Tucson Tamale Company aka: The Best Food in Tucson

The Madison and Tucson flavors, with rice, beans, and tomatillo salsa. Deliciousness!Tucson has some really good Mexican food. But the best food I've eaten the entire summer has been at the Tucson Tamale Company. It is well worth the two bus rides it takes to get there. This place seriously has something for everyone: whether you are a vegan or meat-eater, or need to eat a gluten-free diet, you can find a delicious tamale that will satisfy you. To date, I have eaten at least 14 tamales. My favorites are the Tucson (grilled jalapenos mixed into the masa then stuffed with a blend of 4 cheeses) and the Madison (black beans, roasted corn, and cheese blend). You can get two (big!) tamales for $4.99. If you're ever in Tucson, seriously, go there.

4th of July Parade at Summerhaven

The entire group. We were dressed as (from left): a electrophoresis griffin with an attached glial cell, nematode, albino mouse, computer, chick embryo, plant, paramutated corn, Beaker, smooth muscle cell/Biospherian, Manduca Sexta. Couldn't you tell? :-P

Our prize for Most Original.

The PCR song...oh yes, one such thing actually does exist... Check it out on youtube if you are still curious.

Beaker! This is probably half the reason we won...

:-) What do a griffin, Manduca Sexta, paramutated corn, and Beaker all have in common? They were all members of UBRP's prize-winning parade group in Summerhaven on July 4th. We arrived on Mt. Lemmon by midday after a rousing van ride practicing the PCR song and eating cherries and coffeecake, and climbed into our costumes. We were a motley group whose costumes seemed to confuse the public (however this is understandable as most of us do readily mistake the griffins in our backyards for chickens or turkeys). We scoped out the competition of bagpipers and the Yankee Doodle group of cute children while formidibly shouting "tRNA!" and "Biology!". To make up for the lack of sparkle-covered ponies and adorable kids in our group, we handed out candy to children with winning phrases such as, "Do you like candy? See, science gives you candy. Do science." and "Science invented sitting down". We knew our message had gotten across when after the parade, a child saw our group and shouted to us, "Go science!" We were rewarded for our efforts with a blue ribbon for most original. It must have been the PCR song that clinched it... PCR, when you need to detect mutations, PCR, when you need to recombine...

Grand Canyon/Sedona/Montezuma's Castle/My parents rock

The Grand Canyon is just as breathtaking and amazing every single time.

Sunset at the canyon

:-)

Montezuma's Castle..a cliff dwelling.

Sedona...we didn't see very much of it because we decided (semi-spontaneously) to keep driving and go to the Grand Canyon. My parents came to visit about two weeks ago and we had a wonderful time!I got to give them a tour of my lab and explain what I'm working on. Over the weekend, we drove to Jerome, a ghost town with an interesting history, then headed up to Sedona. Once we got to Sedona, we decided that it would be worth it to continue driving to the Grand Canyon because we were so close anyway. That was a fantastic decision to make because it was absolutely amazing, like always. I think that even if I saw the Grand Canyon every single day, it would never cease to blow my mind.
We drove back to Jerome to spend the night, then went to Montezuma's Castle, a cliff dwelling the next morning. It was pretty neat. On our way back to Tucson, we stopped in Phoenix and had fun getting together with friends we hadn't seen in a long time. It was a really fantastic weekend and I was sad when it was time for my parents to leave.