Thursday We are now heading North along the East side of the Colorado River to visit Lake Havasu. We took AZ Highway 95, which is long and very straight, cutting straight through the Yuma Army Proving Grounds to Quartzsite. (not to be confused with the CA Highway 95, which runs up the West side of the Colorado River, although at one point, in Needles they actually meet on a bridge cross the Colorado). WE now left the Sonoran Desert, seeing that last Saguaro somewhere south of Parker. We stopped just North of Parker at the very pretty AZ Buckskin Mountain state Park, right on the edge of the river. A beautiful park only marred by the enormous number of recreational boats moving up and down the river, jet skis, ski boats, pontoon boats, power boats. Good fun to watch, but a constant noise. We discovered that the river from Parker to Lake Havasu is one enormous water activity centre. Footnote. Interestingly the weather in Yuma was getting noticeably warmer, with the temp creeping above 100F, so the tourist season was winding down for the hot summer. Whereas in Parker, 150 miles North, the temperature was getting noticeably warmer, with the temperature creeping above 100F and yet the summer tourist season was just starting! Go figure. (as they say over here). Lake Havasu and its links to London On Saturday, after our two nights at Buckskin Mountain, which were very pleasant, we were ready to move on. We planned to take a very short drive to Needles, just 70 miles north, but to stop off in Lake Havasu to visit the Famous London Bridge. We found the bridge without any trouble. It was bought by a man named McCulloch in 1968 , dismantled, stone by stone, transported to the middle of the desert and rebuilt by 1971. (Now a theory exists that the guy must have been insane, can’t imagine why). Then they dug a channel beneath the bridge to connect two more bits of desert together. Then they waited until the tide came in (a bit like Noah), in the form of Lake Havasu, which is a reservoir about 50 miles long which has been made by damming the Colorado at the Parker Dam. Now the bridge sits happily spanning a beautiful blue expanse of water. A far cry from its dirty damp days in the middle of London.
Showing posts with label Arizona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arizona. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
April 3rd - Playing In The Sand
Wednesday
Determined to have a quiet day we took a short ride to look at the local desert. This is the largest expanse of Sand Dunes in North America, known as the North American Sahara. We only got to the South East corner of this 30 mile stretch of sand dunes, but it was enough to see how amazing the landscape is. We sat for a bit, I went for a walk up a dune to see the view, with the temperature now over 100 degs F in the shade (oh! there is none) it was not a long walk. Then as we sat a guy came up and offered us a ride on his Dune Buggy, well that was a great idea (of course he wanted payment for it) so, Sally went first, donning the crash helmet and thoroughly enjoying herself, she went speeding off over the dunes with Dennis the Dune Buggy Driver. Only to return sometime later still with a big grin, having enjoyed it all the way. Now it was my turn and after putting on the helmet we sped off into the desert, like a modern day Lawrence of Arabia, nothing around us but sand, sand and more sand. Riding up impossible slopes, looking at the sky beneath us as we drove over crests, then hurtling down (what seemed) vertical cliff faces al made for a very enjoyable ride. At one point we stopped in the midst of …. Nowhere! Dennis pointed to a dune and told me that was the spot where they filmed scenes from Return of the Jedhi. There was actually a small gravel patch which had been imported for some reason for the film (to create a stable platform for filming from?). We then rolled over the dunes some more before returning to Sally, the van and safety. We both agreed that this was real serendipity – unexpected good things. We both really enjoyed our trip in the desert. Following this we drove back to Yuma and had our lunch at the small Gateway Park, which is a public beach next to the Colorado River and Yuma State Prison (now closed), right next to the place where trains first entered California in 18 something.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
April 1st - Yuma Crossing
Monday
We arrived in Yuma and are staying at a very nice RV park, quite quiet as many of the Canadian Snowbirds have now left to return home for the summer.
Yuma is tucked right into the bottom left hand corner of Arizona. It is there because it is one of the few places where one could reliably cross the Colorado river. It is also the highest navigable point on the Colorado, so food and material could be shipped from the sea some 240 miles to here. These two factors meant that in the 19th Century it became the East West Route of choice to get to California. It also became the army supply depot for the whole South West, stuff was sent round the Horn and then distributed via mule train to the army forts. Once the railroad came the geographical reason for it went away, but it still remains a very important army base. It has the famous Yuma Proving Grounds, where military equipment of all sorts is tested. The original supply base, or Quartermaster Stores, is now a State Park, so we visited it in the morning, which is of course where we found out all this information. We were also fascinated to learn that Yuma is the place where the Colorado was first dammed to provide irrigation for the agriculture. The city proudly boasts that it grows 90% of the leaf salad in the U.S.A. It is the Lettuce Capital of the world!.
Today we had fixed up to visit with some British people we had met in the laundry at Whispering Palms in Tuscon. We arranged to meet in Applebee's, where we had a very pleasant lunch, talking over the travels we had been on. Talking away the day is very tiring so siesta time called.
We arrived in Yuma and are staying at a very nice RV park, quite quiet as many of the Canadian Snowbirds have now left to return home for the summer.
Yuma is tucked right into the bottom left hand corner of Arizona. It is there because it is one of the few places where one could reliably cross the Colorado river. It is also the highest navigable point on the Colorado, so food and material could be shipped from the sea some 240 miles to here. These two factors meant that in the 19th Century it became the East West Route of choice to get to California. It also became the army supply depot for the whole South West, stuff was sent round the Horn and then distributed via mule train to the army forts. Once the railroad came the geographical reason for it went away, but it still remains a very important army base. It has the famous Yuma Proving Grounds, where military equipment of all sorts is tested. The original supply base, or Quartermaster Stores, is now a State Park, so we visited it in the morning, which is of course where we found out all this information. We were also fascinated to learn that Yuma is the place where the Colorado was first dammed to provide irrigation for the agriculture. The city proudly boasts that it grows 90% of the leaf salad in the U.S.A. It is the Lettuce Capital of the world!.
Today we had fixed up to visit with some British people we had met in the laundry at Whispering Palms in Tuscon. We arranged to meet in Applebee's, where we had a very pleasant lunch, talking over the travels we had been on. Talking away the day is very tiring so siesta time called.
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| From Drop Box |
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
31st March - Easter Sunday in Phoenix
We have enjoyed being in Phoenix and so stayed on for a few more days than we had planned. On the Saturday night our neighbours invited us to go eat with them at a Mexican restaurant, it was great fun, I had the Chimychanga, Sally a shrimp salad with rice, very nice. Lots of laughs at how three couples with such different backgrounds can have such similar ways of handling their relationship with each other.
View all
So we are staying here for Easter Sunday. I had spotted a very interesting looking church round the corner from our RV Park - The First Christian Church on 7th Ave. It is a very interesting building, Frank Lloyd Wright designed it for a Seminary somewhere else, but it was never used until this church came along and used the plans (in 1971) for their new church. The building itself is a wonderful piece of architecture, however on checking our their website it also seemed to be a good church community, so we decided to go there for their Easter Sunday Service. It was a really good service, very free, great music, with a good challenging sermon. Sally and I were both quite moved.View all
View all First Christian Church Phoenix
Following the service, and lunch in Wildflower Bakery, I took Sally to a 'local' (13 miles away) park, called McCormick Railroad Park. It is a community park which has lots to do with trains, it is run by volunteers. It is also the place to go for Ester Sunday Picnic with the family, there seemed to be thousands of people there. It was great fun. We rode on the miniature train, which goes right round the park, we (being the train load in general, as well as us) waved at everyone, they waved at us. It was great to see so many families out in the sunshine with their picnic stuff BBQ's, coolers, toys, skateboards, kites. There is a small carousel, a whole load of train museum stuff, including the Presidential train from 1921. It is also the resting place for the Arizona Merci Boxcar, talked about in a previous blog, so we saw that. They also have a pavilion for Model Train Layouts. There are 4 layouts set up by local model train clubs. we were entranced by these toy trains, the level of detail and the sheer scale of them. What was to be a quick look turned into a couple of hours. We were even invited to go into the club members area to look in more detail at one train layout. Thank you to a guy named Paul, who showed us round. So once more we had a great day and returned to our trailer tired but happy.
View al lMcCormick Railroad Park
Tomorrow we move on to Yuma.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Merci Train UPDATE!!!!
I do so enjoy discovering things.
While looking into the Merci Train we both had the feeling that they were familiar, but could not place where, or if we had seen one before, So I returned to the Merci Train website and checked more carefully the locations of the boxcars in all states we have passed through. Using Google maps, satellite views and Street view I could then cross reference the locations with our photos. I looked again at Jackson, we were so close to that one. The boxcar in Bristol, Tennessee was close to us, we may have driven past it, but the map shows that it's location cannot be seen from the road. Lastly I looked at Louisiana. The boxcar was displayed at the Old State Capitol, well we had visited the new State Capitol, but could not recall going to the old one. However as soon as I brought it up on Street View I recognized the building, so then checked on our blog archive - found it on 21st October 2012. We had heard about the Downtown Friday Concerts, a series of concert held in a public square, just by the Old State Capitol Building Friday evenings, this week was to be Zydeco! So we had driven into Baton rouge after lunch and parked the car nearby. As we arrived early we had toured the Old Capitol and then gone for a coffee. I re-read the blog. But while I have recorded our visit to the Old State Capitol, there was no mention of the Merci Boxcar and no photos of our visit. In fact I had been quite dismissive of the exhibits there, with the exception of the fine staircase.
So I then checked the Photo Albums on Picasa and lo and behold, there was and album showing our visit and a careful search showed that in the background to a couple of the pics and one video is the Louisiana Boxcar!! More than that, I then searched through our photo archive and found it! We had actually had a look at it and examined it close up, but I had not included the picture in the blog. So here are those pictures.
Oh I am so easily pleased!!! But I had tracked down that little niggle. Yes!
While looking into the Merci Train we both had the feeling that they were familiar, but could not place where, or if we had seen one before, So I returned to the Merci Train website and checked more carefully the locations of the boxcars in all states we have passed through. Using Google maps, satellite views and Street view I could then cross reference the locations with our photos. I looked again at Jackson, we were so close to that one. The boxcar in Bristol, Tennessee was close to us, we may have driven past it, but the map shows that it's location cannot be seen from the road. Lastly I looked at Louisiana. The boxcar was displayed at the Old State Capitol, well we had visited the new State Capitol, but could not recall going to the old one. However as soon as I brought it up on Street View I recognized the building, so then checked on our blog archive - found it on 21st October 2012. We had heard about the Downtown Friday Concerts, a series of concert held in a public square, just by the Old State Capitol Building Friday evenings, this week was to be Zydeco! So we had driven into Baton rouge after lunch and parked the car nearby. As we arrived early we had toured the Old Capitol and then gone for a coffee. I re-read the blog. But while I have recorded our visit to the Old State Capitol, there was no mention of the Merci Boxcar and no photos of our visit. In fact I had been quite dismissive of the exhibits there, with the exception of the fine staircase.
So I then checked the Photo Albums on Picasa and lo and behold, there was and album showing our visit and a careful search showed that in the background to a couple of the pics and one video is the Louisiana Boxcar!! More than that, I then searched through our photo archive and found it! We had actually had a look at it and examined it close up, but I had not included the picture in the blog. So here are those pictures.
Oh I am so easily pleased!!! But I had tracked down that little niggle. Yes!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
March 29th - Downtown Phoenix
Friday
We decided to visit downtown Phoenix today.
Phoenix is the State Capital, which means that it has the State Capitol building. In this case the original building is now a museum. As so few people were visiting we were given a personal tour round the building by one of the volunteers, which was very interesting.
The building reflects Arizona is many ways, it is quite pretty, but small and AZ has always been minimalist its political process (history of public lynchings may have a bearing here). It also prides itself (as I am sure most states do) on going its own way. It was the last area of the 'contiguous 48 states' to receive statehood, February 14th 1912, with New Mexico beating it by a month. It is probably the most active in its support of the 2nd amendment. Incredibly rich in mineral resources, it is the second largest produce of copper, after Chile, in the world.
The State Capitol is now a museum which has exhibits which display much of Arizona's brief history. Very much to the fore is the fate of U.S.S. Arizona ( sunk in the raid on Pearl Harbor, now a monument in Pearl Harbor and a symbol to all Americans).
Frank Lloyd Wright used to live in Phoenix in the winter and there are several of his buildings to the East of Phoenix. He also designed a new State Capitol for Phoenix, a beautiful building, but the design was not adopted as it was too expensive. The newer, functional, precast concrete jungle buildings so common in the early 60's, now surround the the old capitol.
Among a number of interesting exhibits was some of the contents of Arizona's Merci Train Boxcar. Also an exhibit about the Harvey Girls, as well as a photographic exhibit about Native Americans in the 19th century.
Following our tour round the Capitol we strolled the lovely gardens which surround it. The gardens are full of memorials to historical events. We read the time line of the Vietnam war, which now makes for horrendous reading with more than half a million US troops fighting there, it really does seem a senseless war there now.
We decided to visit downtown Phoenix today.
Phoenix is the State Capital, which means that it has the State Capitol building. In this case the original building is now a museum. As so few people were visiting we were given a personal tour round the building by one of the volunteers, which was very interesting.
The building reflects Arizona is many ways, it is quite pretty, but small and AZ has always been minimalist its political process (history of public lynchings may have a bearing here). It also prides itself (as I am sure most states do) on going its own way. It was the last area of the 'contiguous 48 states' to receive statehood, February 14th 1912, with New Mexico beating it by a month. It is probably the most active in its support of the 2nd amendment. Incredibly rich in mineral resources, it is the second largest produce of copper, after Chile, in the world.
The State Capitol is now a museum which has exhibits which display much of Arizona's brief history. Very much to the fore is the fate of U.S.S. Arizona ( sunk in the raid on Pearl Harbor, now a monument in Pearl Harbor and a symbol to all Americans).
Frank Lloyd Wright used to live in Phoenix in the winter and there are several of his buildings to the East of Phoenix. He also designed a new State Capitol for Phoenix, a beautiful building, but the design was not adopted as it was too expensive. The newer, functional, precast concrete jungle buildings so common in the early 60's, now surround the the old capitol.
Among a number of interesting exhibits was some of the contents of Arizona's Merci Train Boxcar. Also an exhibit about the Harvey Girls, as well as a photographic exhibit about Native Americans in the 19th century.
Following our tour round the Capitol we strolled the lovely gardens which surround it. The gardens are full of memorials to historical events. We read the time line of the Vietnam war, which now makes for horrendous reading with more than half a million US troops fighting there, it really does seem a senseless war there now.
Merci Train Boxcar
Merci Train Boxcar also known as the Gratitude Train
We discovered that in 1948 US charities sent 700 boxcars (rail freight cars) to France, full of of donated materials. By way of thanks the French sent 49 box cars back full of gifts for the Americans, one for each state (Hawaii and Washington D.C. had to share one). Many of these box cars are preserved in museums across the country.
The box cars were called 'Forty and Eight Boxcars' as they are all stamped with '40/8', meaning that they could carry either forty men or eight horses. They were used extensively in the first world war to transport troops. they became an icon of that war. After the war a 'select' group of American Legion activists set up a fraternal group (like the Masons, or Moose club) for the betterment of their fellow man called the '40&8's'. They are well known for their Forty and Eight Scholarships. When the boxcars arrived from France the Forty and Eights took on the responsibility for distributing the gifts and now are often involved in their preservation. The Arizona Boxcar now resides in McCormick Park. The exhibit in the museum included several interesting items. A lovely wedding dress, which sadly has never been worn. Also a somewhat battered Peugeot racing cycle circa 1948, which, complete with Simplex derailleur gears looks little different from my first bike, or indeed any modern racing cycle (except the real racing, racing cycles).
Although we have not seen any of these famous boxcars we have passed close to some of them. In Tennessee we passed within about 100 yards of one when we were in Bristol. Our closest encounter was in Jackson, Mississippi when we walked from the Old State Capitol through an underpass to Hal and Mal's restaurant. The boxcar was just about 30 yards away, but hidden by an embankment. Well there you go. We shall now have to keep an eye out for other boxcars on our travels. Roll on Fresno!
The Harvey Girls
It is amazing that when you are traveling how themes start to develop. Some of the themes that we have interacted with are the exploits of the Butterfield Stage Routes right across the West, Twenty Mule Teams (the workhorse of the western Mineral Workings), Route 66 and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Seeing an exhibition of the Harvey Girls in Arizona State Capitol Museum reminded us that we have come across this name before. We first encountered The Harvey House Restaurants and the Harvey Girls in Guthrie. Our British friends, I hear you say " Harvey House? what is that? I have never heard of this", our American friends will give a patronizing nod of the head and then sigh longingly for another icon of American history. Sally knew of the Harvey Girls through a book she had read and seen the 1946 Judy Garland film of the same name.
It seems that without realizing it our journeys have crossed the path of Fred Harvey on many occasions!
Briefly he was probably the first person to start a chain of special restaurants which served rail travellers from the 1870's until the 1970's. But they grew into much more than this, a veritable institution! As usual in America it makes a fascinating story.
So if you only have a little time then I urge you to read this review of the importance of Fred Harvey, ........or you can read more about The Harvey Girls here .......and the Harvey Restaurants here......... or .... lastly here.
Including Guthrie we have been in three Harvey Houses- Guthrie Station (briefly), we also had lunch in La Fonda Hotel,which was a Harvey House in Santa Fe, now restored and a fabulous hotel and restaurant and we also toured the visitor centre at Painted Desert National Park, which was originally a Harvey House Restaurant. Though we have passed close to 28 more of these restaurants.
Maybe I will dig out some pics and maybe we will see some more Harvey Houses on our travels.
Harvey Houses we have passed within a mile of.
In Arizona:
Seeing an exhibition of the Harvey Girls in Arizona State Capitol Museum reminded us that we have come across this name before. We first encountered The Harvey House Restaurants and the Harvey Girls in Guthrie. Our British friends, I hear you say " Harvey House? what is that? I have never heard of this", our American friends will give a patronizing nod of the head and then sigh longingly for another icon of American history. Sally knew of the Harvey Girls through a book she had read and seen the 1946 Judy Garland film of the same name.
It seems that without realizing it our journeys have crossed the path of Fred Harvey on many occasions!
Briefly he was probably the first person to start a chain of special restaurants which served rail travellers from the 1870's until the 1970's. But they grew into much more than this, a veritable institution! As usual in America it makes a fascinating story.
So if you only have a little time then I urge you to read this review of the importance of Fred Harvey, ........or you can read more about The Harvey Girls here .......and the Harvey Restaurants here......... or .... lastly here.
Including Guthrie we have been in three Harvey Houses- Guthrie Station (briefly), we also had lunch in La Fonda Hotel,which was a Harvey House in Santa Fe, now restored and a fabulous hotel and restaurant and we also toured the visitor centre at Painted Desert National Park, which was originally a Harvey House Restaurant. Though we have passed close to 28 more of these restaurants.
Maybe I will dig out some pics and maybe we will see some more Harvey Houses on our travels.
Harvey Houses we have passed within a mile of.
In Arizona:
Ash Fork: “Escalante” Hotel
The Grand Canyon - South Rim
Kingman: Santa Fe Eating House
Seligman: “Havasu” Hotel
Petrified Forest National Park: Painted Desert Inn
Phoenix: Union Station News Stand and “Green Gables” Restaurant
Williams: “Fray Marcos” Hotel
Winslow: Old Santa Fe Hotel & “La Posada” Hotel
The Grand Canyon - South Rim
Kingman: Santa Fe Eating House
Seligman: “Havasu” Hotel
Petrified Forest National Park: Painted Desert Inn
Phoenix: Union Station News Stand and “Green Gables” Restaurant
Williams: “Fray Marcos” Hotel
Winslow: Old Santa Fe Hotel & “La Posada” Hotel
In California:
Bakersfield: Santa Fe Eating House
Barstow: “Casa del Desierto” Hotel
Fresno: Santa Fe News Stand
Mojave: Santa Fe Eating House
San Bernardino: Santa Fe Eating House
San Diego: Santa Fe Lunch Room and Shops
San Francisco: Ferry Building News Stand, “San Pedro” Santa Fe Ferry, Santa Fe Bus Terminal
Merced: Santa Fe Eating House
Bakersfield: Santa Fe Eating House
Barstow: “Casa del Desierto” Hotel
Fresno: Santa Fe News Stand
Mojave: Santa Fe Eating House
San Bernardino: Santa Fe Eating House
San Diego: Santa Fe Lunch Room and Shops
San Francisco: Ferry Building News Stand, “San Pedro” Santa Fe Ferry, Santa Fe Bus Terminal
Merced: Santa Fe Eating House
In New Mexico:
Albuquerque: “Alvarado” Hotel
Clovis: “Gran Quivira” Hotel
Las Cruces: News Stand
Santa Fe: “La Fonda” Hotel
Albuquerque: “Alvarado” Hotel
Clovis: “Gran Quivira” Hotel
Las Cruces: News Stand
Santa Fe: “La Fonda” Hotel
In Oklahoma:
Ardmore: Santa Fe News Stand
Oklahoma City
Ardmore: Santa Fe News Stand
Oklahoma City
In Texas:
Amarillo: Santa Fe Hotel
Dallas: Santa Fe Eating House
El Paso: Union Passenger Station Restaurant and Shops
Fort Worth: Santa Fe Eating House
Gainesville: Santa Fe Eating House
Galveston: Santa Fe Eating House
Temple: Santa Fe Hotel
Amarillo: Santa Fe Hotel
Dallas: Santa Fe Eating House
El Paso: Union Passenger Station Restaurant and Shops
Fort Worth: Santa Fe Eating House
Gainesville: Santa Fe Eating House
Galveston: Santa Fe Eating House
Temple: Santa Fe Hotel
March 27th - Picacho State Park and on to Royal Palms
Wednesday
Having pulled into Picacho State Park we found our site, a large flat site, but then when you are in the middle of the desert space is not really at a premium.
We spent all of Wednesday doing nothing but relaxing in the sunshine, with a short drive to the visitor centre and I had a short walk through the desert, checking out the local birds and the giant Seguaro. Very pleasant.
Thursday 28th March
Time to move on, we want to make sure that Phoenix it self is not missed out of our itinery so we are returning to Royal Palms (where we finished our last trip) for a few days, mostly to take advantage of their pool.
We drove the 85 miles and arrived in time for a dip and then took up the invite to play bingo with the residents.
Bingo
US bingo is different. they use a grid of 5 x 5 numbers (free in the middle), each column has a letter above Col 1 is 'B', col 2 is 'I'' etc. then the numbers are split into 15's which are distributed at random in each column, so col 1 can be 5 numbers from 1 - 15 in any order. So when they call it is a letter and a number.
I don't know if it was just this caller, but there were no number descriptions, like "two little ducks 22", "Two fat ladies 88". However as wit most bingo the people we were with were lovely and welcoming and there were home made cookies and coffee while we played. I felt really, really bad by scooping the rolloever jackpot, which had been standing for a few weeks, of $60!!!!! But again everybody seemed very happy for me to have won.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
24th March - Tuscon Botanical Gardens
Sunday
A short drive along Grant takes us to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. We took a picnic and hoped for a pleasant day. we were not disappointed. The gardens are well laid out, though rather specializing in desert type plants. There were lots of succulents and cacti as well as a lot of aromatic plants and herbs.
Of most interest was the butterfly and orchid house. We spent a fair amount of time there trying to identify butterflies and take photos.
We had our picnic in the shade of a grapefruit tree then explored some other areas. We stumbled across an landscape gardening competition, a bit like Chelsea Flower show, but only four local entrants, still it was interesting. The last area of note was what is termed a community garden, quite common in mexico, what was attractive was the prayer tree, on which people hang trinkets and icons as a prayer request. This had been simplified to small wooden hearts which had been decorated. It was a very peaceful area.#
Quite an enjoyable excursion.
I get hung up on taking nice pics, so here are some more.
Monday was designated a quiet day, we lazed around in the sun and then mid afternoon took off to the local Texas Roadhouse for our first steak of this trip! Very nice meal, then a quick waltz round Walmart, which happened to be next door.
Tuesday
Time to move on, having sucked Tucson dry of all its tourist adventure potential we are starting our drive West, not far, Picacho State Park is only 34 miles away, but is an isolated State Park in the middle of the Saguaro Desert, even if it is only a few miles from the Interstate 10 and a railway. We plan to try and chill out for a couple of days in the heat of the desert before moving on to see a bit more of Phoenix at the weekend.
A short drive along Grant takes us to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. We took a picnic and hoped for a pleasant day. we were not disappointed. The gardens are well laid out, though rather specializing in desert type plants. There were lots of succulents and cacti as well as a lot of aromatic plants and herbs.
Of most interest was the butterfly and orchid house. We spent a fair amount of time there trying to identify butterflies and take photos.
We had our picnic in the shade of a grapefruit tree then explored some other areas. We stumbled across an landscape gardening competition, a bit like Chelsea Flower show, but only four local entrants, still it was interesting. The last area of note was what is termed a community garden, quite common in mexico, what was attractive was the prayer tree, on which people hang trinkets and icons as a prayer request. This had been simplified to small wooden hearts which had been decorated. It was a very peaceful area.#
Quite an enjoyable excursion.
I get hung up on taking nice pics, so here are some more.
Monday was designated a quiet day, we lazed around in the sun and then mid afternoon took off to the local Texas Roadhouse for our first steak of this trip! Very nice meal, then a quick waltz round Walmart, which happened to be next door.
Tuesday
Time to move on, having sucked Tucson dry of all its tourist adventure potential we are starting our drive West, not far, Picacho State Park is only 34 miles away, but is an isolated State Park in the middle of the Saguaro Desert, even if it is only a few miles from the Interstate 10 and a railway. We plan to try and chill out for a couple of days in the heat of the desert before moving on to see a bit more of Phoenix at the weekend.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
March 23rd - 4Th Ave Street Market
Saturday
4th Avenue in downtown Tucson is famous for its semi annual street fair, which happens to be this weekend, so we felt that we had to go along and have a look.
It was rather busy, but fun
All the normal booths, but some lovely art/craft work for sale, all too pricey or untransportable for us, but we enjoyed the stroll and the looking.
Sally was rather taken with a number of clothes for the grandkids (sorry, nothing bought) and Terry nearly fell asleep in a Hawaiian hammock chair.
A pleasant day out overall.
4th Avenue in downtown Tucson is famous for its semi annual street fair, which happens to be this weekend, so we felt that we had to go along and have a look.
It was rather busy, but fun
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| A lone policeman controls where the crowd and the traffic cross |
All the normal booths, but some lovely art/craft work for sale, all too pricey or untransportable for us, but we enjoyed the stroll and the looking.
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| An interesting 'Here's looking at you' peacock feather dress |
Saturday, March 23, 2013
March 22nd - San Xavier Mission
After visiting the Studio we figured that we had enough time to drive to the South of Tucson and stop by the old mission (by old we mean old). This mission was built in 1560 and is a beautiful example of Spanish church architecture, both inside and out. Unusually (for us with our limited expertise) the roof was made from a series vaulted domes, rather than the usual large rafters. It was very ornate inside and had many interesting icons and statues. As it as a couple of days before Palm Sunday the alter had a purple cloth and there were Easter Lilies around the church. We also walked through some of the other parts of the mission with its cactus gardens, which were very pretty. There were several pictures on the walls, one of them was of a native indian saint - Saint Keteri Tekatwitha, who lived in 1656-1680, but was only sanctified in 2012. There is some very interesting, and detailed, information about her and her way of life on Wiki.
A very pleasant afternoon.
A very pleasant afternoon.
22nd - Old Tucson Studio
Friday we visited the Old Tucson Studio up in the mountains very near to the Desert Museum.
We arrived fairly early as there was not a cloud in the sky and it promised to be a hot day. The studio was built in 1939 for the film 'Arizona' and for various political and financial reasons was not removed, but other bits were added on. The studios became one of the larger cowboy film studios and even though a lot of it was lost in a fire in 1997 it still has an impressive number of recognizable film sets.
Following a brief orientation tour we set off to see the set of High Chapparal, which Sally remembers from her childhood, meanwhile just across from there is the adobe wall and ruin used to good effect in Rio Bravo.
We stopped in at the Crystal Saloon to see a music hall show, what appears to be a wooden saloon is in fact a steel constructed studio, with a saloon and stage inside it. We enjoyed the short show.
We now walked down Main Street, stopping at the Old Mission, which was used for a lot of films, notably the Three Amigos and Tombstone. While there we watched a demonstration of a restored 1830's gatling gun, very impressive as it fired its 40 rounds in about 5 seconds.
After going to the courthouse to see a short movie showing the many films made there we picnicked outside a saloon and then had a wander past the old mine and schoolhouse before deciding that we had seen enough.
An interesting place, though a little short on information.
We arrived fairly early as there was not a cloud in the sky and it promised to be a hot day. The studio was built in 1939 for the film 'Arizona' and for various political and financial reasons was not removed, but other bits were added on. The studios became one of the larger cowboy film studios and even though a lot of it was lost in a fire in 1997 it still has an impressive number of recognizable film sets.
Following a brief orientation tour we set off to see the set of High Chapparal, which Sally remembers from her childhood, meanwhile just across from there is the adobe wall and ruin used to good effect in Rio Bravo.
We stopped in at the Crystal Saloon to see a music hall show, what appears to be a wooden saloon is in fact a steel constructed studio, with a saloon and stage inside it. We enjoyed the short show.
We now walked down Main Street, stopping at the Old Mission, which was used for a lot of films, notably the Three Amigos and Tombstone. While there we watched a demonstration of a restored 1830's gatling gun, very impressive as it fired its 40 rounds in about 5 seconds.
After going to the courthouse to see a short movie showing the many films made there we picnicked outside a saloon and then had a wander past the old mine and schoolhouse before deciding that we had seen enough.
An interesting place, though a little short on information.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
March 21 - Arizona Desert Museum
Thursday
Today we drove out from Tucson into the Sonora Desert to visit the Desert Museum.
A museum dedicated to the desert. Fortunately we took lunch with us as the visit took longer than we anticipated.
We followed the guided walk along its paved paths, visiting sections about the desert. It's geology, climate, minerals, animals, plants, birds, insects and, yes, fish!
The highlight was visiting the hummingbird enclosure, where we spent nearly an hour. It was lovely to see hummingbirds with their young, or sitting on their nest, or just bombing around finding nectar in flowers, or from the feeders. A great day that gave us a good insight into the Sonora Desert.
Today we drove out from Tucson into the Sonora Desert to visit the Desert Museum.
A museum dedicated to the desert. Fortunately we took lunch with us as the visit took longer than we anticipated.
We followed the guided walk along its paved paths, visiting sections about the desert. It's geology, climate, minerals, animals, plants, birds, insects and, yes, fish!
The highlight was visiting the hummingbird enclosure, where we spent nearly an hour. It was lovely to see hummingbirds with their young, or sitting on their nest, or just bombing around finding nectar in flowers, or from the feeders. A great day that gave us a good insight into the Sonora Desert.
The visit prompted me to put a couple of more specific blogs up, so just before this blog you can find:
These and all ourblogs are indexed by date in the list on the right hand side of this pageFlowers of the Desert 2
Our visit to the Arizona Desert Museum enabled us to see a variety of flowers that are found in the Sonora Desert. My practice in Sabino Canyon helped to get some more really nice photos.
Seguaro Cactus
Nothing defines desert in Arizona more clearly that Seguaro Cactus (pronounced say-where-oh).
It is a feature of the Sonora Desert, which stretches from New Mexico almost to the Pacific, from Mexico north to Needles AZ.
It is an interesting plant in many ways.
Its habitat is defined very clearly by climate: it must remain frost free during the day all year round.
It must have summer rains (monsoon).
They only grow from the top. If the top dies (say struck by lightning) it does not continue to grow upwards, though may well put out arms to continue growth
It grows very slowly, about one inch per year
Seguaro can live for more than 200 years, thus often exceeding 20ft tall.
They only flower after 45 years
They only grow 'arms' after 75 years
Their roots are rarely more than 6 inches below ground, but are as long as the Seguaro is tall.
A mature plant may weigh several tons
The seguaro is not just water inside, it has a wooden structure which is left behind when the plant dies.
All things considered it is a fascinating plant.
It is a feature of the Sonora Desert, which stretches from New Mexico almost to the Pacific, from Mexico north to Needles AZ.
It is an interesting plant in many ways.
Its habitat is defined very clearly by climate: it must remain frost free during the day all year round.
It must have summer rains (monsoon).
They only grow from the top. If the top dies (say struck by lightning) it does not continue to grow upwards, though may well put out arms to continue growth
It grows very slowly, about one inch per year
Seguaro can live for more than 200 years, thus often exceeding 20ft tall.
They only flower after 45 years
They only grow 'arms' after 75 years
Their roots are rarely more than 6 inches below ground, but are as long as the Seguaro is tall.
A mature plant may weigh several tons
The seguaro is not just water inside, it has a wooden structure which is left behind when the plant dies.
All things considered it is a fascinating plant.
More Hummingbirds
Our visit to the Arizona Desert Museum enabled us to see hummingbirds close up in a walk in aviary.
We had a fascinating time and took a few pictures of these amazing birds.
We had a fascinating time and took a few pictures of these amazing birds.
March 20th - Flowers of the Desert
Wednesday
Today we visited the Sabino Canyon, just North East of Tucson. We took the shuttle ride up the canyon for a picnic and the rode back. We had a lovely time.
While walking there we found a huge variety of flowers,, such as you could not really imagine in a 'desert environment'. So here are some pics of the flowers we found. No names for them I am afraid, except the red fluffy flower which is called Fairy Duster.
While walking there we found a huge variety of flowers,, such as you could not really imagine in a 'desert environment'. So here are some pics of the flowers we found. No names for them I am afraid, except the red fluffy flower which is called Fairy Duster.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
March 19th: Titan Missile Museum
Tuesday
We packed up and left the very pleasant site of Patagonia Lake State Park really early, though we lost half an hour when the GPS directed us down a tarmac road which after 5 miles turned into a dirt road, so we had to do a three point turn and come back, no fun for a rig more than 50 foot long. Once we had passed Nogales the then had to pass through the Border Check Point (no we had not been across to Mexico, but all roads from Mexico have the check point), this tiem we were waved through without comment - Phew!
As we were still well up on time we decided to visit the Titan Missile Museum south of Tucson. What a fascinating place. It is the only missile silo that is still in 'working order', preserved as a piece of history and accessible to the public. The rest of this blog is probably quite boring to many, so don't worry if you skip it.
But the pictures are fun:
Our tour guide was a man called Steve, who had been a crew member from 1956 until 1964, that meant the he was the guy who had his hand on the button of a nuclear missile right through the Cuban Missile Crisis. He explained took place in the control room. The team of four worked a 24 hour shift, every action on duty required two people to work together. The closest thing that there is to a launch code was a butterfly vavle on the main fuel line to the rocket motors. That could only be operated if a combination code was fed in to the control panel. The control code was kept in a filing cabinet that had two locks on it. The launch was started by a radio message from HQ, which consisted of a series of codes. The codes had corresponding codes in the filing cabinets that had to match, then provided the Butterfly valve code. You had 7 goes to get the code right, then the panel would destroy itself. On entering the sequence two keys, 7 feet aparet, had to be turned together, which started the launch sequence. Once the butterfly valve was opened and the sequence started there was no 'off' switch - the missile would launch. Its flight path was determined by paper punch tapes, the crew had no knowledge of the target.
We then went and saw the Titan II missile, still standing in its silo, where it had been for more than 50 years. The same type of rocket that launched Colonel John Glenn into orbit in the Gemini Space Capsule. in 1963.
There were 54 Titan II silos in USA, no missiles were ever fired from them. Training flights were carried out at Van Den Burgh Airbase in California.
The technology was basic but very well thought out. Both the missile and the control room were spring mounted and could move more than a foot in any direction, or rather stay where they were if the ground moved, as might happen in a nuclear attack nearby. All the systems had back ups and though they were electro mechanical rather than electronic, they all functioned well. The silo was hardened with steel and concrete walls between 4 and 8 feet thick, and doors to match. The entrance had two doors in, with an airlock in between. One door could not open unless the other was shut, in case there was a nuclear attack at the very moment the door opened. If they had had to fire the missile there was no back up pan for afterwards, they were told that the air inside would keep them alive for up to 15 days, after that they were on their own, though there was an escape tube/air conditioning vent which gave them emergency access to the outside.
I repeat it was fascinating to experience being in the complex that at once protected and threatened the world at the turn of a key. The titan II missiles were in operation from 1962 until 1983.
We packed up and left the very pleasant site of Patagonia Lake State Park really early, though we lost half an hour when the GPS directed us down a tarmac road which after 5 miles turned into a dirt road, so we had to do a three point turn and come back, no fun for a rig more than 50 foot long. Once we had passed Nogales the then had to pass through the Border Check Point (no we had not been across to Mexico, but all roads from Mexico have the check point), this tiem we were waved through without comment - Phew!
As we were still well up on time we decided to visit the Titan Missile Museum south of Tucson. What a fascinating place. It is the only missile silo that is still in 'working order', preserved as a piece of history and accessible to the public. The rest of this blog is probably quite boring to many, so don't worry if you skip it.
But the pictures are fun:
Our tour guide was a man called Steve, who had been a crew member from 1956 until 1964, that meant the he was the guy who had his hand on the button of a nuclear missile right through the Cuban Missile Crisis. He explained took place in the control room. The team of four worked a 24 hour shift, every action on duty required two people to work together. The closest thing that there is to a launch code was a butterfly vavle on the main fuel line to the rocket motors. That could only be operated if a combination code was fed in to the control panel. The control code was kept in a filing cabinet that had two locks on it. The launch was started by a radio message from HQ, which consisted of a series of codes. The codes had corresponding codes in the filing cabinets that had to match, then provided the Butterfly valve code. You had 7 goes to get the code right, then the panel would destroy itself. On entering the sequence two keys, 7 feet aparet, had to be turned together, which started the launch sequence. Once the butterfly valve was opened and the sequence started there was no 'off' switch - the missile would launch. Its flight path was determined by paper punch tapes, the crew had no knowledge of the target.
We then went and saw the Titan II missile, still standing in its silo, where it had been for more than 50 years. The same type of rocket that launched Colonel John Glenn into orbit in the Gemini Space Capsule. in 1963.
There were 54 Titan II silos in USA, no missiles were ever fired from them. Training flights were carried out at Van Den Burgh Airbase in California.
The technology was basic but very well thought out. Both the missile and the control room were spring mounted and could move more than a foot in any direction, or rather stay where they were if the ground moved, as might happen in a nuclear attack nearby. All the systems had back ups and though they were electro mechanical rather than electronic, they all functioned well. The silo was hardened with steel and concrete walls between 4 and 8 feet thick, and doors to match. The entrance had two doors in, with an airlock in between. One door could not open unless the other was shut, in case there was a nuclear attack at the very moment the door opened. If they had had to fire the missile there was no back up pan for afterwards, they were told that the air inside would keep them alive for up to 15 days, after that they were on their own, though there was an escape tube/air conditioning vent which gave them emergency access to the outside.
I repeat it was fascinating to experience being in the complex that at once protected and threatened the world at the turn of a key. The titan II missiles were in operation from 1962 until 1983.
Monday, March 18, 2013
March 18th - Patagonia Lake State Park and its birds
Monday
We are now camping for a second night at Patagonia Lake State Park. A pretty lakeside campground up in the Coronado Hills, south of Tucson, about 15 miles from the Mexican Border. We have had a very relaxing day. we had a ramble round the campground this morning seeing lots of different birds, Hummingbirds, Orioles, Gold finches and hawks. One of the RV's here has a whole load of bird feeding stations and a couple of chairs with a notice to invite anyone passing to sit and watch the birds for a while, so we did.
Tomorrow we move on to Tucson to test the delights of that city.
We are now camping for a second night at Patagonia Lake State Park. A pretty lakeside campground up in the Coronado Hills, south of Tucson, about 15 miles from the Mexican Border. We have had a very relaxing day. we had a ramble round the campground this morning seeing lots of different birds, Hummingbirds, Orioles, Gold finches and hawks. One of the RV's here has a whole load of bird feeding stations and a couple of chairs with a notice to invite anyone passing to sit and watch the birds for a while, so we did.
Tomorrow we move on to Tucson to test the delights of that city.
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