~ Ancient Ironwood at Sunset ~

While Seattle is dealing with an unusually snowy winter, Tucson is basking in glorious warmth, and today will be in the mid-seventies.

This sunset photo, taken at the Ironwood Picnic Area in Tucson Mountain Park, is a visual blanket to wrap around yourself as you're pouring the morning cup of coffee.

Come visit! We have great home prices, world-class real estate agents, and some of the best interest rates available since you were born.

Oh! And I forgot to mention that Tucson has the lowest gasoline prices in the nation!

...and world-class golf resorts.

...and world-class birding.

You get the idea! Good morning! Plan a visit soon.

_____________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender

NMLS #223495

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage Bank
Offices in Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista & Nogales

I don't copyright my photos. It's okay for you to use them.

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~ Looking East From Gates Pass at Sunset ~

Days are getting shorter, so I planned to be at Gates Pass for sunset. Off in the distance, the city of Tucson is painted in blue shadow, highlighted by the pink Rincon Mountains at day's end. The last rays of the setting sun paint the Tucson Mountains where I stand a deep ochre-red, and the contrast punctuates the peaceful quiet of the desert floor at the end of day. I expect an amazing sunset!

And I'm not alone in my expectation! My zoom lens captures a couple silhouetted against an amazing sky.

~ Looking West From Gates Pass at Sunset ~

Life is good! Enjoy each moment!

_____________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender

NMLS #223495

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage Bank
Offices in Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista & Nogales

I don't copyright my photos. It's okay for you to use them.

Right click on my image, copy and use it!

~ Dust Storm Sunset at Saguaro National Park TMD~

They're called Haboobs ~ rolling dust storms that suck the dirt from the face of the earth, throw it high into the atmosphere, and move it miles away before dropping it back down again.

We're not talking a dust devil or two. A haboob can move hundreds of tons of earth, and when it rolls over you, the sky becomes black as night.

I took the photo on the right last Friday afternoon at 5:00 pm, the end of the day for Saguaro National Park's Red Hills Visitor Center. You can see that the wind was whipping the flag as we lowered it.

Fifteen minutes later, I took the photo above. I had no problem pointing my camera straight into the sun.

Remember seeing cowboys in the old western movies carrying bandanas? They're still a western fashion accessory. Bandanas served a utilitarian purpose when a cowboy was caught out in the open in a dust storm--they made it possible to breathe.

There's a stretch of Interstate 10 just north of Tucson near Picacho Peak where the open desert stretches for miles to the west. Other places have tornado warnings and severe weather warnings. We have dust storm warnings, and the visibility can go from severe clear to zero in a matter of minutes when one of these storms rolls across the desert. Here's one recent story from last month:

Fatal accident closes I-10 at Picacho

_____________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender

NMLS #223495

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage Bank
Offices in Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista & Nogales

I don't copyright my photos. It's okay for you to use them.

Right click on my image, copy and use it!

~ Tucson's Most Fantastic Ice Cream! ~

Domenic and Isabella Johnson have the coolest ice cream truck I've seen in my life. What you can't see in this photo is that the top of this truck is coated with solar cells which provide the electricity that keeps the freezer and all of that scrumptious ice cream cold.

Isabella served up the cold stuff at National Geographic's Bio-Blitz, here seen in the parking lot of the Red Hills Visitor Center of Saguaro National Park West.

My favorite flavor was Isabella's 'Brazilian Coffee.' Mmm... Scrumptious!

_____________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender

NMLS #223495

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage Bank
Offices in Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista & Nogales

I don't copyright my photos. It's okay for you to use them.

Right click on my image, copy and use it!

~ HooDoos Conversing ~

Outlanders have no idea of the beauty to be found in and around the city of Tucson, Arizona. National TV is partly to blame. The weatherman shows a map of the United States, and points to the desert southwest painted red on the map, while Chicago is green. "Be glad we live in Chicago! It's 105 in Tucson today!" Here along the road to Summerhaven, the temperature will be 20 degrees cooler, and when you get to the top, you might as well be in southern Canada!

The Catalina Highway begins on the desert floor, and wends its way 26 miles through some of the most magnificent scenery and geology to be found anywhere in the United States. It's a great drive for motorcycle enthusiasts.

This pullout in a four mile stretch peopled with 'hoodoos' is one of my favorite. Don't these two put you in awe? I imagine them conversing about the human ants running up and down the highway. They were right there when the dominant society in these parts was Apache. Pretty cool, I think.

_____________________

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender

NMLS #223495

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE LLC ~ Correspondent Mortgage Bank
Offices in Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista & Nogales

I don't copyright my photos. It's okay for you to use them.

Right click on my image, copy and use it!