A quiet day. I didn't do a lot, and I didn't meet many people. The morning was spent at the hotel -- resting my eye and writing. The work by Dr. Miller and the medication were definitely helping as my eye felt much better.

I headed for downtown Tucson a little before noon. I found Cafe Poca Cosa, a highly-regarded Mexican restaurant. Yvonne was my waitress, and she recommended the Chef's Special -- an assortment of three entrees. All were very good, though much fancier Mexican food than I was used to. The hot sauce was great -- probably the best I have ever had, and the quantity of food served was most impressive. The place was packed. I met Heather standing in line waiting for a table. She said the best thing about Tucson was the downtown area.

After lunch, I followed Heather's advice and walked around downtown. I saw a beautiful church, a great old theatre that is being restored, and some nice murals. Downtown Tucson was very clean, but I passed a lot of empty storefronts. Since several people told me downtown Tucson was cool; I'm sure it was, but I didn't stumble upon the cool part.

I did meet some heavily-tattooed dudes who were skateboarding. Two punk rock bands passing through on the way to a gig in San Diego. I'd not normally strike up a conversation with young guys with tattoos and rings in various body parts, and they'd probably not normally talk with a gray-haired guy wearing Rockport Walkers and beads, but the three I spoke with were very nice.

From downtown, I headed to Miracle Mile. This is an area that is home to all of the old motels built in the 40's and 50's. A significant number still exist, and I took photos of the great old signs. While the sign was poor, I loved seeing the "No-Tel Motel." The Sahara appears to be undergoing a complete restoration. I applauded that, needless to say. I ran across a couple of rough-looking guys as I found myself in a dead-end alley when I pulled off to take two photos.

I saw an extremely interesting woman near the Pueblo Hotel and Apartments. She was all draped in layers of clothes (on an always-hot Tucson day), wearing sunglasses, and a scarf wrapped over her hair and most of her face. Her shoes were silver and gold slippers and didn't look to be a street person's shoes. She wore bold-striped socks. She was carrying a shopping bag, but again, it didn't appear to be a street person's bag. She had on earphones -- not sure if she was listening to something or simply using them to cover her ears. I'd love to know the story there, but I didn't feel comfortable approaching her. She might have been a well-dressed street person, but she could just as easily have been an eccentric movie star. I'm bettin' on movie star.

I don't feel nearly as comfortable in Tucson as I have felt in the small towns. There are a lot of street people, and the drivers were the worst I had thus far encountered. I got honked at repeatedly for driving the speed limit. Very annoying.

The highlight of the day was the miles and miles of old airplanes at the Davis Monithan Airfield. Grady Harrell, our daughter's father-in-law, told me not to miss it. It's unbelievable -- airplanes for as far as you can see. Great, old airplanes of all types. It is the world's largest airplane graveyard. It's always good to see that there's a place for old stuff.

I didn't chase the sun today. I know the sunset would have been outstanding from Mount Lemmon, the big ski area outside Tucson, but I still had a lot of writing to do.

Tucson is a really nice place. I'd been here several times before, so I'd seen most of the sights. I am sorry I didn't get out to see them again so I could photograph them to share. I have loved visiting Old Tucson, the site of many of the great old western movies. Sadly, much of it was destroyed by fire, and while it has been rebuilt, I understand it's just not the same. It's bad enough when great old buildings and other stuff gets destroyed by neglect or "progress," but to lose these treasures by fire, flood, hurricane, and the like is especially sad.

After the huge lunch, I wasn't at all hungry at dinner time. But I had to see Little Anthony's Diner, so I went for a late pie about 10 pm. The HamburgerMobile had caught my eye. The whole place had been really well done by local entrepreneur Tony Terry. I had Mud Pie, but the highlight at Little Anthony's was the people who work there. Brooklyn, the hostess, was very nice, and when she heard about the trip, she called out to one of the waiters, and the next thing I knew, there were four young people seated with me -- Brooklyn, Kyle, Greg, and Dawn. We just talked, and laughed, and told stories for an hour or so. They are all proud of where they work and who they work for. I didn't meet Tony Terry, but I like him. He's a very sharp entrepreneur. He does things with creativity, and he obviously attracts great people.

The kids asked me what the lesson of the day was, and I told them I hadn't decided yet. I guess my primary thought today is quit the honking! We'd all be better off if we weren't in such a hurry.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we've been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we've seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this web site. Other pages of interest include the running report of "vital statistics" on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you'd like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest and the full itinerary is shown.