Arriving in Tucson

We were excited to get underway for our trip to the Southwest.  Seeing temperatures of 8 degrees on our outdoor thermometer made us even more anxious to get to southern Arizona.  We finished closing the house out to be away by turning the whole house water off, as well as the water heaters, router and unplugging major electronics.  We were out the door and on the road before 7 am.  We learned that Mark & Cindy would arrive in Mesa at 6:30 on Tuesday.  The ice in Eugene and Portland cancelled all of the flights to and from Western Oregon airports on Monday.

It took about two and half hours to get to Cincinnati on the AA Highway.  We stopped at the Cincinnati Museum Center to pick up our renewed membership cards.  The museum membership will get us free or discounted admission to many museums in Arizona.  We were at Sarah’s house before 10:30 and enjoyed an hour of playing cars with Peter.  We read a couple of books and had a nice lunch of Sarah’s chicken corn soup.  We delivered their Christmas presents that we had been holding for them and most of Sarah & Greg’s birthday presents. We left their house at noon to drive to the airport.

There wasn’t much traffic at that time of day so we arrived at the parking area around 12:20.  We are trying a discounted parking service at the Hilton Hotel in Florence, Kentucky.  They offer airport parking including a shuttle to and from the terminal for $3 per day.  We even found an online coupon bringing cost down a little.  The service is called OneStopParking.  We parked at the hotel then waited for the shuttle which runs every half hour.  Boarding at 12:30 put us at the terminal by 12:50 or so.  Checking in with Allegiant was quick and easy.  We were a little concerned about our bag’s weight but it turned out to weigh two pounds under the 40 pound limit.  Our TSA PreCheck status let us go through security quickly and easily. 

The flight from Cincinnati to Tucson boarded on time and appeared to be completely full.  When we were preparing to push back from the gate the captain came on the speaker informing us that departure would be delayed because “there are some screws loose in the right engine”.  One of my seatmates commented that his announcement wasn’t exactly comforting.  The repair and accompanying reports took a little over 30 minutes and we were underway.  Mary was seated in the row behind me because Allegiant charges a fee to choose seats together.  I enjoyed chatting with the two fellows in my row.  One was a young man who had recently relocated from Columbus, Ohio back to Phoenix where his family lives.  He told me that his grandparents came to Tucson in the 1940s from Red Jacket and Matewan, West Virginia.  The other man was a transplant to Phoenix from Kentucky over 12 years ago.  He runs the table games at one of the Native casinos in the Phoenix area.  Both were interesting people and made the four hour flight go faster.

At the Phoenix airport Mary waited on our checked bag while I picked up the rental car.  I was glad to get a new Camry.  Although black didn’t seem to be the best choice for the desert climate we were glad to have a nice car for the week. I returned to baggage claim so Mary could contact to the B&B owner to let her know our timetable.  It took about two hours to get from the airport in Mesa to our B&B including a stop at a fast food drive through. 

We were met at Copper Casa by the owner, Laurie, at 7:30.  She was very pleasant and showed us everything that we might need to know.  The house is a tastefully decorated three bedroom, two bathroom home in a quiet Tucson neighborhood that is not far from connections to the highway and many attractions that we plan to visit.  The house is well equipped with linens, dishes, cookware and anything we might need for our stay.  Laurie even provided home-baked bread and a bowl of eggs from “her girls.” We tried to stay up by watching television but went to bed a little after 9 pm.  Since it was 11 pm back at home, our bodies were telling us that is was time for bed. This was our first stay at an AirB&B rental but everything seems great.

We will plan a outing for Tuesday that will put us in Mesa by 6:30 to pick up Mark & Cindy.  The weather here is forecast in the mid 70s so we are looking forward to the day.