the pool. We are still wearing long-sleeves for sun protection. The conditions inside the pool were heavenly.

The timestamp of this photo: 8:16am.

The fact that the pool is perfection is no small thing. On multiple occasions we have traveled and found ourselves at a location with a pool. Typically, the pool isn't heated, so inevitably the water is too chilly to enjoy. Or, there's just too much to do and we never have time to play in the pool. But for this trip, the stars have aligned: the pool *is* the thing to do, and the kids love it. I'm not much of a pool guy, and but even I have to say that goofing around today was outstanding.

I'm still not quite sure how we're going to navigate a city that is unbearably hot after 6am. But at least we have the pool as a crowd pleasing option at hand.

Because today is Shabbat, we spent the day chilling around the house. We got a good start on a puzzle, and the kids have been enjoying Kariba, a compact card game that takes a few minutes to learn and is a blast to play. After a long travel day, it feels luxurious to just relax. Tomorrow I'll worry about packing in activity after activity. But for today, we enjoyed just being.