A little more of Tucson

It’s harder to connect mentally when I haven’t written in a while. I should write more again. Where did I leave off? I was in Tucson already on my last post. I think I included the lovely lunch we had at Olive Garden and the Childrens museum? What else have we done here?

I took the kids to the Botanical Gardens. The Butterfly house was hands down the highlight of that trip (youtube pending) The garden itself didn’t have a tropical greenhouse but was mostly cacti and desert plants. There was a kids section and a gardening section with composting run down and chickens. It was a lovely walk, but kind of expensive.

In one of the bazillion parks we were visited, we were directed, for the second time, to the Valley of the Moon, which is only open twice a month. It’s a piece of property that was creatively designed in the 1920’s to be like a magical mythical showground (also youtube pending). I was really looking forward to checking it out. The entrance and initial exploration was very enchanting. However, a lot of it was blocked off for perservation and the main event was a propane lit fire with garden rocks popping on the metal fire grill, a few marshmallows to roast, some musicians playing acoustic rock songs (generally very good, but not really the vibe of the place) and a very cold $1 “hot” chocolate. The people were friendly but seemed to have a hard time being there themselves. We left pretty early. Would be cool to see the historical tour towards the end of the month.

Two days ago we headed out to Phoenix after a van dweller gave me information about affordable solar panels. I purchased a panel. The current project is mounting it! Yay.

I also did a quick air filter change and purchased oil change supplies…. just in time for my transmission to start acting weird and the fluid to smell burn-y. DX Why? It’s having issues shifting out of the lower gears. I’m planning on doing a trans fluid change but I haven’t done it on my own, I kinda watched when we did it this spring in a shop. I just want to be sure I’m doing it right before I make a super mess out of it.

On that note, it’s late and I apparently have to clean up a mess. The boy’s have been in bed for an hour. We’ve been working on the 4th Harry Potter book.Electric outlet for working on the solar panel is lined up tomorrow. I’m parked by Verdugo Park in a hippy alley not far from Barbs lot. It feels a little sketch, like the chance of being woke up by a police officer or a tripping hippie or a meth head seem very likely. Just going to keep my fingers crossed for a good night and a calm morning and a productive day in general.

I want to remark that when I write every day I’m better capable of giving accounts of the kindness bestowed upon us, like Cammie taking the kids into the store for them to pick toys for themselves or Janet, who found us at the Petro this morning, or so many more lovely people sharing their smiles and making my day and life just a little lighter.