Tucson, AZ (2/24/2019)

As promised, here are some of the houses in the original downtown area of Tucson, which I call "Old Town".  No way for me to determine when each house was built or when each may have been restored.  Some probably date back to the 1800s, but I don't know if any go back to around the time Tucson was first settled in 1775.  Note that some residences in the area are pretty dilapidated, so no photos of them.  Of the ones I'll show, some are clearly better maintained (at least the exterior) than others, so I assume the interiors have been well cared for.

What I enjoy about these homes is the variety of color, and especially the color combinations.  Doors and windows are the most interesting to me because of the vivid colors.

The owner of this home apparently decided to leave some of the structural adobe exposed, rather than apply new stucco.

This craftsmen style home was restored and is now a doctor's office.  It still looks out of place to me.

This charming house has a tile plaque by the door identifying it as "La Casa Lila", which enabled me to Google and find that its owner is a photographer named Dave Peterman.  Interestingly enough, he has among his on-line galleries a collection of colorful windows and doors from his neighborhood, none of which I found.  If I had more time here, I'd like to return and seek out those he captured.

Like many towns, Tucson has quite a few murals scattered about.  I only photographed a few, mainly because it would require a lot of effort to park and walk back to so many different ones.  These I was able to photograph from the LRJ by stopping briefly while no one was behind me.  An Apache warrior (Geronimo?) is clearly symbolic of this area's history, but I have no clue as to the significance of the second image.

Another place that caught my eye in Old Town is known as El Tiradito, or The Wishing Shrine.  Its legend involves a man who fell in love with his mother-in-law and was killed by her husband.  Because of his sinful ways, the man's body was left to rot.  However, the mother-in-law felt such remorse, she buried the body and built a shrine over it.  It is now believed if you light a candle and make a wish, the wish will come true only if the candle remains burning all night.

A little outside the downtown area, El Conquistador Water Tower is part of Tucson lore.  Built in 1928 to supply water to a new neighborhood, it was enhanced in 1932 by using chicken wire and stucco to hide the original structure.  Although it no longer functions, it is on the National Register of Historic Places, so must be preserved.  The city restored it again in 1994.  Although you can't tell from this photo, the weather vane on top depicts a miner and his burro.

While driving around town, I encountered an old Ford Model T that was impressively restored.  While I didn't ask the year, it appears to be an early model that started rolling off the assembly line in 1908.

Tucson has a great many parks-- city, county, state, national and some private.  I try to visit new ones each time I'm in town.  One that I enjoyed this trip was Fort Lowell Park, which has a duck pond, remains of the original fort and, of course, playground equipment.

The fort, built in 1873, housed four companies of cavalry and infantry.  It was one of twelve large military posts in Arizona during the late 1800s, the final years of the Apache wars.  Protected now by a shelter, this was a thirteen-room hospital that could accommodate sixteen patients.  The structure behind it was a kitchen building.  Back then, the adobe was covered with white stucco.

Like many similar ponds, this one is like a "hippie commune" where free love reigns.  Consequently, interbreeding between different species produces some exotic looking offspring that are usually infertile.  They are often ostracized by members of the pure breeds, so they hang out in their own groups.

The pond also has a few "thoroughbreds" who are probably responsible for the hybrids.  

American Wigeon

Ring-necked Duck

Anyone who has traveled the Southwest has no doubt noticed the decorative touches applied to freeways and overpasses.  I certainly appreciate the beauty seen on many of the highways, but can't always photograph them because of traffic.  However, this overpass has some nice artwork depicting nearby mountains and the Santa Cruz river located a short distance west of I-10.  I have to say, I've never seen much water in the big ditch, even after the downpour last week, there are minimal puddles within the river's banks.