THE TOWN BETWEEN THE TRACKS

While working at the Grand Canyon this summer, we decided to move from Lake Havasu City, to Tucson.  The basis for that decision wasn't that we don't like where we've lived for the past 10 years, conversely, it was that we wanted to be closer to Marc, Chandra, and Laila. 

When we started looking for  a new place to live, we focused on the southeast area, which included the small community of Vail.  We're about 20 miles from downtown Tucson, and about 15 minutes away from where Marc, Chandra, and Laila live.  We're still in the desert, but the elevation is a little over 3,000 feet, so our summers will be a little cooler, and so will the winters.

When we found the property that we ended up buying, it was only about a mile and a half from what is considered downtown Vail.  When you think of "downtown", the business area of Vail isn't very big.  There's only about a dozen businesses, including the post office.  No banks, no grocery stores, no WalMarts!  It's about a 6 mile drive to the nearest large grocery store.  The original town was built between the Southern Pacific tracks, and owed it's origin to the railroad, which arrived in the area in 1880.   

When Patty and I made a quick trip to the Post Office yesterday, we stopped across the street at the original Post Office building, pictured above.  The structure is in such bad shape, that someone has placed a large tarp over the top to keep out the water.  There is an effort to restore and maintain this historic building, but it doesn't look like much progress has been made.   

If someone doesn't like trains, living where we do, might just be a bit problematic.  Our little community of manufactured homes on acreage, is the only development, other than a few businesses, between the railroad tracks.  From our back deck, we see the mostly eastbound trains pass by, and they are about a 1/4 mile away.  We can't see the westbound tracks.  The town between the tracks is our new home, and watching trains pass by in our backyard isn't something that bothers me, even a little bit!