Here are the signs on the side of State Route 90 directing us to the turn-off. It was only a 15 mile trip today from the SKP park.
And here’s the gate into Kartchner Caverns. They charged a $3 parking fee after I got the veteran discount.
We parked and walked up to the visitor center building through the hummingbird garden:
Inside the building, we checked on tour times and availability. Stilla opted to sit out. She felt it would be too claustrophobic for her, but insisted that I go. And besides – there was plenty to see in the visitors center and adjacent area to keep her busy while I went on a tour.
I paid $23 for the privilege of touring the caverns. We wandered around the visitors center displays together until it was time for the guided-tour. I only had a short wait and was able to join the next group that was assembling.
Here’s some pics from inside the visitor center:
When it came time for the tour, I gathered with others (about 15 people) at the rear of the building for a tram ride up to the entrance.
Unfortunately, there are no pictures allowed in the caverns during the tour; which is probably a good thing since it would certainly be distracting while trying to enjoy the wonders. At first, I was a little bummed that I couldn’t take pictures, but then I started to realize that it made the experience better when I wasn’t trying to get just-the-right image.
Click HERE for a link to wikipedia to read more information on Kartchner Caverns. And HERE for information from the state park website. And, also HERE for a good website that summarizes the cavern history by telling us: “Kept secret since its discovery in 1974, Kartchner Caverns, 12 miles south of Benson, Arizona, was announced to the world in 1988. Still virtually pristine, this massive limestone cave has 13,000 feet of passages and two rooms as long as football fields. Finally opened as a state park November 12, 1999.”
The following pictures were swiped from google images:
Picture of the two amateur ‘cavers’ that discovered the caverns in 1974. (image courtesy of google images)The present-day man-made entrance to the caverns (photo courtesy of google images)The mud pit (photo courtesy of google images)(photo courtesy of google images)(photo courtesy of google images)Kubla Khan (photo courtesy of google images)(photo courtesy of google images)soda straws (photo courtesy of google images)
Click HERE to see more of the awesome pictures available at google images.
When I came back from the circa hour-long tour; I found Stilla and we went back inside the visitors center to watch the presentation in the big theater room. This informative documentary runs every half-hour. Then we browsed the gift shop.
This is truly another “must-see” attraction… I was so glad to get the opportunity. Put it on your list if you’re ever in the area…
And that’s it for today folks… We made a quick stop at the Safeway in Benson on the way back to the SKP park for a roasted chicken. Then we spent the evening relaxing in the Coach hiding from the gusty winds.
Check back later for our next adventure… we’ll probably start heading north…
This morning (Sunday) it’s raining off-and-on as I finish up this blog post, so we’ll probably just hunker down today. We can’t complain since this is the first rain we’ve seen since we were in Prescott Valley back in early March.
We started off the day (Friday) with the intention of just checking out the town of Bisbee, and we did… but we also ended up visiting Coronado National Memorial and Fort Huachuca on a whirlwind 130-mile tour.
When we first rolled into the quaint town of Bisbee after traveling south for about 47 miles on State Route 80 from the SKP Park, the Queen Mine Visitor Center caught our eye. We pulled into their parking lot and went inside to check it out.
The cost to go on a tour inside the mine was $13 pp. I was willing to go, but Stilla isn’t very comfortable in tight spaces. Plus, we had just missed a tour and would have to wait a while for the next one. So we just wandered around the building and browsed the items on display:
Outside the building, we could see where the ore car tracks go into the mine entrance. There was also a large collection of ore carts on display.
A brochure I picked up at the Visitor Center tells us that Bisbee was founded in 1880, and was a booming mining community with one of he richest mineral deposits in the world. It was once the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco, and bustled with miners, shopkeepers, rollicking nightlife, and even its own stock exchange. Today, many of the Victorian buildings now house antique stores, art allures, fine cafes and restaurants, while Brewery Gulch retains its boisterous character and old time saloons. Click HERE to learn more about this old mining town.
After checking out the Queen Mine Visitor Center, we drove around town to look at the sights. On at least two occasions, we ended up on narrow dead-end streets and were barely able to get turned around:
Here’s a pretty cool looking building (below). Turns out it’s the courthouse. And guess what? When I googled this building, I found out it’s supposed to be haunted… which seems to to be a theme going on this week in our travels… we just visited the Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone yesterday 😐
We drove on up the hill behind the courthouse…
and found a nice little park at the top of the hill for Coach to run around in.
After Coach got some exercise at the park, we continued on downtown in search of a parking spot. Here’s some more pics around town:
We must have circled the downtown area and adjacent streets several times before we finally gave up trying to find a parking spot. Sure – we could have paid $5 at a lot near the on-ramp to State Route 80 – but that would have made for a long walk and we also certainly don’t want to leave ‘little Coach’ in the truck for very long.
So, we decided to head on over to Fort Huachuca, there’s supposed to be a nice museum there.
But first – Here’s a few more pics of Bisbee that we took from a turnout on State Route 80 before we headed south:
Pretty cool little town… wish we could have found a convenient parking spot to do some walking around and exploring. Maybe another time 🙂
Shortly after getting back on State Route 80, we pulled over into a huge viewing area just south of town…
From here, we could view the giant mining pits:
The mining pits reminded us of what’s still going on in Cripple Creek, Colorado; which is near where we call home – Colorado Springs.
A few miles south of Bisbee, we turned west on State Route 92 and drove for about 20 miles. Then we saw a sign for Coronado National Memorial. We decided to check it out. Hey, why not? We’re already here, right? We remembered seeing a video presentation (aka advertisement) on this state park while touring the Queen Mine Visitor Center.
The ranger station / visitor center was only ~10 miles or so, south of the highway.
According to wikipedia: The Coronado National Memorial commemorates the first organized expedition into the Southwest by conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. The memorial is located in a natural setting on the international border on the southeast flank of the Huachuca Mountains south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. The memorial confirms the ties that bind the United States and Mexico.
A very nice ranger lady gave us the scoop on the place and she turned on a video presentation for us to view a ~15 minute documentary. We were the only people there.
We continued to drive into the state park a little ways until the paved road ended. According to the nice park ranger lady; there’s supposed to be a nice view point at the top of the hill, and there’s even supposed to be a cave within easy walking distance from the road. But, since ‘Stilla don’t do caves’ and since I still have the Harley in the bed of the pickup, (not a good thing on gravel washboard roads), I turned around and we headed back out of the park.
Check out the nice grasslands on the way back out of the park… I didn’t know they had such tall grasslands in Arizona, did you?
It wasn’t long before State Route 92 started turning north towards Fort Huachuca. And once we drove into the town of Sierra Vista we easily found the main gate onto the fort.
Here are some planes and drones on display just inside the gate.
After getting fueled up at the gas station on post, we followed the signs to the FamCamp and Museum. We decided to do a quick drive-thru of the FamCamp for future reference. Here’s the view when you first enter the FamCamp:
And here’s the combination office / laundry room / game room…
I walked into the building to check on rates and see if they had any literature on the campground. There was no one on duty, but I scored a campground map flyer. Click HERE for website information on the Apache Flats FamCamp. Sites are $20 per day.
There are 56 sites here at Apache Flats:
After checking out the FamCamp… we followed the signs to the Ft Huachuca Museum. Click HERE for their website.
Had I taken the time to view their website before we came here – I would have known that the museum is closed. It has been undergoing major renovations since last October. Bummer 🙁
The Ft Huachuca website summarizes the history of the fort as follows:
While on a patrol to secure the San Pedro Valley, Captain Samuel Whitside and two companies of the 6th Cavalry established Fort Huachuca as a temporary outpost on March 3, 1877. Huachuca became a permanent military installation in 1882 and has played a vital role in Army history ever since.
During its long history, Fort Huachuca has served as a cavalry post, an infantry training center, a test center for electronic equipment and a major signals installation. Today the Fort remains an important center for communication and electronic technology development but its central role is the home of the US Army Military Intelligence Corps and a training center of soldiers for the various intelligence disciplines and unmanned aerial system operations.
How about some more pics:
After taking a few pictures (above) around the museum area, we drove over to the Post Exchange (PX). Why, you ask? Because we can…
We made it back out of the PX without spending any money. Yoo Hoo! That doesn’t happen too often 🙂
We left Ft. Huachuca and kept going north on 90 to Interstate 10. Then we got on 10 and went west for a whole mile or so to the next exit for Benson.
Since it was now supper time… we stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Benson that came highly recommended from some fellow residents at the nearby SKP park. This tiny, obscure restaurant, reportedly has the best mexican food for many miles around. The recipes have been handed down for generations. I had the fried fish taco plate, and Stilla had the Lemon Salmon on a bed of spinach. It was very good… and the restaurant was very busy. It looked like the majority of their business is with take-out. While we were dining in there, we must have seen a couple dozen people come in to pick up orders they had called in.
The name of this restaurant is Mi Casa. Definitely stop by if you’re in the area.
And here we are back at the SKP RV Park after 130 miles and another fun-filled sight-seeing day.
And here’s the sunset above the Urban Escape Vehicle as seen from the balcony of the Casita on our site.
Another fine day… Life is Good 🙂
Tomorrow (Saturday) we plan on visiting nearby Kartchner Caverns. Check back in…
On Thursday, we decided to check out a guest ranch near Tombstone that we had heard about a while back when we were in Europe. Here’s the story; In August/September of 2013, Stilla and I took a three-week trip back to Germany to visit her side of the family and our son William. While there in Germany, (in the Nurnberg area), Stilla’s brother Ludwig lent me a motorcycle from his Harley-Davidson (now Indian) dealership (Click HERE and HERE for links to his website(s)). We rode down through the Alps to the European Bike Week 2013, in Faaker See, Austria. While at the motorcycle rally, one of the vendor booths was for the Apache Spirit Ranch in Tombstone, Arizona. (see pics below)
Apache Spirit Ranch booth at Faaker See Bike Week, Austria 2013. Barni Walter is on the right side, in the back, talking to one of the owners.Apache Spirit Ranch booth at Faaker See Bike Week, Austria 2013. Barni Walter is on the right side, talking to one of the owners (guy in the hat).
It so happened that one of the owners’ of the ranch was an acquaintance of Stilla’s long-time childhood friend and neighbor; Barni Walter. Barni also rode down to the rally with us. (Click HERE for another shameless plug and link to Barni’s tire shop). Anyway, that’s how we got to know the folks at the Spirit Ranch booth and promised that we’d try to stop by if we were ever in the area.
Well – we were in the area now… so we plugged the address into the GPS; put little dog “Coach” in the pickup; and off we went…
Although the GPS directions were good, the signs we noticed along the way were confusing… we kept seeing signs for the Tombstone Monument Guest Ranch, but no signs for the Apache Spirit. This was especially confusing because I had checked the Apache Spirit Ranchwebsite before we left; it was still up and running and appeared to be current. It soon became apparent that the ranch must have changed ownership and therefore names.
After driving 22 miles, we were in Tombstone once again. From downtown, we drove west on Schiefflein Rd. which is a dirt road that goes past the Tombstone Cemetery… not to be confused with the Boot Hill Cemetery.
After a few miles, the GPS announced that we had reached our destination. However, instead of seeing the Apache Spirit Ranch we saw this sign:
We drove on into the ranch.
We noticed a bus with the Apache Spirit Ranch logo parked at the ranch.
We parked and walked through the “town” to find the office. The towns’ buildings appeared to be cleverly disguised motel rooms.
There’s even have a nice pool here.
We walked into the office and talked to a lady behind the reception desk. We told her where we had heard about this place and asked if it was under new ownership or just changed names. She confirmed that it was now under new management. She didn’t appear to be very willing to share any details, but did say she knew the previous owner(s)… especially the guy in Germany. She seemed hesitant, so we didn’t press her for more information.
She did share a rate list and a brochure/flyer with us. If you’re interested, their flyer touts; 18 rooms “designed to a specific western theme, furnished with authentic decor and the echo of bygone days”; the “all-inclusive guest ranch experience includes three meals per day, soft drinks, guest room accommodation, guided trail rides, wireless internet, jacuzzi and pool, and evening entertainment.”
This place seems really nice if you can afford it… the rates vary between; in-season, mid-season, and summer; and also between standard, deluxe, junior suite, or premium suite. Just to give you an idea about pricing, and for brevity; the in-season rate for a standard room (single occupancy) is $250 per day. A premium suite would be $330. Their website is tombstonemonumentranch.com
The receptionist told us we were free to look around and if we wanted drinks, she would open the bar. We thanked her and declined the bar offer. I asked if we could take a few pictures… she said it would be fine…
Stilla posed at the bar for a picture.
The saloon was decorated nicely and even had a fancy poker table… maybe that’s where the previous owner lost the ranch in a poker game…. Just sayin’ 🙂 A small dining area was in the adjoining room.
Remaining adobe wall from the original homestead.
This appeared to be a bunkhouse of sorts that has been converted to apartments/rooms with individual doors.
Although, we had hoped to meet up again with the folks we became acquainted with at the vendor booth in Austria 2013, it was still a neat place to visit and experience.
We said our thanks for the mini-tour and drove back out the gate.
Just outside the gate, and a little further west up the hill, we could see the gravesite of Edward Schieffelin, the founder of Tombstone. This is also known as the Tombstone Monument or Memorial. Read more about Schieffelin HERE, courtesy of wikipedia.
Read the placard below to learn how Tombstone got it’s name.
We headed on back to town. This time we stopped at the edge of town to take a couple pictures of the Tombstone Cemetery that we had passed by earlier :
There was an old trolley, covered wagon, prison wagon and stagecoach parked in a lot across from the cemetery.
Once back in Tombstone we decided to walk around a little more and spend some time visiting a few of the shops again.
We also made an impulse decision to go through the Bird Cage Theatre. We passed on this tour yesterday when we were here with the “dirt farm” gang. We went ahead and paid the $18 entrance fee for the self-guided tour. Click HERE to learn more about the “Wildest and Wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast”.
There was a different tour-guide behind the bar this time. An elderly gentleman took the time to point out details within the lobby area that leads to the museum. For instance, this bullet hole above Fatima’s belly button in the picture below.
The main room to the theatre was filled with period artifacts. Even the upper balcony boxes aka “prostitute cribs” that lined each wall had mannequins on display… or maybe those are ghosts!?!
Here’s a view of the stage…
And here’s a couple views taken from the stage:
And now we’re back-stage:
The placard claims that this hearse transported all but 6 of the Boot Hill Cemetery residents.
Steps to the infamous basement where a poker game once went on continuously for over 8 years. Click HERE for more on this from wikipedia.
Did I mention that this place is supposed to be haunted?
We made it through our tour of the Bird Cage Theatre without seeing any paranormal activity. But we did work up an appetite, so we chose the Cafe Margarita for it’s doggie-friendly enclosed courtyard seating… and the food was good too.
It was now past 2 PM. We had agreed earlier in the week to a 3 PM tour of the SKP park, so I called our host to say we might be a little late for our tour. Our extremely nice tour-guide / host was named Cosmo. He was waiting for us at our site in a golf cart to show us around the park. The tour is of course, voluntary, and is provided for any Escapees RV Club members that might be interested in joining the Co-Op.
The subject of Escapees Co-Op Parks has been well documented by others more eloquent than I… for instance; Howard Payne @ RV-Dreams.com did a great write-up HERE; and Mike Kuper @ FlyingtheKoop.com posted HERE. Click on the links to learn more about Escapees if interested.
Cosmo, gave us a full tour of this fine park and it’s facilities. He even showed us the “Casita” he had built on his site, nice! We finished up just in time to meet up with the regulars at the club house for “Happy Hour”.
Here’s a before (circa 1990) & after photo of the Saguaro SKP RV Resort.
Our nice, roomy site for the week.
Cool balanced rock art… there’s a couple of these throughout the park. I’d like to see how they do this… these rocks don’t have any wires or metal rods holding them together; gravity keeps them in place.
Another great day in the Urban Escape Vehicle adventure!
And here’s some bonus pics of our visit to Germany in 2013 that I found while searching for the Apache Spirit Ranch photos that I posted at the beginning of today’s blog:
This is the bike that Ludwig let me use during our 2013 visit to Germany. Stilla’s brother Stefan is in the background. We put quite a few good miles (kilometers) on the bikes while we were there 🙂
Here I am in front of Stilla’s brother Ludwig’s vendor booth during the European Bike Week in Austria. I spent a lot of time there helping out, which is something I used to do a lot of when I was stationed in Germany. Help out, that is… at his Harley dealership…
Rothsee-Choppers.de booth at Faaker See Austria 2013. L to R; myself and Stilla’s brothers; Stefan and Ludwig.
And a Happy (belated) Birthday to Stilla’s brother Ludwig back in Schnitzeland, aka Germany! His birthday was today (Thursday). Prost!
Ludwig Dotzer @ www.rothsee-choppers.de and www.indian-mittelfranken.de
Stay tuned for more adventure… I know I’m behind on the blog again, but we’re having too much fun exploring. Tomorrow (Friday) we visit Bisbee, the Coronado Monument, and Fort Huachuca. And Saturday, maybe Kartchner Caverns… 🙂
Authors Note – Warning: Another picture heavy post today…
On Wednesday; my Mom, Stepdad, Brother Steve and Cheryl; drove down from the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande to pick us up at the Saguaro Escapee Park in Benson. From there; we piled in their car and drove the ~22 miles to Tombstone AZ, labeled as “The Town Too Tough to Die“.
Here we all are! From L to R; Myself, Stilla, Steven, Cheryl, Mom, and Jimmy.
We found a convenient parking spot near the “Good Enough Mine”. Then we bought tickets at the adjacent “Old Tombstone Western Town” for the comedy gunfight and town trolley tour. Since we had time to kill before the trolley tour started, we walked up to Allen Street. Here’s Mom in front of her namesake store… you guessed it, her name is Arlene.
They, (Arlene’s Store) had some very nice (and rather expensive) southwestern items.
Have you ever seen a wall rug made out of metal? It can be yours for only ~$900.
My Mom and Stepdad took a quick tour of the World’s Largest Rosebush. The rest of us sat this this one out… we were starting to see a trend, every other building or attraction we stopped at; required an additional $5 to $10.
Jim under the “World’s Largest Rosebush”. Clearly not in bloom at this time.
The town’s streets were often filled with period-correct characters, such as this guy… Richard Blake recently celebrated his 90th birthday and is even on Youtube. Click HERE.
We all boarded the trolley for a tour around town.
Our driver / tour-guide entertained us with his wit and humor.
The trolley tour was very informative. Our driver / guide pointed out all the historical buildings around town while he put in a few advertising plugs for the local attractions… follow along:
After our town trolley tour, we got back in time for our first gunfight of the day. This was included in our ticket price for the trolley tour.
The comedy gunfight is located in the Old Tombstone Western Town. We wandered around the mini-western town / mini-golf area until it was time for the gunfight.
The gunfight show was entertaining but the quality of the acting seemed to be a step down from the shows we saw last week at Old Tucson.
We stopped for a quick lunch and refreshments after the gunfight in their adjacent restaurant.
Then we toured the Gunfighter Hall of Fame Museum. Click HERE for more images from google. This self-guided museum is relatively new and is still in the process of being completed; for instance, the display cabinets aren’t lit up… my Mom borrowed a flashlight from the front desk to help light up some of the many artifacts. Follow along:
Here we were able to use the coupon book (once again) that we bought at the FamCamp Office for $15. We got in for half-price and paid $10. That coupon book sure paid for itself 🙂
We walked quickly through the OK Corral museum entrance to make the next showing of the infamous gunfight re-enactment.
The actors tried to depict the events that led up to the gunfight…
and then came the final show-down:
After the gunfight re-enactment, we all poured out of the bleachers and toured the rest of the enclosed OK Corral area.
Here’s a full-size mannequin display:
I think these guys have been out in the weather a little too long:
Follow along now as we tour of the rest of the OK Corral area:
We posed for pictures in one of the out-buildings at the OK Corral in front of a convenient back-drop.
Mom and Jimmy. Awww.
The “Cribs of Tombstone” display at the OK Corral:
More OK Corral pictures:
Mom at the OK Corral.Cheryl at the OK Corral.Steven at the OK Corral.
Cheryl bought a custom horse-shoe for the “dirt farm” from a vendor at the OK Corral.
We went back into the OK Corral museum building to attend a very well-made theater show.
They didn’t allow pictures in the theater during the presentation. The show included a very cool rotating diorama behind the curtains with narration by actor Vincent Price.
After enjoying the OK Corral, we walked around town some more to check out the local stores. Here’s some more actors walking the streets.
Steven and Cheryl.
We stopped briefly at the infamous Bird Cage Theatre but didn’t take the full tour. It would have been another $10 per person. Click HERE for more information from Wikipedia. Maybe Stilla and I will come back here later… it’s supposed to be haunted.
Of course we had to stop at a range located inside one of the town shops. These six-shooters fire blanks with a little paint ball.
After Steven and I demonstrated our gunfighting prowess… we stopped for refreshments and an appetizer at the Crystal Palace Saloon:
And finally, after a full day of touring the town, we piled back into the car and drove over to the edge of town to visit Boot Hill Cemetery.
Here’s a nice view from inside the graveyard. The Dragoon Mountains are in the background.
More gravesites at the Boot Hill Cemetery:
And of course, I had to take pictures of the old car (hearse?) that’s parked next to the Boot Hill Trading Post.
We then drove back to the Escapees Park and my family dropped us off… they still have a long drive ahead of them to get back to Casa Grande.
We said our sad farewells… and thanked them for visiting with us for the day.
Then we took little “Coach” for a long, well-deserved walk 🙂
Hope you enjoyed today’s tour… stay tuned for our next adventure…
Tuesday morning we left the Agave Gulch FamCamp on Davis-Monthan AFB before 10 AM to travel a whopping 48 miles to the Saguaro SKP RV Park in Benson. Click HERE for a link to their website which claims to be Southeastern Arizona’s best kept secret.
When we checked in, we found out they have special offer for first-time visitors – only $50 for a full week! We took it.
Nice spot, eh?
I’ll post more information on this Escapees Club Co-Op Park later. This morning (Wednesday) we are awaiting my Mom, Stepdad, brother Steven & Cheryl from the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande to arrive. We plan on visiting Tombstone together.
When I left you in my last post, we had just finished touring the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and plugged our second destination for the day into the GPS. We drove the ~20 miles back down Interstate 19 to the San Xavier del Bac Mission Church, aka “The White Dove of the Desert”. Click HERE for a link to their website for a “virtual tour”.
The Mission Church website claims that this is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona! The church’s interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. It is a place where visitors can truly step back in time and enter an authentic 18th Century space.
The San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797. It is a national historic landmark that still retains its original purpose of ministering to the religious needs of its parishioners.
Here’s a highly detailed diorama that is on display near the inner courtyard.
A tour of the courtyard(s):
When we first arrived, a catholic mass was already in progress. Stilla enjoyed taking part in the service, and afterwards we toured the main church.
After our tour of the historic church, we hurried straight back to the FamCamp to release our little dog “Coach” from his solitary confinement. And also, we had an important dinner date scheduled with our fellow Alpine Coach friends Tom and Marilyn Anteau to get back to…
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Tom and Marilyn hail from Anchorage, Alaska. Therefore, Tom was in custody of some fine Alaskan shrimp known as “spots”. They invited us to partake in a mini-grillfest with these fine “spots” as the “guests-of-honor” 🙂
Man, were they ever good! Thanks Tom!
We also had a side dish of tasty rice that Marilyn cooked up along with a German-style salad that Stilla put together. Yum!
We had to secure little “Coach” in the pickup to keep him from begging too much during our dinner; which didn’t work so well, he just begged from afar 🙂
We enjoyed dessert(s), (yes, plural), and each other’s company until the sun went down.
We hope to see Tom and Marilyn again at the next Alpine Coach “Desert Rat Rally” in Quartzsite scheduled for January. But then again, you never know; it’s a small RV world out there after all.
We said our fond farewells and went back to our Coach to rest our weary feet. Safe travels Tom & Marilyn… til next time!
Tomorrow (Tuesday) we plan to pack up and move over to the Escapees (SKP) RV Park in Benson, AZ. Our time here really went fast. Stay tuned for more adventure… we plan on visiting Tombstone and Bisbee for starters…
Fair warning – Monday was another fun-filled tourist day with LOTS of pictures. Our first destination was the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
This time we got an early start and we took scenic Gates Pass to get to the desert museum. This is the same route that we took with Tom and Marilyn Anteau when we made our return trip from Old Tucson last Saturday. Old Tucson is just around the corner (metaphorically speaking) from the Desert Museum.
We stopped briefly at the top of the pass to enjoy the views:
Here’s the sign on the main road (N Kinney Rd) directing us to the Museum.
The Desert Museum entrance.
I just had to take a photo of this “rolling billboard” for the Desert Museum that was parked out front. A 1960 Studebaker Lark Station Wagon, I believe.
Once again we were able to use the coupon book we purchased at the FamCamp office for $15. This coupon book has really paid for itself… our half-price entrance fee was a whopping $15.50 for the two of us.
As you can see from the brochure below… no pets allowed 🙁 But, we knew that before we came here… poor little dog “Coach” had to stay at home in the Coach again. At least he has air-conditioning; whereas we don’t.
This was our tour-guide for the day; a fold-out map of the museum attractions. If you click on the picture of the map (below) to enlarge it, you can see the many trails and loops we walked.
According to Wikipedia: “The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a 98-acre (40 ha) zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum, publisher, and art gallery founded in 1952.” (Click HERE to learn more from wikipedia, or HERE for the museum website).
Now follow along on our tour – I’ll keep the narration to a minimum this time:
So what do you think? Is this a cool place or what?
Now how about a tour through the gift shop:
Now that was like a gift shop on steroids, wasn’t it?
Adjacent to the gift shop and museum exit is one more aquarium display:
Book your trip now… you gotta see this place!
I even collected all the animal footprint stamps that are located throughout the park. Most of the kids that visit, get a cool booklet to put their ink stamps in, but I made do with the back-side of our tour-guide map. It gave me something to do other than take pictures… guess that didn’t work out so well, eh?
After our awesome, but somewhat hot, tour of the Desert Museum, we decided that we still had enough time left in the day to check out a big white church that we heard and read about. We saw the church along-side of Interstate 19 yesterday when we visited the Titan Museum. A neighbor at the campground told us it’s a “must-see” attraction and it’s only about 19 miles away from the Desert Museum. So we plugged it into the GPS and off we went.
However, since this post is large enough already; I’ll make a new one… Here’s a “teaser” picture of San Xavier del Bac Mission Church:
Sunday found us traveling south on Interstate 19 towards Nogales. An interesting fact about this highway, is that the “mile” markers are actually “kilometer” markers.
Our primary destination for the day was the Titan Missile Museum located 20 miles south of Tucson in Sahuarita. We decided to save the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for Monday – mainly because we got a late start to the day Sunday, and also, we were told it’s best to leave ourselves plenty of time to enjoy the Desert Museum.
We checked online and found out the museum isn’t dog-friendly, so we had to leave little dog “Coach” in the Coach with the air-conditioners set at 72 degrees.
Here’s the entrance to the museum parking lot which is right beside the gate to the missile silo located behind the building.
The museum entrance.
Once again, we were able to use the coupon book we purchased at the FamCamp office for $15 and got in for half-price. A very reasonable $9.50.
And here’s a view of the missile silo.
This is the last of the Titan Missile sites. (Click on the “green font” for a link to wikipedia) The Titan II missile is the largest missile ever built by the United States. During the Cold War, 54 Titan II missiles stood alert in their underground silos all across the country. In 1987, the last Titan II was deactivated.
“At the Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona, visitors journey through time to stand on the front line of the Cold War. This preserved Titan II missile site, officially known as complex 571-7, is all that remains of the 54 Titan II missile sites that were on alert across the United States from 1963 to 1987.
Able to launch from its underground silo in just 58 seconds, the Titan II was capable of delivering a 9-megaton nuclear warhead to targets more than 6300 miles (10,000 km) away in about 30 minutes. Nowhere else in the world can visitors get this close to an intercontinental ballistic missile in its operational environment. This one-of-a kind museum gives visitors a rare look at the technology used by the United States to deter nuclear war. What was once one of America’s most top secret places is now a National Historic Landmark, fulfilling its new mission of bringing Cold War history to life for millions of visitors from around the world.”
The nose cone that housed the 9-megaton nuclear warhead.
The 9-megaton nuclear warhead: Yeah, I’m sure it’s the actual one 🙂
After a short wait, we were ushered into a small conference room for an orientation and video presentation.
Then we were herded out the back door of the museum building to the silo entrance.
The docent-guided tour consisted of several different volunteers. At the silo door entrance, a couple of the volunteers explained the procedures the missile silo crews had to go through to access the highly-secure facility.
We then walked down 55 stairs. Here’s one of the “blast” doors that had to be accessed to enter the facility.
Here the volunteer-guide points to the second “blast” door. The first one has to be closed and secured before the second one can be accessed.
Then we walked through one of the tunnels to the control room.
Entering the control room:
And here it is – the missile control room aka launch control center:
The launch keys were locked in the cabinet on the left in the photo below.
The guidance control panel.
The tour-guide told us this is the lunch clock… never to be confused with the launch clock.
More keys… these were mostly for important places like the mop closet and paint locker though.
Side view of the command console position.
The entire underground facility was protected against shock with these giant springs.
After our tour of the control room (complete with simulated launch demonstration) we went down the long cableway (tunnel) to the silo:
After going through another “blast” door, we got our first view of the missile.
Some of you may already know that several scenes in the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact were shot at this site. The missile itself was depicted as the launch vehicle for the film’s Phoenix spacecraft, the first warp prototype.
We had to view the missile through glass panels that were installed in place of the doors:
After everyone got their pictures, the volunteer tour-guide led us back down the long cableway (tunnel) to the stairwell where we came back topside.
Then we were let loose to wander the grounds on our own.
Old M151 Jeep parked near the silo.
A metal ramp provided access to the top of the partially open silo door.
At the top of the silo door, we could take pictures though the glass panels.
The hole you see cut out of the side of the warhead is to prove that it’s inactive. I learned that the 103-foot-tall missile had to be left outside for a month so that Soviet spy satellites could verify it no longer carried a payload.
Rocket engines were on display under cover near the silo:
What a cool tour and awe-inspiring place. Another “must-see” to add to your list if you haven’t been there yet.
On our way back out, we went through the gift shop and asked about the nearby copper mine. We heard they offered tours that were supposed to be pretty cool. Unfortunately, the copper mine is closed for tours on Sundays and Mondays. Oh well, guess we have to save something for next time, right?
After we left the Missile Museum, we stopped in for a “cold one” at the American Legion Post 66 that is located just outside the entrance gate. It’s been quite a while since we were in an American Legion Post. I used to be a part of the American Legion Riders (motorcycle club) back in the ’90’s when I was stationed at Fort Carson. I don’t belong to any specific post now, but have a “paid-up-for-life” or “PUFL” membership card. It was a nice place, with good prices and free popcorn. You can’t beat that! Too bad, the American Legion Posts and VFW posts aren’t as RV-friendly as the Elks Lodges…
And with that, we called it a day and headed back to the Agave Gulch Campground to see if little dog “Coach” was being good. He was.
Check back in tomorrow (Monday) for a full recap of our visit to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum…
On Saturday we went to Old Tucson. Another full day of activities! But this time, we had leave little dog ‘Coach’ in the Coach for the day.
As I mentioned in one of my previous posts ( HERE), we made plans with fellow Alpiner’s; Tom and Marilyn Anteau, to tour Old Tucson together. We met them by chance (and good fortune) here in the Agave Gulch FamCampwhere they had just returned to – after being in Anchorage, AK. for the last few months. Tom graciously offered to drive, so we piled in his car and made the circa 20 mile trip.
Sign at the entrance to the parking area.
We were able to use another coupon from the booklet we purchased at the FamCamp office and got in for half-price. A reasonable $19 for a full day of fun and activities. Tom mentioned that it had been ~45 years since he was last here.
For those of you that didn’t know, (me included), Old Tucson Studios is a movie studio and theme park just west of Tucson, Arizona, adjacent to the Tucson Mountains and close to the western portion of Saguaro National Park. Built in 1939 for the movie Arizona, it has been used for the filming of several movies and television westerns since then, such as Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Little House on the Prairie. It was opened to the public in 1960, and historical tours are offered about the movies filmed there, along with live cast entertainment featuring stunt shows and shootouts. (source Wikipedia)
We arrived just in time to join the first of the three guided walking tours that the park offers each day. Our guide was enthusiastic and informative. I had no idea so many films were shot in one place.
Guided tour of the Old Tucson Studios.
After our guided tour, we were released on our own recognizance to visit the many buildings or activities throughout the day guided only by the performance schedule brochure we received at the entrance.
Train station with armored stagecoach. Notice the “High Chaparral” sign in the background.
The first of many skits/shows throughout the day was “Sir William Wiley’s Miracle Elixir Show”, a ~30 minute presentation that was full of bad jokes and slapstick comedy… what fun.
Tom was pulled from the audience to play a part in the little show. His 5 minutes of fame…
Here’s Tom in action. He had to bang the drum on signal… and often the performer(s) would fake him out for everyone’s amusement.
Tom received his consolation prize – an ice-cold bottle of elixir (Root Beer) and was applauded for his efforts.
We continued on to explore the many buildings until the next scheduled performance.
Do you recognize any of these street views from your favorite Old Western Movies?
Here’s Stilla posing in front of the Town Hall.
Here’s Tom and Marilyn walking up the street… probably looking for a gunfight…
No explanation needed:
In the Grand Palace Saloon, we watched “Old Tucson – A Musical History of the Silver Screen”, to live singers. Nice.
Here, “Cookie” gave us a demonstration and informative dialogue on chuck wagons and campfires.
A gunfight skit provided for lots of entertainment. One of several throughout the day.
A western town isn’t complete unless it has a Sheriff’s Office and gallows, right?
Marilyn and Stilla sauntered around town, looking for trouble no doubt. Or are they looking for me and Tom?
Now join us for a little train ride around the town…
We got off the train at the station opposite the “High Chaparral” movie set. Click HERE for more on this.
The “High Chaparral” movie set.
Building at the “High Chaparral” movie set.
And here’s probably one of the most-filmed locomotives in the world. The Reno.
This locomotive legend was almost destroyed in 1995 by fire. Click HERE and HERE for more information on this.
Here’s a nice shot of the stagecoach coming into town.
And another well-performed skit, complete with high-flying acrobatics and lots of explosions…
Some of the buildings to visit, weren’t buildings at all…
This Saloon-Keep gave us the run-down on saloons ‘back-in-the-day’. I don’t think I would want any of the whiskey or beer they served up back then.
How did the OK Corral get here? I thought it was in Tombsone.
We paused for a few minutes to check out the Bluegrass music playing at the Arizona Theater.
Chinese Alley:
And another skit; a re-enactment of the movie – “Heaven With a Gun“. Well performed.
And here’s another shot of the stagecoach leaving town…
Many of the buildings were chock-full of movie memorabilia and wardrobe items.
What a great place! Another “must-see” if you’re ever in the area. Hope you enjoyed the visit with us and the pics.
After departing the Old Tucson Studio, we took the scenic route back to the campground. We’re going to have to come back to check out the nearby Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We hurried back to let our respective dogs out of the Coaches, where they’ve been cooped up all day.
Nice views from one of the pull-offs, eh? Once again, the pictures don’t do it justice.
Many thanks to Tom and Marilyn for taking us along with them to check out this very cool attraction. We sure enjoyed it!
Stay tuned to see what we’re up to next…
Oh, and by the way… little Coach did just fine again today all alone. We took him for an extra long walk once we got back 🙂
On Friday morning, we decided to extend our stay here at the Agave Gulch FamCamp located inside the Davis-Monthan AFB.There’s so much to see and do in and around Tucson! We paid for an additional 3 days so we could try to soak in as much as possible. So that puts us out of here on the 21st when we will probably head over to the Escapees Park in Benson. From Benson, we can visit nearby Tombstone and maybe Bisbee. Then, we’ll start heading north to Colorado since the house still hasn’t sold 🙁
After paying $60 for an additional three nights, we also purchased a coupon book from the campground registration office with many half-price deals for local attractions. The coupon booklet cost $15 and we expect to recoup the cost with the savings from the first attraction.
We then jumped in the pickup and drove just outside the southeast gate to the Pima Air & Space Museum. We found out the museum is dog-friendly, so we were able to take little Coach along. We brought his doggie backpack along so we could carry him around when we’re inside the buildings.
With over 80 acres and 300 planes, the Pima Air & Space Museum is quite astounding. Click HERE for more information.
Here’s the entrance to the parking lot:
And here’s the entrance to the main hangar-type building:
We used our coupon booklet to get the half-price discount so the entrance fee was a palatable $15 for the two of us.
Now follow along on our tour… I took a lot of pics as usual, but I pared them down to the following favorites in order to give you a good sample of what’s here at this superb attraction. Hope you enjoy…
The Wright FlyerWorld’s smallest aircraft, the Starr Bumble Bee.
Here’s a Chief Warrant Officer Four (CW4) uniform on display (Vietnam era) that I found particularly interesting since I retired as a CW4.
The new Dreamliner 787 from Boeing is now on permanent display here. Click HERE for the news article.
There was even an exclusive separate hangar building for the famed B17 “Flying Fortress”. I really enjoyed all the “nose art” on display in this building.
One building housed all the space related items. They have a lunar module simulator and a space station docking simulator to play with. I landed the lunar module pretty hard… probably caused some damage 🙂
Unfortunately, the bus tour for the AFB “boneyard” didn’t allow dogs, so we weren’t able to go. It would have been an additional $7 and I’m sure worth it… but oh well, maybe another time. At least we were able to take little Coach along with us everywhere else today.
As usual, the exit is through the gift shop… one thing I thought was especially interesting is that they sell old aircraft parts. I wonder if they sell a lot of these items?
Authentic aircraft items for sale in the gift shop.Dreamliner 787 items for sale in the gift shop.
Here’s a couple aerial view posters of the massive aircraft “boneyard” that were for sale. Click HERE for some more awesome aerial views courtesy of google.
If you like planes (and who doesn’t?) and have a day or two to kill… this is probably the most superb collection of aircraft in the world. I highly recommend this tour. Don’t miss this attraction if you are ever in the area!
We were pretty much beat after being on our feet all day, so we enjoyed a lazy evening and just kicked back in the Coach afterwards. I used the evening to catch up on the previous days blog. And now, as I write this… I’m still a day behind.
Today (Saturday) we toured Old Tucson, which is the old west town made famous as the location for more than 300 movies and TV shows. But, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow…. 🙂
