We arrived in Tucson on February 3rd . Since then we have been extremely busy. Rincon Country West is very nice park, and the weather has been nice too! We spent our first week here with John and Sue Rochowiak . There is so much to see and do. After a trip to the Visitors Center in down Tucson, we were off and running!
Our first adventure with John and Sue took us to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. This is a natural history museum and botanical garden along with some native animal species. We were able to see many different kinds of plants that are native to this area, one of which is the agave plant. The agave plant is used to make tequila!!! Guess it has to be a certain type of that plant and there are many different types of agave plants. We were able to see ocelots, bobcats, javelinas and many different types of birds. It was a worthwhile trip.
The next day we just HAD to go to Old Tucson Studios. What a neat place with the dirt streets, saloons, stagecoach rides, etc. to take one back to the "old west". There were many older western movies made in this location and a walking tour was very informative to let us know which ones were made here. One which stands out in our minds is Rio Bravo with John Wayne and a 19-year old Ricky Nelson!! There was a fire in 1995 which destroyed a lot of the older buildings which was a shame. Some were rebuilt and there are still a few of the old adobe buildings standing. So much movie history here. We were able to watch an old western gun fight and enjoy a "cool one" in the saloon with musical entertainment. All in all, a very enjoyable day!
A huge event in Tucson is the "Rock and Gem Show". Well, we found tent after tent with rocks and stones, most of which we knew nothing about. Sue and I did buy a couple of inexpensive pendants. It was interesting to see all the people that actually knew what they were looking at!!!!!! It wasn't our foursome!!
As you all know, Roy and John are car enthusiasts and there are lots of older vehicles in the southwest that are in fantastic condition. Well, they found a "cruise in" at Little Anthony's Diner here in Tucson. There were lots of VERY nice cars and we just had to go into the diner for a rootbeer float!
We found out that just south of Tucson, an historical town called Tubac was hosting an arts and crafts show, so off we went! Wow, another neat town that had row after row of crafts and interesting shops. Tubac as a lot of history associated with it. It was the town that printed Arizona's first newspaper. Of course, the road to Tubac is full of more "eye candy". Pictures just can't capture all of the natural beauty in this area. That's why you will just have to put up with so many landscape photos.
John and Sue left on Monday, Feb. 14 in the morning and Bob and Milissa Merritt arrived that afternoon. They had rented a park model here at Rincon Country West. On Tuesday morning, we headed south and east of Tucson. Our first stop was in Bisbee where there had been and still is a lot of copper mining. Next door to an old open pit mine was a small jewelry store. Well, Milissa and I just had to get a "Bisbee Blue" turquoise ring. The turquoise is found in very few of the copper mines which was a surprise to all of us!
Then it was on to Tombstone where we got to witness a reenactment of the "Gunfight at OK Corral". That was quite interesting and the entire town is made up to look like the original Tombstone. We just had to take a small side trip to visit Boot Hill and it was also interesting, mainly to see how some of these folks died; eg. stabbed, hung or shot. Guess it's a good thing we didn't live in the old west.
While Bob and Milissa were here, we wanted to take in the Pima Air and Space Museum. This covers 80 acres, over 300 airplanes and 100 years of aviation history. As most of you know, Roy served in the Air Force and had worked on the B-52 bombers while at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine. So touring this complex really brought back a lot of memories for him. There are so many airplanes outside and we found out that the desert southwest is a perfect spot for storage because the sand is so hard and dry. Guess we had never thought about that. Lots of retired pilots and air force personnel are guides. They are so very interesting as are their stories.
The next day we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum again. Bob and Milissa had not been there and we found out that we had missed the aviary the first time we were there. There are hummingbirds by the dozens in one area. What a sight to see them building their small nests! We all know Bob is a "road warrior", so when we left the museum, we headed south and a bit west just to see some more "eye candy". All this area is so beautiful and as the sun starts getting lower in the sky in the late afternoon, the mountains take on a whole new look. We did see a couple of coyotes and four deer while driving through the Ironwood Forest.
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