A Little About Me

Kelly Kruse Albertson shows you Around Tucson Arizona

So you're wondering who is writing this website, eh? Here's a little about me...

I'm Kelly Albertson. I'm a Tucson native and since I'm 40-something, that means I've lived here a few years ;) I did move away for a year to Jacksonville, FL and Herndon/Reston, VA, but other than that, I've been in Tucson.

I grew up on the northwest side of town back in the day even before Atari Pong and when we still had to get up and walk to the TV to switch between the 5 channels - ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and local KZAZ.

My friends and I spent hours upon hours outdoors. We'd ride our bicycles (without helmets!) to Sprouse Reitz variety store, Baskin-Robbins, Circle K, and Dunkin Donuts. We built forts in backyards, made bicycle ramps in the alleys (still no helmets!) and traipsed through the desert. Our desert foraging sometimes resulted in catching a horny-toad or gathering iron pyrite from a wash or flaking off mica chips from quartz rocks. We never found snakes or scorpions. Go figure.

In my 30's, I had an opportunity to move with my job to Jacksonville, Florida. I took the plunge, wanting to get away from the desert and anxious to live among "real" trees - trees, trees with leaves, tall trees with green leaves! After a few months, I had another work opportunity to move to Herndon/Reston, Virginia. Wow... more trees!

But it wasn't long before the tall, tall trees on the side of the road were stifling, even claustrophobic. I couldn't see past the trees! I couldn't see the Virginia mountains! Soon I was longing for the desert I swore I'd never return to.

I missed the smell of the desert after a rain (there is nothing that smells so good!) I missed the crunch of dirt under my shoes. I missed looking all around me and seeing mountain ranges in the distance. I missed watching thunderstorms roll in over those mountains. So I moved back.

You may be planning a vacation and wondering why you should visit Tucson. Maybe you'll be moving here and wonder where to start to get established. If you're a Tucson resident already, you may wonder what to do this weekend or want to plan a Tucson staycation.

This website is in it's infancy right now (10/2008) and is a work in progress. My aim is to provide you (the visitor, the relocator, the resident) tons of information on what to do in Tucson and around Tucson, within about an hour's drive. This site is more personal than the typical tourist site. It expresses personal opinions and experiences. You can even share your own favorite Around Tucson day trip, hiking trail, restaurant, or other attraction.

Since this site is ever-growing, you can subscribe to an RSS feed to be notified of changes to the site.

Thanks for stopping by!
Kelly Albertson

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