Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Spring 2013 - (Page 64)

FA M I LY T R AV E L DESERT HEARTS JUST OUTSIDE OF TUCSON LIES A FAMILY-FRIENDLY OASIS. SHOSHANA BERGER BRINGS THE BROOD PH OTOGRAPHS BY TONY SAXE T AH, WILDERNESS Clockwise from top left: Cleo and Judah in their bedroom tent; the family says “hi” just outside their casita; Cleo lassoing the bull head. 64 W W W. R I T Z C A R LT O N . C O M The stewardess winces a little, saying we may have chosen the coldest weekend of the year to visit Tucson. I turn to my husband and say, “Isn’t Arizona supposed to be the Florida of the West?” He shakes his head, worried it will be too chilly for any of the adventures we’ve planned. We’re wimpy Californians. Forty degrees in our foggy, single-paned hometown can feel like Siberia. But when we touch down, the desert air is sunny and inviting. We hop in a cab and head northwest through Tucson. As we climb into the foothills, Cleo, our 6-year-old daughter, and Judah, our 5-year-old son, watch the city give way to a stark lunar landscape. Noses pressed to the windows, they point to the prickly pear and towering saguaro cactuses that dot this scrubby frontier. Mesquite and ironwood trees offer the only shade under a sky so blue, it looks electric. There’s a hyperreal quality to this place, as if we’ve just landed on the dusty set of a Peckinpah movie. Forty minutes later, we pass the first sign for Dove Mountain, a Ritz-Carlton resort with a main hotel, a casita village, five restaurants and lounges, a spa, tennis courts and a golf course. “Here we are!” I say, expecting to see the hotel rise up like a monolith. But it’s another mile before it comes into view. The complex is designed to blend organically into 850 acres of Sonoran Desert — and it does. After we check in, just past noon, we’d happily walk the short distance to our suite, but succumb instead to Gustavo, our golf-cart driver, who takes us up the hill to the casita village. Passing one of three outdoor swimming pools, he points out a 235-foot water slide built into a rocky slope. Cleo squeals with delight, imagining the thrill ride in her future. The first thing Tony and I notice when we enter our casita: the airy, dramatic views of the Tortolita Mountains and the Wild Burro Canyon. The first thing the kids notice: the in-room camping service. “Dad, you’re not going to http://WWW.RITZCARLTON.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Spring 2013

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Spring 2013
Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President’s Letter
Falling in Love With ... Los Angeles
Design
Technology
On the Boulevards
Shopping
Jewelry
Watches
Family
Local Knowledge
Sports
Abu Dhabi
Seoul
Fashion
Culinary
Let Us Stay With You
Heritage

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Spring 2013

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