Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Gates Pass

I went to the Desert Museum west of Tucson with my host today and expected to see cactus and rattlesnakes on the other side of glass. These I saw. But when one travels, one must expect the unexpected. Today a strange thing happened as I opened the door to leave the men's room, Newt Gingrich walked in. We did not speak, but apparently he greeted Rich, who had exited the same door scant seconds earlier. Newt, the Republican muse, was at the museum with some underlings for God only knows what reasons. I have photographic evidence of his presence which I can supply once I get to my own computer. I only need to say that Newt had a little more girth than I expected.

A couple of photos follow from a brief, but very scenic stop at Gates Pass in the Tucson Mountain Range on the way back to town. The first is a picture of the place where I took the second photo, and the second is a photo of the place where I took the first photo. It is a quite dramatic place to visit, but the photo probably fails to do it justice. There are a lot of cactus in the valleys and cliffs around this pass.


This next photo was taken next to the stone building in the above shot, a building that was apparently erected in the 1930's by the WPA.




Jerry, our tennis team captain, is town for the tournament at Randolph Park. Tomorrow at 10 a.m. we, the parts of the team in town, are having a hit around at the tourney venue. There will be a team banquet in the evening and then Friday we begin the action. Newt is not expected to attend.

4 comments:

Santini said...

The travelogue continues to be fascinating. The scenery, replete though it is with cacti, is beautiful, though alien. I keep thinking about biking in that terrain. My opinion is that Rich needs a different bike. Fatter tires, more gears, suspension -- though perhaps with all that cacti it is better to stay on the roads.

Newt?

Emily M said...

Lovely photos - it's just so unlike anything up here in the Frozen North. Thank you for sharing.

Newt is better than any celebrity sighting story I have. Which is to say I don't have any.

Santini said...

Up here in da north, we spell it Knute.

Santini said...

Hei,

I've been thinking about you and about the tournament. I hope you played well, and had fun. I look forward to hearing some tennis stories.