Today had a couple of hiccups that cut the drive short but was very enjoyable nonetheless.<\/p>\n
Several days ago a former student of mine, Raphael (class of 2014), who still follows my blog noticed I was heading his way and suggested we meet up in Tucson. Raphael was always interested in math and physics and, along with working on his PhD in astrophysics, is now part of the James Webb Space Telescope team at the University of Arizona. This team developed one of the telescope’s sensors, NIRCam, for detecting “first light” in the universe soon after the Big Bang and Rapheal will be analyzing data from the sensor when it is operational, We got together for coffee this morning and chatted about his work and research, other former students that I taught, living in Tucson and a myriad of other topics. It was a most enjoyable start to the day.<\/p>\n
I then left Tucson for a drive along the Mt. Lemmon scenic byway northeast of Tucson. This is a spectacular drive but I only saw about half of it because clouds rolled in and the views were obscured above 6,500 feet so I turned around. I have included a couple of photos below, however, the road video shows the nature of the drive far better and is well worth a click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The day had started with cloudless blue skies so I had not planned any other stops since the full Mt. Lemmon experience would have filled the day. However, I knew that Casa Grande Ruins National Monument was close to my route to Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix. so I made an on-the-fly decision to add that to the itinerary. Unfortunately, since covid, the National Park Service has decided to close the park on Sundays and Mondays – something I never imagined would happen as it is an outdoor site. Thus I arrived in Chandler early having experienced a very enjoyable day that, with a little luck, would have been even better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March 21, 2022 Map and Mt. Lemmon scenic byway road video Today had a couple of hiccups that cut the drive short but was very enjoyable nonetheless. Several days ago a former student of mine, Raphael (class of 2014), who still follows my blog noticed I was heading his way and suggested we meet up … Continue reading First real scenic drive of the trip<\/span> ![\"Mt](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Mt-Lemmon-view.jpg\")
There are many viewpoints and parking areas along the byway. This is the view from one of the lower vistas.<\/p>\n![\"Mt](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Mt-Lemmon-Road.jpg\")
The road clings to the side of the mountain and passes through deep canyons offering spectacular views all the way.<\/p>\n