Speed shopping in the desert: Tucson 2014

Tucson, how I love thee…

Palm Trees and Blue skies: The show at Inn Suites is always a great visit for lapidary artisans and mineral collectors.

Originally Published 3-1-2014

A Tucson 2014 haiku:

New stone was desired
Too short time; distant travels
Winter delayed me

For some reason, my area of the country has been cursed as the dumping ground for winter's fury. I was looking forward to Tucson just to get warm, but even there it was chilly. There was such a short time on the ground when I got there that I power-shopped with the cold efficiency of a leopard pouncing in from the underbrush to make a kill. Boom! Kent's Tools and the acquisition of stuff for 80 student kits was conquered in less than an hour. One thing I have learned about going to Tucson: a strict budget tied to a well-organized shopping list is king.

Sadly, this year I didn't have lots of "funny money" to spend -- it was all business for me. But, that didn't stop me from looking -- which is one of the last remaining free things left in the world. It felt great to walk around in the midday sun, check out some "new" cutting rough at Electric Park, see some interesting tools (check out my May/June Cool Tools & Hip Tips column for more on that) and catch up with my friends.

Usually, I try to find a "trend" when I get to Tucson, but this year it was too short a time to tell, so I motored through my visit list and did the best I could in the time I had. Getting an extra day because of snow didn't hurt, either, but there is never enough time it seems.

Here are some photo highlights from my adventure. Enjoy!