Tucson..gone to AZ for a condo made of stonah

Here we are in Tucson, AZ.

I'm sure you recognize this cactus.  They only grow naturally in the Tucson area.  Just makes ya think of all those cowboy movies you've watched.  

There are so many things to see and do in  the Tucson area that we still have not seen them all and this is our second time through.  The Desert Museum is a must and we were able to do that site on our first trip through.  This blog will show you some of the places we visited on our second trip.  We did not go to Old Tucson.  We heard they were closing for the summer.  This is a good idea cause while we were there, they had record breaking heat.  Our outdoor thermometer, hanging about two feet off the sand, in the sun read 127.  In the shade it was a chilly 109 or so.  brrrr.. 

This is our site in the Catalina State Park.  It was a great central location for all our trips.  At night, though, the coyotes kept eyeing our little dogs like they were waiting at the MacDonald's drive through.

Here's Dale chatting with either John or Scott while Tooie is wondering if she'll be the next snack for a hungry coyote.  Trail riders would pass regularly behind our rv riding back to the stables.  The state park also had an equestrian area where you can stable your own horses and park your rv while you ride through the park. 




 I decided that it looked like a lot of fun and rented a horse.  Our guide took us through some pretty interesting parts of the park.

This was a pretty quiet horse.  Good thing cause I haven't been on one in about a hundred years.

 Our next adventure took us to Sabino Canyon.  This is a very "lush" area of Tucson..(it had some water in it!) .  While Dale rejected the horseback riding, he was willing to ride in this canyon....on the tram that is.  

We decided to do some downhill walking in the canyon.

 Yep there was some real water here!

Dale was the navigator.  One trail up and back...we were bound to get lost somehow!  ha ha 

Some smart college kids brought their suits and went swimming.  

What! me hike in 110 degrees?  When's the next tram go by?

Biosphere 2  and do you know what Biosphere 1 is????  the earth.

The ceiling is a huge rubber dome that allowed for pressure changes in the sealed biosphere.

Dale going through some of the miles of tunnels inside and below the Biosphere.

Inside the Biosphere they had their own little beach and ocean with fish!  for eating! 

They had their own rain forest and tried to grow their own coffee, but only enough for a cup once every two weeks.

The University of Arizona had a lovely campus.  This would be a great place to buy a house.  The area was full of interesting little courtyards, coffee shops etc.

At last.... a Starbucks... yummy after RV coffee.

If you remember the cold war..maybe you remember hiding under your desk as a practice for a nuclear bomb striking in you area.  Ha Ha.  Boy did they have the little kids tricked on that one.  Just hide under your desks and you'll be safe if the Russians drop one on Ohio.  What a kick.

In defense... we set up missile silos all over the south and they had some awesome missiles that would likewise destroy Russia.   Now...that's a great idea.  Here's some shots of the Titan Missile Museum just south of Tucson.

Little, tiny Titan Missile

 

Under the missile was this entire small city!

  

Above the ground?  You can hardly see anything.

After all that warfare stuff, we decided to go to church.

This is the San Xavier Mission south of Tucson

If you get too hot in Tucson...............


Go to Mount Lemon!

Before they get out of the car to hike or see a view point, Cindy always reminds Dale . . . . . 

WATCH OUT FOR SNAKES !!!!

The view points were quite a view! 

Now that's darn pretty.

Yep, I could use a house with a view like this.

Tucson was hitting well over a hundred and Mt. Lemmon...still had snow.

Just had to toss a snowball at Dale.  

The drive from Mt. Lemmon

and last ... but I've saved the BEST for last........................

oh my I've wanted to go here for YEARS!  Couldn't make it the last time we were in Tucson, but I wasn't going to miss this for anything.

KITT PEAK OBSERVATORY

Oh yeah, baby....now this is living.  Even the dogs got to go on the tour.

wooohooo is that a smile on my face or what.

Keeping tract of the aliens!  Hee hee

We were down inside the solar telescope.

We saw every major telescope here.  The ride up the mountain took forever, which is why we had to bring the dogs.   We had a brilliant docent.  Doctorate in mathematics from somewhere cool, I can't remember where.  He was a great guide.  There was only one other person on the tour with us; a college students who was an amateur astronomer..hmmmm we left feeling like we'd better start studying more astronomy. ha ha.

Kitt Peak Observatory was mentioned in every earth science book I used in my teaching career.  I've wanted to see it for years.  One more crossed off the bucket list!