I just love this place!

Frank's is a great place in Tucson for breakfast! It is filled with couples on dates, regulars who probably eat every meal there, and the occasional tourist who has read it about it. By day it is Frank's, a typical diner, serving a truly amazing breakfast. By night it transforms to "Francisco's," a Mexican eatery. It is very casual, pretty noisy, and fun! 

Yellow Trio: contest time again ~ Where is this?

Yes! It's time again for a "Where is this?" contest! For you first time visitors to the site, the rules are simple: The first person to identify this location receives a "fabulous" custom TDP t-shirt (or mousepad) featuring the expressive "Monday already?" Desert Museum ram. Start your engines and good luck!

King of the kingdom ~

This magnificent fellow rules my back yard. I have named him Rocky and he is HUGE. He struts, climbs, and does push ups. He's a great example of Arizona's Desert Spiny Lizard. I learned that typical behavior for these lizards is to remain pretty inactive. Rocky is just the opposite. There is hardly a time that I go into my back yard that I don't spot him on patrol. He is a great ruler of my garden!

Cloud curtain ~

Unless you live in Tucson it's hard to understand how truly weird our storms are. Here is the view from my driveway as a storm was approaching. As you can see, it is still really sunny at the same time!

In memory of my dear friend ~

Today would be the birthday of my dear friend Michelle who was a good listener, a wise adviser, a kind soul, a sweet person, a thoughtful person, a gentle spirit, a rock, and a wonderful, wonderful friend. Please take the time today to tell someone that you love them.

High style ~

The beautiful Westward Look Resort pays attention to the details everywhere. Check out the ornate lighting fixture in an exterior stairwell.

Rustic rest ~

Here is a lovely spot at the Westward Look Resort to just sit and enjoy the ambiance. Notice the roof overhang is made from saguaro ribs. Charming!

Tucson's downtown is far, far away ~

Yes, that wee stripe of pale grey blue is the skyline of Tucson's downtown. This is a view south from the beautiful Westward Look Resort.

View of heaven~

The Westward Look Resort has a beautiful roof top party area that is beautiful by day (fabulous clouds and mountains!) or by night (fantastic arcs of light).

Coffee with a real bite ~

I laughed when I saw these mugs - very Southwest, don't you think? How many people do you know who drink their coffee out of a rattlesnake?

Attention Tucson cat lovers ~

Do you speak cat at your house?

Just close your eyes and be amazed!

We are still having HUGE monsoon storms with crashing thunder and just torrents of rain. Click on this link and I guarantee that you will be astonished and amazed at this experience of a group of people creating a storm by snapping their fingers.... just listen.

Salsa and Tequila - party time!

La Encantada, Tucson's most high end shopping mall complex, was the site for a Salsa and Tequila Festival. How much more fun can you have - salsa, tequila, dancing, and sun!
Photo courtesy Nathan S Bunker

Piece of rainbow x 2

As I was driving on the west side I was chasing a piece of a beautiful neon rainbow.

A night of wonderful theatre in Tucson ~

Yes! Les Mis is playing in Tucson! And the production is wonderful with an ALL TUCSON cast. Marvelous! If you love live theatre and you want to support this all-local-talent production, please buy a ticket to this! Arizona Onstage Productions has brought this to the Berger Performing Arts Center. 

Welcome bees to your garden ~

If you would like to have some bees living in your garden, Harlow's Nursery has these wonderful hand-made bee condominiums for sale. These beautiful sculptures have holes drilled into them to make the space very inviting for bees to want to move in.

Wine tasting ~

 

This metal purple prickly pear sculpture mailbox collects the mail for a wonderful wine tasting "cellar" on Alvernon near Ft Lowell: Catavinos Wines.

Ceramic roosters = French bistro

 

 

I am happy to tell you that Le Delice has resurfaced as Cafe Francais in Plaza Palomino. I loved Le Delice (on Tanque Verde/Wrightstown in my part of town) and was very sorry it closed. Today I had lunch at Cafe Francais and learned it is owned by the former owners of Le Delice. Same delicious pastry selections! Yum!

Pancakes make everyone happy!

Mmmmm, pancakes! This ringtail who lives at the Desert Museum is helping to promote the museum's fun Pancake Breakfast. She is enjoying her own sweet potato version with yogurt topping. Sweet! How cute is this??

The breakfast will be held on Sunday, August 31 from 8:00 - 11:00 am. Go to www.desertmuseum.org for more information on this yummy event!

2nd bloom ~

I was so excited to see that my still-pretty-newly-planted pink tricocereus has produced a second bloom! On May 1 I posted its first beautiful blossom and here is the 2nd act. What is so interesting that it is quite a different color than the first bloom. Gorgeous!

Spectacular golden glow ~

Just another typical Tucson sunset! I captured this one as I was taking my dogs on their evening walk.

Bike bike rack ~

One of the most clever bike rack designs I have seen! This bike sculpture/bike rack is at Beyond Bread on Campbell. Fun!

Attitude for the weekend ~

Hope this makes you smile as you head into the weekend!

Throwback Thursday ~ TDP 5 years ago today

Here is the posting from August 7, 2009:

Godzilla Lizard Hazard ~ Unique Golf Challenge

Golfers have all sorts of challenges - their golf balls fly off into the rough, sink in water, and get buried in sand. But how would a golfer fend off a komodo dragon - with their trusty 9 iron?

This BIG stone sculpture guards the golf carts at the beautiful Ritz Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain. You may know it better as the recent host course for the Accenture Match Play Championship. Godzilla Golf indeed.

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain - http://www.ritzcarlton.com/
(520) 572-3500
Directions and more »

And about that big lizard:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/komodo-dragon.html

Last bite!

My backyard was littered with mesquite pods which I am cleaning up bit by bit. I was happy to see that this little fellow was helping my effort by eating them! Bon appetit!

Carrots?

These oddly trimmed palm trees look like giant carrots to me. What do you think?

Cart campground ~

 

This colorful collection of shopping carts on 22nd Street and Pantano Parkway almost looks like an intentional art project, don't you think?

Gentle and refreshing ~

Not all of our monsoon storms are crashing, thunderous torrents! Occasionally we get a gentle rain and that is so nice. Here is a close up of some of my garden plants with beautiful beads of rain on the leaves.

Merry Olde England in Tucson ~

When I see a mailbox like this I think of Victorian England. This charming post box is in the beautiful Sam Hughes neighborhood, a wonderful place to walk around and enjoy a piece of Tucson's history.

Hollywood in the desert ~

Perhaps a famous celebrity is driving this SUV with "Stage and Screen" license plate?  Many many movies and TV series have been filmed in Tucson, starting with the movie 'Arizona' which launched the desert film studio -Old Tucson Studios.