Tucson

Breakfast of champions: tatortots and dippable french toast at ???? in Tucson AZ,
with tomtomtomtomtom (right) and friend.

After the episode of the busted clutch, I again hit the highway, Interstate 8 and then 10 through the California desert that's so sparsely populated and so close to Mexico that your cellphone will prefer that country's GSM network. At long last I arrived in Tucson at the pleasant little abode of tomtomtomtomtom, who I know through LiveJournal via four. Tom is a concentration of awesomeness around which adventure is sure to abound (along with, perhaps, discussion of stochastic Riemannian geometry). Tucson itself seems a sleepy, southwestern town, a little bit forgotten but with a good vibe. And sensible desert landscaping: lawns made of volcanic stones, and the like. Had I stayed longer I'm sure there would have been adventures, Tom and me and some more friends of his from out of town camped out in his awesomely tiny little house and bike rides to diners and 50 cent margaritas. But those adventures will have to wait until my next visit.

Check out my video tour of Tom's house (14MB)! (edit: or watch it on flickr!)

a brief update (now in central time!)

I was disappointed to travel through the Sonoran desert only under the cover of night, but thrilled to finally leave La Mesa and get underway. Late at night I arrived in Tucson to meet the dashing and witty tomtomtomtomtom. Now I'm way out in Marfa, Texas!