Saturday, January 12--Old Tucson

Saturday we drove southwest of Tucson to Old Tucson Studios. Many westerns were filmed there. The set was originally built for the movie Arizona starring William Holden in 1939.

We learned that many of the original sets burned in 1995 from a fire of unknown cause.

We especially liked the Rio Lobo sets.

The stunt show took place at the old mission from the movie. You know Bob, he can't go anywhere without wanting a nap! He rested in the Rio Lobo jail. Old Reno was used in many movies and television shows--Wild, Wild West was Joyce's favorite.

The weather was perfect for our visit to Old Tucson. In fact, we had to get out of the sun a few times.

The stores on the main set were used in Little House on the Prairie.
High Chaparral was also filmed at the studio.

This was the blacksmith shop from High Chaparral.

We enjoyed Miss Kitty's Can Can Show. The actors were muli-taskers. The bad guy in the bank shoot out was also in the stunt show. Miss Clementine (middle cancan dancer) was also the lead in the stunt show. Old Tucson had the prerequisite forms for us to pose as barkeeper and waitress.

After spending most of the day at Old Tucson we drove to find the Sonora Desert Museum & Zoo. It is one of the top 10 zoos in America. We also drove a little further to find the West Saguaro National Monument. We watched the short movie, looked in the gift shop, and returned to the rv. Both places closed at 5 p.m. and it was already 3 so we will return another day to explore the Desert Museum and hike at West Saguaro National Monument.

Traveling and Tucson--January 9-11

Wednesday, January 9

We packed the rv and left City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico to head for Tucson, Arizona. It was about 280 miles so it took about 5 hours. We went from the Chihuahuan Desert into the Sonoran Desert. As we approached Tucson saguaro cacti started dotting the landscape. At a rest area about an hour from Davis Monthan AFB, Joyce called to determine campsite availability. We were told we would go into overflow for one night and then have a full hook-up site the next day.

When we arrived in Tucson, we drove through part of the airplane boneyard on the way to the AFB.

We went into overflow and were last on the list to get a site the next day. If we had been 20 minutes later, we would have waited another day for full hook-up.

We set up in overflow and drove around base to see where everything was located. We splurged and had fast food for dinner from the PX's food court.

Thursday, January 10

We had to be in the FamCamp office at 9 a.m. to be sure we got our site. There was someone who came in after us hoping for a no show so they could get a site. We are in site 38, one of the few back-in sites. Our site is paved and desert landscaped with rocks. There is a bunny living in the area near our site.

The temperature dips into the 30s at night, but is in the 60s during the day--very comfortable once it warms up.

After setting up camp, we went to the commissary to replenish our groceries. After putting everything away we started looking at all the material we were given when we registered. There are so many things to do and see around Tucson that we had trouble deciding what to do first. Several places are closer to Fort Huachuca so we are going to see if we can get reservations at their famcamp.

We decided to go into downtown Tucson Friday to see where it all began.

Friday, January 11

Tucson reminds us of El Paso, situated at the foot of mountains in the desert. As we drove downtown we went under the rattlesnake pedestrian overwalk that is one of the sights to see in Tucson. I don't think I want to walk through a rattlesnake (it is the official snake of Arizona)!

We found a parking spot near the visitor center where we would pick up a map of the presidio walking trail. It is a 2 1/2 mile trail through the downtown area with many historic places marked. In fact, the trail is marked by a turquoise line painted on the sidewalk.

The visitor center is number 7 on the trail so we walked the trail in reverse to get to Presidio San Agustin del Tucson is number one. The presidio was Tucson's first fort. It was established by that fine Spanish officer Colonel Hugo O'Conor in 1775. The presidio is being restored and has many artifacts found on the site. This is the gate at the entrance.

The mural depicts life in the late 1700s, early 1800s. You can see the office buildings of Tucson all around the presidio.

We found a spot in the sun for a picture. Yes, Bob was cold!

In the original fort this tower was 20 feet tall.After leaving the presidio we walked most of the trail through Tucson. It went by the train depot where Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday killed one of the Clanton gang. Bob posed with Wyatt and Doc.We stopped short of walking the full trail because we were parked at a 2 hour meter. We got to the car as the meter went to zero. You are allowed 2 hours on the meters with no feeding the meter to add time! We were parked nest to St. Augustine Cathedral which was started in 1896. Renovation work is being done on part of it now. We took this picture from several blocks away as we didn't realize we were parked next to it! Our view was hampered by construction safety walls.When we returned to Davis Monthan, we ate lunch, rested, then walked to Warrior Park at the entrance of the base.

There are planes on display with tags telling about them and their duties. Joyce is standing next to an OV10. It was used for forward air control.

The paths through the park were either concrete or gravel. Some areas would have grass in summer and spring.

Here we are next to the C130 named for Tucson.

This U2 was interesting. The landing gear fell off after take-off and the plane landed on the downturned skids at the end of each wing.

We enjoyed walking through all the planes and reading the stories.

Saturday we will venture to the area southwest of Tucson to see Tucson Studios and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

If any of you have been to Tucson and know of something we should see, please let us know!

Silver City and PInos Altos---January 8, 2008

Today was our last day at City of Rocks State Park.

This morning Joyce got a picture of a hawk watching from a rock, waiting for its breakfast.

On our way out of the park, we found the cache at the observation area. It was 35 feet off the given coordinates.

We went sightseeing in Pinos Altos and Silver City.

Pinos Altos is an old mining town. The museum was an interesting combination of store and museum in the building that was originally the first school.

The building had many artifacts from the mining community.

From Pinos Altos we drove into Silver City to visit the historic area. Silver City is a town filled with Old West and mining history.

We ate lunch in an interesting establishment--Vicky's Deli. It was recommended to us by the owners of Hesters Candy and Fudge.

After lunch we visited the museum which used to be a private home.
We were able to walk up to the cupola to see the view of Silver City. The cupola was used to cool the house on hot summer days. The four windows were opened so the rising heat could escape the house.

We returned to City of Rocks and took a hike through the rocks. Joyce spotted this jackrabbit near the trail. The jackrabbits are much larger than the rabbits we saw at Pancho Villa State Park. They also have the smaller rabbits here.

The sunset was again very colorful. There are several windmills to pump the water at the park. This one is actually electric!

We are hoping tonight stays clear so we can stargaze in an area with no light pollution.

Wednesday we will travel to Tucson. We hope to get a spot at Davis Monthan AFB.

City of Rocks State Park--January 5-7

Friday, January 4, we found 2 caches in Columbus, New Mexico. One cache was in Pancho Villa State Park, the other was on the north end of the village. We walked to both. On our return trip, we stopped at the Columbus Depot to visit the local museum.

Saturday morning we broke camp and moved to City of Rocks State Park north of Deming. We visited it before Christmas with Christopher and DeAnna and knew we wanted to return.

It was a short ride from Columbus, New Mexico to City of Rocks. We arrived at 10 am. This is a view of the campground. Our rv is the second from the left.We like the campground with one exception, it doesn't have a dump station. We are going to be careful with water usage here as we want to stay awhile. It will be our base to visit Silver City, Gila Cliff Dwellings, Pinos Altos and other places of interest in the area. After camp was set and we had a bit of lunch, Bob and I set off to walk the Hydra Trail around the park. The trail began by winding through the desert area east of the campground. We rested at the bench under the only tree in the area. The trail wound through the desert and then back into the rock area.
We climbed in and around the rocks. Native Americans lived here long ago.You can look at the rocks and find different shapes in them. Joyce thinks this one looks like the eye of a dragon.
Some places it was too difficult for Bob to run back to be in the picture.

Saturday evening there was a gorgeous sunset. The clouds looked like red velvet before it was finished.Sunday we packed a lunch and set off for the Gila Cliff Dwellings. We visited there in the late 70s when Bobby and Jennifer were very young. It was one of our favorite places to camp when Bob was stationed at Ft. Bliss.We drove on New Mexico SR 15 which part of the scenic byway through the forest. It is a very narrow road that reminded me of KY 1427, only this time we were in the CRV, not the rv!

The weather was supposed to be bad for the day, but occasionally there were bright spots.

We saw this rainbow around several turns. At one point we could see both ends, but not the middle.

On the scenic drive we passed the Continental Divide at two different places.

The 40 mile drive takes about 2 hours because of the winding mountain road.

We toured the visitor center before driving to the trailhead of the cliff dwellings. We weren't sure if we would make the one mile hike because the weather wasn't cooperating. It was windy and rainy with a bit of sleet.

We sat in the car to eat lunch. The weather once again cleared so we set off for the cliff dwellings. We are about halfway up in this picture.

This is a view of the dwellings from just below on the trail. The Mogollon people lived here in the 1200s.

People speculate as to the uses of the cliff Some believe they were dwellings, others believe they were ceremonial rooms. The location is not one that could be easily defended and the collection of water would be difficult for the number of people the rooms would hold.

This is a view from inside one of the dwellings.


The dwellers even built walls inside the caves.

The ceilings are heavily marked with soot. Some of the ceilings have fallen over the years. The black marks on these rocks are soot.

We enjoyed seeing the dwellings again. I think the hike was easier this time since we weren't carrying Bobby and Jennifer as on our last visit.

We completed the scenic drive which took us past Santa Rita Copper Mine and this time the big trucks were running! They are huge!

To complete the day we stopped at Silver City's Wal-Mart to purchase bread and milk. Monday is supposed to be another cold day so we may just stay at the campground and finish walking the trail. (Saturday we cut across the rocks to find a cache).