Saguaro's

Feb 13/2019 Weather feels warm today 74, night 48.  Going to get a few warm days in a row.  We talked to a fellow at the park today and he has been at Voyager's for 15 years... he thought it was the coldest winter yet!  It happens.

on the ride in Saguaro National Park - East

There is a short ride just outside the city limits of east Tucson in the Rincon Mountain District.    A one way, one lane road for about 10 miles takes you throughout the Saguaro National Park.    There is desert scrub, desert grassland, oak woodland, pine-oak woodland, pine forest and mixed conifer forest.  

lush vegetation this year with the rain a couple of times in the last few months

There has been a few times where there was rain in the last couple month so the cacti look like they are really flourishing this winter.   Spring should bring some bountiful flowers out here in the desert.  The desert really does come alive when the blooms come out.   Because of the higher elevation in the Rincons, animals like the black bear, Mexican spotted owl, Arizona mountain king snake, and white-tailed deer .... today we didn't see anything alive except for the cactus.  That's probably a good thing for chicken Rosey! 

riders of a different kind  ??? 3 wheels

It is a pretty ride with nice vistas.  Hunger is catching up to us and we saw a cool looking 1950's sign 1 mile away.   Let's check it out...  Yes it was Great spot outside and good food too. 

bar and restaurant outside the park

Treasure Hunt

Feb 05/2019  Weather  cooler high of 64 and cloudy.  Big cold front coming so we are out today on the motorcycle.  (next two days will be in the 50's and freeze warning at night - Yikes).  

inside one of the tents at the Kino center

Every year the first two weeks in February the city of Tucson is an international city (people come from all over the world) for the Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show.  To us it doesn't mean much.   We did hear about the hotels where vendors setup.  The hotel rooms(bedrooms)  become open door.  The vendors invite you into each and every room to look at their wares!  Kind of bizarre sounding, maybe we will do that another day.  Today we are walking the Kino Sports Complex venue.  Huge and so interesting.  Beautiful raw gems, stones and all kinds of equipment to mine, cut, polish and display your treasures. 

it goes on and on

gorgeous blue !

Some are wholesale where you buy the crate or flat of gems.  It appears most things are sold by weight as well.  Jewellry makers will also find everything they need to make their necklaces or bracelets. 

love the hearts

this was striking - the colours

raw precious stones

stones already polished

Tucson becomes a playground for the world of international gem and mineral trading, and collecting.The showcase is more than just one show. It takes place at multiple locations  focused mainly in downtown -midtown Tucson. Treasure hunters from near and far come to hunt for jewelry, track down jewelry-making supplies, and browse collectibles and treasures, both rare and bargain priced. It is the city's largest public event and said to be the largest in the world.   Tucson's gem show actually includes more than 40 different shows at dozens of locations around town, from exhibit halls to hotels and sprawling camps of roadside exhibit tents. 

  Along the I10 corridor you will drive by white tent tops on both sides of the freeway.  Almost all shows are free and have shuttle buses running between them.  While this event brings serious collectors from around the world, it's the "cool" factor that makes it one of the biggest and best events of its kind. Thousands of people from all walks of life come to gawk at gold, oooh over opals, and dig dinosaur fossils.  Ok Billy lets be one of the "cool" people today; even though we have no clue what we are looking at. 

Tony Znaniecki's artwork on rocks

Sccccccccrrrrrrreeeeeaaaaammmm!

Feb 2/2019  Weather 74, sunny low 52.  They say rain is coming for Superbowl Sunday.   We are out cruising around our end of Tucson today and we keep driving by the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base which the sound can just about throw you off the Harley if you time it when one of the Warthog's is taking off!  Seriously.   Plus if you stay at the Voyager RV Resort on Kolb Road be prepared to hear these guys most of the day; they do seem to stop at night - yeah!!!   These fighter planes are nasty.   There are two interesting things about the DMAF base;  the first being that the huge scccccrrrreeeettttccchhhing fighter jets we hear coming and going every day is a training squadron and the second is that this base is also the largest boneyard in the world of military airplanes(another posting for that).  Today we can let you know about the A-10 "Warthog".    

The Warthog A-10

People would say the A-10 was a plane designed around a gun—its 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger rotary cannon, to be specific.  When the last of more than 700 A-10s was built in 1984, the aircrews and maintainers who worked on this lumbering plane thought it was so ugly they called it the "Warthog." Today, after decades of wear and tear and blood and toil, that nickname carries with it a nickname of affection and respect, five squadrons and over 300 personnel employing 83 A-10C aircraft. 

the Gatling gun

The A-10's cockpit and portions of its flight control system are protected by 1,200 pounds of titanium aircraft armor, called the "bathtub." The bathtub can withstand direct hits from armor-piercing projectiles up 23 mm.  But the design logic dictating its configuration goes well beyond that mean machine gun in its nose. The A-10's large, unswept high-aspect ratio wing and large ailerons give it excellent low-speed, low-altitude maneuverability. The wing also allows short takeoffs and landings. That's handy, because this plane frequently needs to operate from primitive forward airfields near the front lines the Warthog isn't fast—not by a longshot. Pilots say it has three practical throttle settings: full-throttle, 50 percent, and off.   It's  reputation-maker is the gun. The seven-barrel GAU-8 Avenger measures nine feet long and fires 30mm armor-piercing shells housed in six-foot-diameter drum. The Gatling gun hoses shells at a rate of 3900 rounds per minute.

GAU-8

It represents about 16 percent of the aircraft's weight.  When the gun is removed for maintenance, the Warthogs tail must be supported to keep the nose from tipping up!

A-10 Warthog - see the seven barral gun in the nose

South Tucson

Jan 19 - Feb 16/2019   The weather is like spring weather to us.  High 60's or low 70's.  Sunny.  No rain and no humidity in the desert.  We think it is cooler than last year.

Total Lunar Eclipse - Blood Moon- Couple days after we pulled in

We are enjoying it actually and are happy to stay in Tucson for another month.  We found the Voyager RV Resort has super long pull thrus and all amenities we need, even if we don't leave the park for a few days.  Heated pools, golf, store, restaurant, library, hairdresser (oh good we need haircuts badly), massage, spa, activities, even a hotel for guests. 

nice heated lap pool at the Voyager

There are a few interesting events in the Tucson area we want to see.   The Gem show especially.  It is known worldwide as one of the best. Put that on the list.

Nascar Truck races going on - asphalt track

Close by we can hear speedway cars running at full throttle?  There must be a race track nearby.  Found it!!!

Pima County Fairgrounds and RV Park

We are out riding today over to Pima Fairgrounds and in this area is Tucson Speedway, Tucson Dragstrip, Tucson Shooting Range, Model Airplanes, Go Karts, and a Motorcycle Racetrack too.  Everything for the outdoor enthusiast is here is one spot.  We stopped to look at the campground and it is actually not too bad for a week or too.  Good to know for future.
Let's see what else we can find today? 

these are the small potholes, it was scary on the bike

Our backroads map is taking us out towards Colossal Cave Mountain Park.  The road up into it was a washboard, potholes everywhere.  YIKES!  Billy perserved up to the top.  The building was beautifully built into the side of the mountain.  You can take a self guided hike thru the caves; but Rosey and Billy are chickens of caves and this will not happen.  Haha.  We did see Kartchener Caves last year but that is different - it is huge and we had a guide with us.  We are such babies........

Colossal Cave Mountain Hdqtrs building - tour & cafe

It has been a home, shrine, hideout, inspiring workplace, exciting playground, and a tranquil retreat. This place is on the National Historic Register.   The 2,400-acre Park showcases the crystal-filled Colossal Cave and the historic La Posta Quemada Ranch.  Civilian Conversation Corps back in 1936 built the camp and unique stone building.  It is quite a view and worth the nasty road up to see it. 

Our new neighbour is so CUTE

 Jan 11/2018  Weather 67/44 sunny

Loop B camping at Catalina State Park

Trying to get into Catalina State Park in Oro Valley Arizona is tricky but persistence is worthwhile.  Every morning for a couple of weeks we went on line and check the campground reservations.  Finally we scored 4 nights in one site and 4 nights in another.  Wonderful we will take it.  This park is just beautiful.  You can sit, stand, walk, bike or hike and soak in the views.  

Saguaro Cacti all around us

Catalina State Park is adjacent to the Coronado National Forest on the western slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains, northeast of Tucson.  Average elevation of 3,000 feet (910 m) but varies dramatically with high ridges and low creek beds.

our new neighbour - little prarie dogs abound  
i stand corrected they are round tailed ground squirrels

What a View

Nov 14 - 22/17 Weather hot, every day high 80’s, night high 50’s. 
Quietly parked in Catalina State Park (near Tucson) for the next week.  A good book. A lawn chair.  Doesn’t get any better than this. 

Our site looks like a postcard😊

Tucson and Lemon Picking

March 2, 3/17  Weather warm 80, 50 at night.
Tucson is always a warm spot in the winter so it is also a very busy location for RV's, we actually made a reservation.  We thought we would stop and visit our friends "The Calverley's" for a couple nights. 

our pull thru under the solar panels

The Tucson Lazy Days/KOA is a huge park.  We have not stayed here before;  it is often full and we were not able to get in on previous occasions when passing through.  The park has covered pull thru's which are really neat, they are solar panels and we are under the end one.  Perfect spot for a layover.  Lazy Days RV is just outside the gates so we will wander around the new RV's and see if  there is anything we cannot live without. 
Answer to that statement:   Nope, second day we roamed around the sales yard peaking in everything.  Yeah!  It's much cheaper to still like what we have.  

armful of fresh lemons picked off the tree beside us

the lemons are so big and juicy

 

Sonora Desert Museum

Feb 24/16  Weather 79 sunny, a bit of wind, cold tonight 42.  There is that desert weather again.  Wow what a swing in temps during 24 hours.   Can't get over the consistent sky - it is a big long yawning blue background.  It just seems to swallow you in, it is so bright and clear everyday!

Just to show you not everything in life is perfect.   This saguaro has not been able to grow his arms!

How can something so picky have such a beautiful bloom?

Orange mallows have such a bright happy colour

Just a few miles from the RV Park is the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  I guess Museum in this instance is a catch all for - artist work, gallery, zoo, botanical gardens, cafe, restaurant, theatre, aquarium, aviary, mineral and gem showcase.    Everything native to the Arizona Sonora Desert. 

southwest native hand woven blankets

 Most of it is outdoors, along 2 miles or more of walking paths.  The flowers of the desert are what catch our eye the most.  The beauty against the barren, sandy, rocky landscape seems to pop out at you.  Such a stark contrast.  We enjoy a good part of the day here walking the trail and taking in the exhibits. 

mineral and gem showcase = all arizona found

Mount Lemmon - Sky Island Scenic Drive

Feb 22/16  Weather high of 74, a bit windy, sunny.  10 degrees cooler than we have seen in two weeks, apparently this is closer to normal.  It's going to be much cooler where we are headed today too!!! We expect to see snow, and we did. 

View of Tucson below as we climb the mountain

Tucson is surrounded by mountain ranges and the highest is Mount Lemmon, where snow skiing exists.  The mountain gets up to 200 inches of snow per year on average. 

on top of mount lemmon

It's hard to believe you could be sun bathing by the pool and an hour later be up to the top of the peak which is about 9,100 feet and skiing.  Little chalet town of Summerhaven!  To get to the slopes you take The Catalina Hwy also known as the Sky Island Scenic Byway.  The name comes from the analogy of these mountains being like islands of forest in a sea of desert........ Well ok???  I guess.

catalina hwy snaking its way through the mountains

  Regardless it is a beautiful 27 mile ride.  It takes a winding route through the Santa Catalina Mountains and has some rapid gain in elevation with numerous switchbacks.  Oh yes, it is definitely a motorcycle road.  What blows you away is how many serious bicyclists you will see on this trek to the top and they are going at times up to 50 mph on the way down!!!

hoodoos  by the road

 This was a favourite spot for Lance Armstrong to train with the US team for their Tour De France.  As we passed several bicyclists we were in awe how fit someone must be to complete this climb and endurance.  Amazing athletes! 

many serious bicyclists use Mount Lemmon for training

To the skies and then to The Universe

Feb 20/16  Weather clear, sunny, high 85. Low 49.  The weather is consistently sunny and clear.  Ideal climate especially for the place we are riding to today.
We started with lunch at Todd's Restaurant on Ryan Airfield.   What a unique setting, over 220 small aircraft based out of Ryan.   Our booth sat right on the window while the many small planes came and went.  Saturday morning seemed to be an active time for the airport.

our view for lunch,,, a real old time aircraft just coming in

The Kitt Peak National Observatory.  From Tucson the astronomical observatory is about 55 miles west in the Quinlan Mountains/Sonoran Desert on Tohono O'odham Nation land.

approaching the summit of Kitt's Peak, you can see about 8 scopes

 The observatory is the largest most diverse gathering of astronomical instruments in the the world with 24 optical and two radio telescopes. In 1958 scientists chose Kitt Peak after a 3 year study of over 150 mountain ranges in the United States.  It is leased from the Tohono O'odham Nation for as long as it is used for scientific research only.  The list of Universities that use Kitt are a mile long, well at least big enough to fill this impressive sign.

25 Universities listed in the Association to use Kitt

We were able to take a guided tour around the top of the observatory area and our docent took us into the 4 meter Mayall telescope that is now funded by the US Department of Energy.

4 meter mayall scope

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument will chart out the role of dark energy in the expansion history of the universe. To carry out its mission, DESI will measure the red shifts of more than 30 million galaxies and quasars and create a map of the universe out to a distance of 10 billion light years.   Are you geeked out yet?   The young fellow informed us of this and so much more.  We are ready for the next episode of Big Bang!!!!!!  excellent tour, oh and the ride up Kitt's Peak is 12 miles to hovering at 7000 feet, breathtaking views on the Harley:)

A Mission and A Missile

Feb 18/16 Weather 83 today, not as hot as the sky is overcast.  Good for riding without getting burnt to a crisp.  There are two sites we are visiting today that are  extremes to each other, peace in a Mission and war in a Missile.

White Dove of the Desert

 Mission San Xavier del Bac, also know as the White Dove of the Desert was founded by the Catholic in 1692; although the current church was built between 1783 and 1797.  Still pretty old for North America, in fact it is the oldest European structure in Arizona.  Beautiful.  The amazing thing is that today it is still being used for its original purpose of administering religious needs to its parishioners, regular masses and weddings and baptisms are held.   Extensive restorations are on going and they have been using the original mortar recipe that includes water and cactus and sand.  A visit here feels very peaceful.

entering into the church, splendid old wooden pews

look how small the side doors into the church are, Billy is 6 foot

About 20 miles south in the town of Green Valley is the opposite attraction.  At the Titan Missile Museum, we take a  journey through time to stand on the front line of the Cold War.

in 1961 Nuclear War was a threat

Titan II Missile = decommissioned

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. Did you know there were 54?  18 here in the Tucson area, 18 in Wichita Kansas and 18 in Little Rock Arkansas.  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.  All sites were decommissioned, and this site is a National Historic Landmark.    "Peace by Determent" was the United States plan.  Scary..... the tour takes you down into the silo's where 4 man crews staffed the missile and were on alert to launch the missile/nuclear bomb.  The sites had a longevity of 20 years!!!  We left here thinking what could have been, and thankful it did not.

The Command Center to Push the Button