The 2009 U.S. Open Synchronized Swimming Championships was held in Tucson July 15 - 18, and my coworker Jenn and I had the pleasure of spending Friday afternoon at the event with Aimee and Ellen, two gals that swim for Tucson Synchro. Aimee and Ellen had Friday off (the older gals were competing that day), so they happily agreed to let Jenn and I experience what it's like to be a real synchronized swimmers for the day - all done up and learning synchro moves! Let me begin by noting that the last time I put on a one-piece swimsuit and tried to do anything athletic in the water was when I was on swim team when I was 10 years old. So, needless to say, I was a little worried about how I would do.

We showed up at the University of Arizona Recreation Center Olympic-sized pool (which I didn't even know existed!), put on our swimsuits, and sat down for Aimee and Ellen to work their magic. (We couldn't learn the moves without looking the part!) They started with purple eye liner, blue eye shadow, hot pink blush, and pink lipstick. They pulled our hair back into tight buns, and then the fun with the Knox (clear Jello-like substance) began. They were right, when Knox gelatin is mixed with hot water, it smells a tad like a wet dog. The Knox is the secret to keeping their hair hard and in place, even under water. We got to try on the beaded head pieces too, which are part of their uniforms, and can be quite expensive to purchase. They informed us one of their team members mom's makes the swimsuits and headpieces to save the team money (the decorated suits can cost up to $2,000 pre-made!).

After we were all done up, we headed into the pool. Here's a video of some of the fun:

My "takeaways" from our synchro lesson:

• Synchronized swimming might possibly be the hardest sport I have ever attempted to play. It's like gymnastics, but there is no floor to hold your weight, just your water-treading legs.
• The "Pinwheel" move is hard ... and it's a move these girls learned when they were just starting out!
• You better wear your nose clip. A shot of water up the nose is NOT fun.
• Egg beater legs (the movement they make with their legs to keep their heads above water) is really, really hard. I couldn't even maneuver it correctly holding on to the side of the pool!
• There are underwater speakers playing the same music as above the water to help the ladies keep their rhythm. I would have never thought of that!
• Some moves Aimee and Ellen taught us that I didn't even come close to being able to do: the oyster, backwards summersault.
• If I'm ever physically fit enough to balance a 120 pound person on my leg and fling them three feet in the air, it'll be a good day.

Thanks Aimee and Ellen for showing us what it is like to be you for a day! I'm definitely going to try to WATCH more synchronized swimming, but I don't think I'm physically cut out for the sport!

The second time I've ever picked up a shotgun was this past weekend at Tucson Trap & Skeet Club. My friend Kristin convinced me to go skeet shooting with her for the day (a recent hobby she's picked up). We took our husbands out there too, convinced we could shoot better than they could. The drive there was surprisingly short, about 20 minutes from downtown, even though it sits outside of the city limits. The range is tucked away and barely noticeable from the road, even though it sits on 80 acres of land (apparently one of the largest facilities in the country)!

When we first arrived, I met Al, a Tucson resident who's been shooting skeet/sporting clays/trap for more than 25 years. He's a family friend of Kristin's, so he gave us a private lesson. Feeling very brave, we challenged the guys to a round of skeet (25 shells are shot per person in one round). It was neat learning about the sport, as I'd never been around anyone that has shot competitively. Al warned the guys that women tend to pick up the game more easily than men, so that gave me the courage. I came in first place in our first round with 12/25 clays shot!

After I decided to quit while I was ahead, I talked to Al for a bit about his history with shooting. When he can sneak away from managing his roofing business, he travels around the country taking part in shooting competitions. He really loves the sport. He did say that the Tucson Trap & Skeet Club is one of the best he's come across in the country, especially the club house restaurant (the same one I'd heard two other folks out there talking about earlier in the day). He said he likes how accommodating they are of groups out there, and that they book private groups and teach them shooting techniques, allow them to show off their skills with the rented shotguns, and then send them on their way for the day.

It was definitely an experience I'd recommend to anyone feeling like trying a new sport for the day!

On top of their normal hours, Tucson Trap & Skeet Club is open in the early mornings and some evenings too. Make sure to check out their website before you head out there.

Even though I've lived in Tucson my entire life, I had never been to the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, but I've seen his famous paintings scattered throughout Tucson. My parents even have a few prints hanging in their living room.

I finally took a trip out there a few weeks ago, and it was nothing like I anticipated. I think I expected the typical (and somewhat boring) gallery where you hurriedly walk around looking at paintings hung on plain white walls, then quickly look through a gift shop, and head home. First, DeGrazia's gallery is unique because he built it by HAND with a few of his friends almost half a century ago. He literally made the adobe bricks with desert soil mixed with water that then baked in the hot Arizona sun. Second, rotating exhibitions display some of the 15,000 originals DeGrazia housed at the gallery. We even got to see one New York scene painting that had never before been seen by the public prior to this current exhibition, DeGrazia: 100 Years, 100 Works.

One neat thing about the building is that you enter the gallery through this huge, unique (and quite heavy) iron door, which DeGrazia built as a replica of the Territorial Yuma prison gate. As you begin walking through the gallery, you notice all of the little ways DeGrazia left his mark on the building - various hand prints in the walls, added art carved into the walls by both DeGrazia and his wife (New York sculptor Marion Sheret), and even the flooring itself is unique! DeGrazia used the skeletons of Arizona cacti to create the floor - that in and of itself was one of my favorite pieces of "art" from the entire tour.

The art on display is amazing. It's interesting to look at all of the different ways DeGrazia painted throughout his life. Not one typical piece of art hung in that gallery. Just when you think you've seen all that one man could have created in his life, you move on to another room, and another, and another ...

After seeing all of his great works inside the gallery, our guide took us out to DeGrazia's original home built on the property, which - you guessed it - he built by hand for him and his wife to live in. On the way to the house, you see DeGrazia's art on the outside of the building as well, in the form of sculptures, outdoor murals, and even flowers made out of beer cans! And, of course, we went into his Mission in the Sun, the adobe mission DeGrazia built in honor of Padre Kino and dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. The paintings on the wall of this open-air building are incredible! Check out the pictures:
 
DeGrazia led such an interesting life, and it's portrayed in all of his beautiful art (which includes the building itself in my eyes!). His gallery is a definite must-see for all of you art lovers.

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun
6300 N. Swan Road
(520) 299-9191
Admission: FREE!
http://degrazia.org  

We surprised the first recipients of our Tucson Will Surprise You campaign prizes a couple weekends ago at Tucson's Westin La Paloma Resort. The first prize package went to Joe from Scottsdale, Arizona. He was in Tucson for a golf getaway with is three buddies (a "mancation" as we like to call it, since they left their wives at home). We surprised him with $150 cash, a bag full of Tucson goodies (golf balls, golf tees, t-shirts, a Tucson Attractions Passport, etc.), and – thanks to Mark Lindsey (La Paloma's director of sales and marketing) – we were also able to give him a free night's stay at the resort for the next time he plans to visit Tucson.
 
Watch the video: 


 
Our second surprise package was given to Brian and his family from Gilbert, Arizona. I have to say, their kids might have been the cutest kids I've ever seen! 
 
After the two big surprises, we handed out Tucson's own Eegee's frozen fruit drinks, Southern Arizona Attractions Passports, t-shirts, visors, and other fun goodies by the pool. Watch out for us the next time you're in Tucson! We'll be giving out random surprises all summer at various hotels, attractions, etc. Increase your chances of being surprised by entering on our www.tucsonwillsupriseyou.com landing page. 
 

Tight budgets shouldn't stop anyone from having fun in Tucson! We just found this great local blog, http://tucsononthecheap.com, in which the writers post new bargains and freebies daily, including family fun, attractions, hotels, restaurants and bars. They call it "Tucson On The Cheap: The Cheapskate's Guide to Fun in Tucson," but I call it "Search for spare change in your couch and get out and do something!"

For example, today's post reads:

Monsoon Mondays at the Tucson Children's Museum

The Tucson Children's Museum has a GREAT deal for the kiddies. It's called Monsoon Monday Nights, and the deal is that everyone is admitted to the museum for $1 on Monday evenings. Details below. Typically, kids up through about the age of ten love going to this museum. They always have cool stuff going on.

Where: Tucson Children's Museum, 200 S. 6th Avenue Tucson, 85701 (520) 792-9985.
When: Monday evenings from Memorial Day, 2009-Labor Day, 2009. 5:00PM - 8:00 PM.
How much: $1 admission

Check it out!

My husband makes "his" famous sweet potato quesadillas almost every time we have friends over. They are absolutely delicious! It wasn't until he'd made them about six or seven times that I caught him thumbing through the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum‘s Dining with the Desert Museum cookbook! Turns out, he'd gotten the recipe from the cookbook and was trying to pass them off as his genius idea! 

I asked him once for the recipe to give to a friend, and he was very hesitant to give away his secrets. But, because the recipe is in a cookbook, and I finally found this out, Ben gave me "permission" to print the recipe for all to see (even though he really didn't want to share it!).

Here it is:

1 medium red onion, diced
3 to 5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 to 3 jalapeno peppers, chopped (depending on how you want it)
2 to 3 medium sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
Olive oil
Large flour tortillas (best if you use the "real" flour tortillas you can buy in Tucson at any of our local Mexican restaurants. I vote for Tanya's, but everyone here has their favorites!)
1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese

Sauté onion, garlic, and peppers until onions are translucent. While sautéing, peel and grate sweet potatoes. Add sweet potatoes to the sauté. Add spices and continue sautéing until the potatoes just begin to soften (they cook quickly). Remove from heat. Heat a frying pan and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Warm tortillas over a flame (gas burner) to make them soft and pliable. Put about ½ cup sweet potato mixture on one side of the tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese and fold tortilla over (in half). Fry in pan until brown and crisp on both sides.

Can be served with sour cream and guacamole, but we like it with home made salsa. Wait, we like it with Ben's home made salsa ... I better thumb through Dining with the Desert Museum to see if he stole his famous recipe from there too!