I’m back in the southwest, Tucson, Arizona to be specific.  I am here for work for a few days, but I had a chance this afternoon to drive around a little before checking in to my hotel and meeting up with people for dinner.

Tucson isn’t a lot different from the Phoenix area, except with a lot less sprawl.  There seem to be a lot of gated communities here too, at least there were where I was trying to go.  I have to admit, for private security, they are pretty dedicated.

The flight in was pretty, very different than flying in to the Phoenix area.  The picture below was taken from the plane window at about 20,000 feet.  The landscape is even more barren, and noticeably sculpted by flowing water, even if there are no signs of it currently.  

In Tucson there are still mountains, not as many but they seem to be more dramatic with steeper visible cliff faces.  The picture below was taken from a strip mall parking lot.  Seriously.  People pay millions of dollars to live near views like this in many places, but here all you have to do is run into Pets Smart for some kibble.  

Its times like this, being around all the natural beauty, even with the shocking lack of green, that I appreciate the geographic diversity of our country and feel compelled to see as much of it as possible.