starting off clinical #2

I arrived on Sunday evening and started at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Southern Arizona at 7:30 on Monday morning.  Thankfully, it's less than a 20 minute drive from where I'm staying.  My clinical instructor McHaley is friendly, funny, and enthusiastic - I think we're going to have a good time.

front entrance of the hospital

After I got back to the house, my landlady Jamie suggested I check out Meet Me at Maynards, an "urban fitness phenomenon."  Every Monday, a couple hundred people (smallest number: 48, largest number: 1012) gather at Hotel Congress across the street from Maynard's Market & Kitchen in downtown Tucson and walk/ jog/ run a designated route with two, three, and four mile options.  Registration is free, and they award a t-shirt for participating 8 times, a hat at 15, a pin at 50, and a "century club" tee at 100 times.  Not having any other grand plans for the evening, I decided to try it out.  I drove down town and registered, including putting my name on a raffle ticket and getting a hand stamp to qualify for the myriad discounts offered in the area for participants.  They don't have a map of the course, but instead have a little half sheet of written directions.  I strolled off, directions in hand, and enjoyed the uniqueness that is downtown Tucson.  After about 2.5 miles, I wasn't sure I was on course any more, so I approached a friendly-looking woman walking solo.  Thus I met Marty (Marti?), and was introduced to the finish of the 3 mile route.  I did NOT win anything in the raffle.  Oh well.

the pink courthouse

colorful house details

this is a bus stop...

Wednesday evening I headed north about a mile and a half to Rio Vista Natural Resource Park.  There is a pretty good view of the Santa Catalina Mountains from there, and access to "The Loop," 55 miles of car-free paths being developed around Tucson.  At this particular point, it runs along the the Rillito River, a broad, dry wash which I'm sure can be a raging river after a heavy rain.  I ran a couple miles, admiring the mountain and sunset views.

santa catalinas from the park

sunset from the multi-use path

At some point during the week, I mentioned to McHaley that I was thinking of renting a bike for my time here in Tucson.  On Friday morning, she told me she had a couple possibilities for borrowing a bike, and by early afternoon, there was a bike waiting for me in the office of one of the outpatient therapists!  After work, I removed the front wheel to put the bike in my car - and suddenly noticed that the axle was lying separate from the wheel and was missing a piece or two.  I immediately headed off to BICAS (Bicycle Inter-Community Art and Salvage), for which I had several recommendations as the best place for bike rentals/ purchase/ repair.  For $25, I bought the three missing pieces for the axle and a Kryptonite U-Lock.  One of the missing pieces turned out to be in the car after all, so I walked straight back in and donated it back to them.  Once I got back to the house, I hopped on the bike and took a three and a half mile test ride.

bicas entrance

Saturday morning I drove out to hike Ventana Canyon, up into the Santa Catalina Mountains.  Photos cannot do justice to the landscape.  The first mile is on a 15 foot wide easement between private properties, and the trail then proceeds into the canyon itself.  The lower areas are saguaro forest, while up high the vegetation includes scrubby little ponderosa pines and manzanita.  It was a challenging trail, steep and rocky.  I hiked up about 2500 feet in elevation over probably 4 miles, deciding to turn around when I met a couple other hikers on their way down.  They told me I was about to tackle the toughest portion of the trail, and I had already been contemplating turning around since I was experiencing symptoms of altitude sickness - nausea, headache, and poor balance and coordination.  I took my time on the way down, but still caught up to those same hikers lower down.  The adult, Don, was teaching the teen, Tee, about plants, animals, and the archaeology of the canyon.  They invited me to hike down the rest of the way with them as long as their speed and mine didn't differ too much.  Thanks to their company, I learned quite a bit about the different cacti and plants, as well as stopping and going a bit off trail to see a couple of rock shelters previously used by the local American Indian tribes.  My ailments certainly seemed altitude-related since all symptoms decreased with loss of elevation.  I felt fine (just tired) by the time I got back to my car, and definitely felt I earned my good night's sleep.

saguaro forest, tucson in the distance

two oblivious hikers almost walked straight into this hummingbird, not even wondering why i'd stopped

higher up, the ponderosa pines (on the left)

rock shelter used in the past by local native american tribes

Easter Sunday I walked a quarter mile down the street to Northminster Presbyterian Church.  It seems like a friendly place, chances are good I'll just go there for the duration of my stay in Tucson.  Monday evening I again did the Meet Me at Maynard's walk, followed by picking up my flight attendant friend Emmy (from mountainboarding) at her hotel since she had a one night layover in Tucson.  Our otherwise delightful evening of dinner and wandering downtown Tucson was marred by the loss of my purse which contained my brand new camera (my Christmas present to myself), my iPod Nano, a couple credit cards, my debit card, and driver's license.  We checked with the front desk at Hotel Congress, the location where I had last accessed it, and were told that it had not been turned in.

emmy and me in front of rattlesnake bridge

Thankfully, the next night when I called Hotel Congress to check one last time before filing a police report, the purse HAD been turned in the night before and they had it, all contents intact.