Tucson, AZ: First Impressions

I left Drake’s house in Las Cruces around noon on a Saturday and arrived at my digs for the next three nights about 5:00 p.m.

Unremarkable trip.

A couple of beautiful vistas along the way.

My first impression of Tucson, in the eastern outskirts: lukewarm.

The typical industrial-ish, then suburban-ish generica.

However, almost as soon as I crossed into an area called “South Tucson,” I saw signs of personality, with:

1. A rusting-in-place, big ol’ back-in-the-day neon sign for a defunct hotel or restaurant on one side;
2. Attractive roadside landscaping that included the majestic saguaro cactus of the Sonora Desert; and 
3. On the side of the highway opposite to the big ol' sign, an immense, shining, warm-yellow or coral adobe building complex that turned my head. An Important Structure of unknown purpose.

But this was the coolest thing I saw:

Interstate dinosaur, Tucson, Arizona. March 2019.

Interstate dinosaur, Tucson, Arizona. March 2019.