Chiricahua National Monument

Thursday, Feb 16 we left Tombstone rather early and vaguely had the notion to go to a National Monument further East that we found on the Arizona state map.

We went back North to I-10, drove East a while and then headed 35 miles South of Wilcox, Az across the desert to Chiricahua (Chi-cow-wah) National Monument, not having any idea what to expect.

Well, once again, we've stumbled into another beautiful place.

Chiricahua NM is an isolated mountain range rising above the surrounding grassland.  The Chiricahua Apache Indians called the area "standing up rocks".  These originated with volcanos 27 million years ago that spewed ash over the area.  These superheated ash particles melted together, forming layers of rock.  Cooling and subsequent uplifting of the area created joints and cracks in the rocks.  Millions of years of weathering by ice and erosion by water washed away weaker material leaving behind an endless variety of spires, balanced rocks and beautiful formations.

The rock formations are beautiful

Some of the rocks and formations seem to teeter on the edge of falling any minute. 

We went on a narrated tour of the Faraway Ranch and Stafford Cabin, who were the owners of a large part of the park.  They sold it all to the National Park Service in 1978 and is being preserved as an example of a homestead that started in the 1880's.  For years, it was a dude ranch and the owners were largely responsible for interesting the Park Service in preserving this for future generations.  The tour was an interesting insight into the lifestyles of the pioneers.

An interesting picture.  Mimi took this looking down into the reflection of the water at the bottom of a 80 foot deep well

Tour of the Faraway Ranch

The campground in the park could not accommodate our motorhome, especially pulling the car.  We talked to the Rangers and they said we could park just outside the park near their entry sign.  We're only a hundred feet from the gate into the park.

Our campsite just outside the entry to the park.

There's not a light visible anywhere, and not another soul in sight.  It is probably the most beautiful and most unique spot we have ever spent the night.

 A view of the valley from the Chiricahua Mountains

As we were leaving Friday morning, this is what had happened in the mountains we were in.  It had rained most of the night where we parked, but just a couple hundred feet above us, it was all snow.

Tombstone Arizona

Wed Feb 15 we finally broke the ties with Davis Monthan AFB and drove about 1 1/2 hours to Tombstone, Az.

We kind of expected a hyped up tourist town, and that's pretty much what it is.  It's interesting, and they've done a good job of maintaining their history and folklore.  But it seems to have gotten its notoriety from a the names of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and it's current fame from the movie of the same name "Tombstone" (which we purchased in a gift shop and plan to watch tonight).

There are about 3 blocks of a main street with one block either side that are the tourist attractions.

Our first stop was for lunch at "Big Nose Kate's Saloon and Restaurant", which was quite a novelty.  The whole restaurant seems to be a museum, with some rather unusual artwork on the walls, which can't be shown on the blog because I hope the Grandchildren are reading this.



The main street is closed off from traffic and the only conveyence is stage coach.

Some of the street names are interesting.

We are staying in Stampede RV Park just a couple of blocks from the center of town.  It seems we've gone from a 5 star hotel last night to a 1 star hotel tonight.  It's only redeeming grace is its proximity to town.  We won't be staying a second night here (and probably not in Tombstone - one day is probably enough).

Mimi gives this RV park a thumbs down.

Leaving Tucson

Tues, Feb 14 - Happy Valentines Day.  Today was mostly preparations to leave.  I've modified the tow hitch on the car so we can now (hopefully) carry the bikes on the back of the car, rather than on the back of the RV where they are always in the way anytime we need to check the engine or go on the roof.

I've tried to come up with a way to keep the spare tire for the dolly on the dolly, but we also have to keep the ramps on the dolly to get the car on the dolly and there isn't room for the tire.  So it sits in the back of the car.  Not ideal, but the best we can do for now.  The back of the car seemingly is getting fuller all the time with little purchases here and there.  By the time we park the RV and head back to NC, it will probably be packed tight.

We arrived here at Davis Monthan AFB Jan 26 and have enjoyed every moment.  The first couple of days, we had Kent and Betty Meyer to show us around, but since then we've been on our own.  I think we have seen or visited about every attraction of interest to us now, and we've enjoyed them all. 

But most of all, being back on an Air Force Base and hearing the hum of airplanes and the cleanliness and discipline of a military base.  It is so unlike a civilian community.  It is a town within a larger town, with all the shopping amenities and fitness facilities (which I have used just about every day) housing, medical and all the necessities.  But without the politics and discord and clutter.

The Agave Campground here on the base is definitely one of the nicest campgrounds we've ever stayed in.  It were recently voted as the best military campground in the Western US, and I can understand why.  I hope that we are able to come back next winter for a longer stay.

And seeing the old aircraft has rekindled a lot of memories of a past that I was a part of.

Home for nearly 3 weeks

Tomorrow morning, we hook up the car on the tow dolly and I think we are going to Tombstone, Az, just to say we've been.  The eventual goal is to get to West Texas for a few days.

Tucson Coronado National Forest

Mon Feb 13 is a another beautiful day here.  Even the bad weather days are good.  Each night the temperature goes down into the 40's, sometimes the high 30's (this morning 37), but by 10 or 11 o'clock it's very comfortable.  I've been able to wear shorts comfortably every day.

We have one remaining "to do".  We've heard that the drive up to a ski area near here is a beautiful drive, and we wanted to see for ourselves where people can actually ski in a desert. 

The drive was indeed beautiful, if not magnificent.  It seems I've used the word magnificent many times while we've been out West, but this area of our country is really so vast, and so geologically diverse, it defies description, so I'll just keep using the word magnificent.

Today was no different.  Magnificent.

Less than 30 miles from our campsite here on base at an altitude of 1,600 feet, we drove to 8,300 feet, the temperature changed 30 degrees, and we were in snow.   I don't think we have ever made such a rapid ascent in a car in such a short time.

On the way to the Mount Lemmon ski area we traveled through the little village of Summerhaven which looks like a mountain community Western NC.  We traveled through Coronado National Forest, which is a part of the Santa Catalina Mountains on the way up.

A long, straight highway in the valley

Overlooking Tucson from the Santa Catalina Mountains

The rock formations look like they could fall any moment

The road up the mountain

Mimi got to the top

And there really is snow.  It is supposed to snow more tomorrow.  It is truly amazing to see this in the middle of a desert

Tucson Pima Museum again

Sat Feb 11 I went back to the Pima Air and Space Museum.  On our earlier visit, we had not even gone into two of the buildings, and I wanted some time to just enjoy walking around and looking at some of the incredible collection of aircraft they have.  Clara decided that maybe she'd seen enough airplanes for a while, so she relaxed back in the RV. 

Mostly, I was drawn to the T-38 and B-52's there.  A recently repainted T-38 sits right across from three B-52's, making an interesting contrast of the two aircraft I flew on active duty.  The T-38 is primarily a trainer with incredible performance and a max speed of mach 1.2 and the B-52 is a lumbering beast that weights nearly 500,000 pounds when loaded and is a real war machine.  Both were fun to fly in their own way.  And today, it is hard to believe I ever flew either one.

The  beauty and the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fellow!)

Cockpit of the B-17, one of the old aircraft that excites me the most.

B-17

The museum is really quite a place.  I could easily spend a lot more time there. 

Saturday afternoon, Clara and I did a little shopping for an RV for Bill and Jan Bass.  They've become interested in RVing since they've seen how much we enjoy it.

There are 4 or 5 large RV dealerships here within a couple miles of each other, and they all have large inventories.  Based on our shopping, it seems that their pricing is excellent.  We didn't find one that we like any better than what we already have (thank goodness!)

Sunday, Feb 12 was another day of chores and just relaxing.  We're getting closer to the end of our stay here in Tucson and thinking we'll head East into Texas for a few days before leaving the RV back in Albuquerque.

Tubac and Tumacacori NP

Wednesday, Feb 8 was a catch up day of errands

Thursday, Feb 8 we got an early start going back to Tubac Az for their annual arts and crafts festival.  We had heard about it on our earlier visit and Clara really wanted to go.  I was all for it because that is where we had a great Mexican lunch at Winston's - and their specialty, a fried burrito with an apple filling.  We may drive there again (40 miles one way) just for another fried burrito.  And Clara enjoyed the festival.  They had a music stage, so I settled in and listened to music while she toured the festival.

After the festival, we went down the road a few miles to the Tumacacori National Hitorical Park.  There the remains of a mission church started in 1800 have been preserved in a very nice setting.

Tucson - Sabino Canyon

Friday, Feb 10 we decided that we enjoyed Sabino Canyon so much the first visit, we'd go back again.  It is a beautiful place and we enjoyed hiking there as much as anywhere we've hiked.  We rode the tram the 5 miles up the canyon and took a short hike at the upper end of the canyon.


Wildflowers were blooming today.





These cacti mean business



 Tonight, the RV Park had a dinner/dance at the base community center.  We meet the most interesting people.  The couple we met tonight had been teenage sweethearts and had gone there separate ways, only to get married (after each had 3 divorces) 38 years later.  A fascinating story goes with it.

Tucson - RV Repair, Titan Museum, Copper Mine

Monday Feb 6 This morning bright and early we took the RV in to Carl's RV Service for the required work on the bedroom slide.  We had hoped our new Good Sam's insurance would cover it.  We did some running around getting some necessary things done and got a call to come back by Carl's. 

Instead of the rollers being the problem, they found that we had moisture penetration in the left rear of the coach around the slide out, and that this had caused the wood in the floor to deteriorate, thus causing the bottom of the slide to drop down when being extended or retracted, and that was the reason that it was difficult to open and close.  After extensive conversation with Good Sam's, we found that water penetration was NOT covered under our policy, thus we're going to pay for it.  It seems that there is always a way that insurance companies can find a way NOT to pay.  So, we took it on the chin and Carl's said it would take a couple of days.  So it's off to a hotel. 

Do I jump now - or later?

What can we do now?  The "new" view from our bedroom.

Tuesday, February 7 we decide to make the best of a bad situation and enjoy the day.  We head to the Titan Museum about 20 miles South of town.

This was an especially interesting tour for me.  In the late 60's and early 70's, I was a pilot on the B-52 and had spent many weeks on alert with our plane loaded with nuclear weapons that would or could be delivered to Russia in case of a war.  It is hard to believe today that in those decades, the US and Russia could have ended life as we know it on earth through the use of these awful weapons.  It was a policy referred to as Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).  If Russia attacked the US using nuclear weapons, we had the capability, through missles like the Titan, B-52's, and nuclear submarines around the world, the respond by attacking Russia.  And with nuclear weapons of the type and number each country had, we could pretty well assured that the world as we know it would be changed, if not completely lifeless. 

This seems hard to believe today, but that was the world as we knew it then. 

Going through this museum, which is the only surviving Titan missle launch site remaining, brought back many memories of those days when I sat on alert with the potential that I would be a contributer to MAD.

The business end of the Titan Missle.  This one missle carried as much destructive power as all bombs dropped in WWII plus the two nuclear weapons dropped on Japan that ended WWII.

Going below ground to the control rooms where the missle crews lived and had the capability to launch a nuclear missle.

The control room from which a missle could be launched, located far below ground and designed to withstand a direct nuclear hit.

On the way back to Tucson, we stopped by a Copper Mining Museum.  The mining here is open pit mining like at Aurora and there are huge flat mountains of tailing.



This is one big truck



Glad I don't have to buy these tires

We went back by Carl's and they were finishing up the work on the RV, so tonight we are back "home". It sure is better than a hotel.

Carl's did an excellent job of making the repair.  It's much better than it came from the factory.  Hopefully, we won't have that kind of problem anymore. 

Tuscon Saguaro National Park

Saturday, Feb 4.   I started out the day with another great swim at the base fitness club.  This has become my regular morning routine to swim a mile to mile and a half each morning in this great facility.  It's like being at home. 

After breakfast, we decided to see Saguaro (pronounced "sah-WAH-row") National Park.  It is only about 8 miles away from the base, so it's a nice ride, with a rapid transition from urban to wilderness.

We had seen many Saguaro on our trip to the Sabino Canyon, but nothing like the size and number that are in the park.  These are magnificent cacti that really are amazing to see.  The northern edge of the Sonaran Desert (where we are) is home to this most recognizable cactus in the world.  These cacit can go up to three years with no water, grow 50 feet tall and live over 150 years. 
In the park there are over 50 different types of cacti.  Although we couldn't identify many, we were impressed by the tremendous variety that we did see.

A "very" careful inspection of the cactus skin

Pretty to look at, but don't touch.

The needles on the cactus are just like a metal needle.

And when you get to near a cactus, it will stay with you (painfully)

Some new neighbors have moved in (which happens regularly).  This couple is retired Navy.  While they were hooking up yesterday, we made the usual greetings and comments.  Gary and Doris Roycraft have been full-timing in their 40 motorhome for 10 years and have traveled extensively all over the world.

We had them over for drinks tonight and started sharing adventures.  Eventually, the conversation got around to our adventure last September when we drove to Durango with our bedroom slide partially out.   Unbelievably, they had actually been on the same road (the million dollar highway) going in the opposite direction on the same day and had seen us.  They said they couldn't miss us because of the slide being out.  They thought then "There, but for fate, I go".  All RV'ers worry about a slide being stuck out.

It certainly made for interesting and entertaining conversation.