Mouse really likes these tin stars they hang everywhere in Tucson. They light them up as the sun sets. Some of them have glass covering the holes in the tin, and those ones make light in all different colors. Next time we trot down to Nogales, I might pick one up.

The margaritas there at the bottom weren't so shabby, either.

Mouse would just like to note that covering armless saguaro cacti with twinkle lights does not make them any less suggestive. Okay, fancy-schmancy Tucson resort? We went up there for dinner and it was like a twinkly forest of...um...yeah. 

Mouse found herself in a teeny, dusty museum in Nogales, AZ, and became entranced by all these old matchbooks. Don't you like that train with the umbrella up top? Also a neat tree. Matchbooks are so much nicer than lighters.*

*Except this one lighter I saw in an Arkansas gas station once, which was a pig, and when you pressed the button flame came out of both of his nostrils.

Look out if you're hungry right now. There are going to be chilaquiles in a minute. Consider yourself forewarned.

Mouse and Boyfriend stayed at a very cute B&B in very un-cute Nogales, Arizona. It had what can only be described as the greenest effing grass I have ever seen, anywhere. This photo is not enhanced in any way--it actually is that color. It looks like my tiny niece colored the yard with her brightest green crayon. The house itself, Fridas Inn, was built in 1921. It's a mansion full of old stuff. No doilies, although there was some seriously weird elevator music that played in the living room most of the time. But the B&B has the perfect balance of comfort and absence of irritating-and-nosy-matronly-innkeeper-type person. The woman gave us the key and then we literally never saw her again. It was grand.

For lunch, we went across the line to La Roca, which, as the name implies, is built into a rock face in Nogales, Sonora. It's way touristy and must have been the classiest thing ever in, say, 1961. The waiters wear white socks with their black suit uniforms. The menus are giant easels which they set up by your table and then take away. It's pretty cute. Which is to say nothing of the food, which is making me hungry again right now just thinking about it...Boyfriend had enmoladas [enchiladas in mole, above] and Mouse had chilaquiles [below]. Mmmmmm.

We have very few functional arteries left, but it was worth it.

Boyfriend and Mouse liked the glasses in Nogales. They're hand-blown and imperfect and brightly colored. They're thick, but slightly uneven, and they sit at different heights. We like the irregularity. We chose a set with cerulean rims, and a matching pitcher. Now when you come over for margaritas, I can serve them out of something better than plastic cups.
Also, despite the apparent promise of yesterday's post, I didn't so much buy boots as take photos of them. But look, you can see a whole alligator skin up there on the wall. Mouse finds this simultaneously icky and intriguing. Also, if you need some neon green cowboy boots, I can tell you the spot.

Back in Tucson now. More soon. xo

The highlight of my day:
An excellent dinosaur in Benson, AZ (we think). See how from this angle he looks a little bit like a pelican?

So, really it should take about three seconds to drive from Tucson to Nogales, since they make freeways pretty damn straight out here in the desert and set the speed limit at 75. But we decided to take "unimproved forest roads" along the border. We thought this would be very interesting and cultural and whatever.* Let me just tell you, it pretty much rattled Mouse's teeth out. Here's the sign at the beginning of the route:
And then they looked around and upgraded us from "dirt" to "bump bump bump, ow."
Mouse wished for her sports bra today, friends. But at the end, there was a chimichanga with green chile, so hurray. Also, we did some excellent doohicky shopping on the other side of the border in Nogales, and I'll share photos of that tomorrow. (THERE ARE BOOTS.)

Okay, Mouse is loopy and is sending herself to bed. Ta ta.

*From there, the border really just looks like a fence. 

First stop on the epic road trip, as I mentioned, is Tucson, Arizona. Home of Boyfriend's sweet little granny's grapefruit tree.
The tree is more than thirty years old, and, as granny likes to tell us proudly, all the fruit is organic since all she does is water it with her garden hose every once in awhile. By the way, grapefruit flowers have a lovely sweet scent, too, although not so powerful as our orange trees.

I would really like to own a thirty-year-old tree in my lifetime, and know that I nurtured it from seedling to a fruit-bearing giant. That would be quite a feeling.

The grapefruits are delicious.

Tucson also has lots of airplanes. Don't these airplanes look sort of mismatched? They have a big Air Force base here, but I think they roll out the biplanes just for fun. If you're into that sort of thing, there's an amazing airplane museum, too.
Tomorrow we're taking a day trip to Nogales, so stay tuned for documentation of scenery and whatever. Oh, and kitschy touristy stuff (Mouse is a sucker for it). Happy Monday if I don't see you.

P.S. Did you know that in Tucson Target, you can buy SPF 90+ sunscreen? Mouse is ecstatic!*

* Mouse sunburns like you would not believe. I mean, really.