Two Weeks in Tucson

Saguaro (suh-war-oh) cactus in Tucson

Tucson, AZ.  Christmas Week -- Highs: bouncing around all over the place, from high seventies to high 50's.   Lows: 37 to 51
 Wifi connectivity is sometimes very good with AT &T (hotspots) and then it isn't. It can vary from hour to hour and minute to minute as far as signal strength. T-Mobile is terrible. Guess the mountains are in play here? Or winter storm Elliot all across the country? Or the guy that has a big ham radio antenna less than 10 feet from us?

With a huge sign of relief, after outdriving and missing the severe cold freezes all across the southwest, we settled into our site here in Tucson, AZ, at the Voyager RV Resort. The resort is beautiful, even though we are basically sitting in a gravel parking lot, the rest of the park's facilities are amazing! And the views of the five mountain ranges all around Tucson are terrific! Sparky has posted some FB photos of the mountains all around us and some beautiful sunsets. They bear repeating, so here they are. 

Site 3-163

The last couple of parks we have stayed at have had electrical issues and this big resort is no different. We were placed into a very tight site instead of a more spacious one because there were electrical problems in several rows where we were originally going to be. But why they jam people up right next to each other when the park is quite open and empty is a mystery. There's a rig on each side of us, then the rest of the row is empty all the way down. 

The park gave us a standard site--the standard sites are very long but very narrow. Premium pull thru sites are a little wider, but they told us they were not available because of the electric problems. At least your neighbors' rig placements are offset a bit so you aren't looking directly into their windows next to you.

The Voyager is a true resort--LOTS of pickle ball courts (16?) with serious playing going on....Sparky really wants to play but is worried about reinsuring an Achilles heel...Maybe she will go into it with the idea of just dinking the ball around. Sparky is quite competitive and it's hard for her not to go all out, so we'll see....This is a good time to play as the official playing season with all the regulars doesn't really get going until Jan. 1, when the seasonals arrive in droves. We heard that there are 100 RVs coming in January 1st! There are two pools, and wouldn't you know,  the main pool is being resurfaced so it's not available until early January, when we leave. There are classes galore here and all kinds of hobbies and crafts. We stay at this park as a destination on our way to Cottonwood, AZ, (where we stay for free with our Thousand Trails membership at Verde Valley), so we can only enjoy this resort for a couple of weeks to best fit our traveling budget. Because this park is a subsidiary membership park to our Thousand Trails park membership, it only costs us 20.00 a day, but membership benefits stipulate we can only stay for a two week max at any one time. If we wanted to stay longer, we could, but then we pay the public going rates for longer stays. Currently, a skinny standard pull through site for the month of January is $1,023.00, which really isn't bad considering this is a destination park. Here is a list of all the activities:

There is a hotel in the park, and an extensive year round resident section of beautiful homes to one side of the park, a small golf course, a resident post office, an an on site restaurant called Fat Willies, which serves very good food--breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

There's a really nice weight/exercise room, too...

Sparky's favorite part of the resort is the courtyard area...a great place to relax, read a book, grill out at one of the BBQ grill stations, watch the pickle ballers play, or listen to Native American flute playing. (There is even a group for that!)

"Batty Bikers"

And of course, there is an amazing bike trail around Tucson, called The Loop, which consists of over 100 miles of paved bikeway. Some of it goes through residential areas and spurs leading to other parts, and a LOT of it is on the outskirts of Tucson. It has amazing art installations along the way. The photo at left is a reminder that under some of the Tucson bridges are huge bat colonies. Forty thousand Mexican free tail bats live under the Campbell Avenue Bridge, but you won't see them in the winter here. They have migrated south. Fall is the peak season for the bats. They like the bridges because they are safe and cool, as in temperature. The deep grooves in the expansion joints provide an excellent roosting place. To protect the expansion joints, Pima County installed bat boxes so they can roost. 

A lot of the bridges are really cool in design as well, and some of the bridges are considered part of the art installations as well. One of the bridges, the Aho/Irvington Bridge has a cement pattern intaglio design that was taken from the tire tracks left in the river bed underneath it! (See above photo).

It's a little confusing where some of these art installations are when you compare the maps online to where the actually installations are. It also depends on which side of the river banks and washes you are riding on as to whether you will see all of them listed on the map. But it's a great bike adventure and great exercise to go looking for them!

Sparky has written about the Chuck Huckleberry Loop in the past and you can reference it by typing in "the Loop". in the blog search box, too. Hope these links work! 

In the two weeks we were here, Sparky rode the trail several times, particularly the Julian Walsh portion of the trail, which is quite close to the RV park. It has changed a little from last year in that there are more homeless people in the brush off the trail at several points along the way, living in tents and tarps. But because the trail is frequently used, they are far back and keep to themselves. Sparky never worried about riding the trail and never saw any people moving around there during the day.

There is a map of the art installations on the trail available online, The Loop Art Map and just to show you some more of the art on the Loop trail, here is another link to a portion Sparky did last year from Udall Park, the trailhead that is a few more miles down on Kolb Rd., the road the resort is on. You can reference the previous post at this link 

 art on the Loop Trail There are more than four dozen art installations on the trail, it is said. Bridges count as artwork, too! (see below photo) Sparky rode a record 36 miles one day, trying to find new artwork that was further along the trail than last year's search, but she picked the wrong trailhead to start, and possibly rode on the wrong side of the trail (there are two sides to the Loop trail in most places). So she got too tired after about 18 miles one way before having to turn around to make it back, not having found the artwork in the Rillito River Park area. But it's there! She's going to try again before we leave. 

The Loop Trail-one of the bridges

The weather is so fantastic here that this is a really great ride! Although we did hear a native say that the weather has been really "weird" here this year. Whatever he meant by that, we aren't sure. At any rate, we highly recommend checking out different portions of the trail leaving from different trailheads. Tucson is supposed to be the "bike capital of the world", or so they say....

Almost there!

The last thing we did besides enjoy a quiet Christmas holiday, was to take a drive along the Catalina Highway, to revisit Mt. Lemmon, which has an elevation of 9,000 feet at the top. It's a scenic drive of 27 miles one way. That's where Tucsonans (not Tucsonians, say the locals) go to escape the summer heat and where cyclists go to train, climbing all the way to 9,000 feet on their road bikes. Wow! There were a lot of people with the same idea to come to Mt. Lemmon Christmas Day to picnic, frolic in the snow, and make holiday memories. 

We love seeing families come from the dry sunny valley up to the mountain to try and sled, build a little snowman and throw snowballs at each other! It doesn't take much to make kids happy. Kids were sledding down wee little bumps of a hill on cardboard. We saw one family "burying" their son in the snow, just like you might bury a kid at the beach, everybody giggling and laughing. It was only 43 degrees--a lot better than up north in storm Elliot!

One family's snowman, er, snow lady

And, you get to see some fantastic scenery...At one of the many overlooks, we spotted a small waterfall cascading down. That's quite small but it was far away...

There are hoodoos along the way. A hoodoo is a column or pinnacle of weathered rock, sort of like this one....There are far more spectacular ones out in Bryce Canyon and Utah, but this gives you an idea. The gray sliver is the road on the way up to the top.

It's fun to stop at the many overlooks....to see all the different cacti, and to look for birds and animals (which were very scarce today except for a coyote running across the road on the way back down).

We got to see some snow, starting at 7,000 feet....Sparky loves snow, as you know....(Don't you dare throw that at me! says Eldo. She didn't.)

The yuccas have started blooming...Those are low spiky bushes and then up comes a tall, tall, blooming spire which will soon blossom into little white or yellow flowerets. Either that, or they have already bloomed, we are not sure.

It was a beautiful afternoon up on the mountain...We are sure we will go back before we leave, maybe in the morning for a different view of the mountain....Then again, maybe we won't. After two VERY rainy days down in the valley, (which is very unusual) Mt. Lemmon got a foot of snow and closed to the roads to all traffic for more than two days, except for the permanent residents on the mountain. We only have one day left to explore before leaving Tucson, so a trip back up the mountain is out.

That's ok, there are many wonderful things to see and do in Tucson...The Pima Air Museum, which we have done in the past, is a great visit and is very close to the RV park. Also, check out the Tucson Desert Museum, it's really cool, too! Er, hot, depending upon what time of year you visit. And don't forget the Saguaro National Park!...Lots of great places to eat, and again, lots of great places to ride on the Loop Trail, Sparky's favorite thing to do....Then there is "The Boneyard", where old planes go to die--3,000 planes come to their final resting place at Davis-Montham Air Force Base. It's the world's largest salvage yard for airplanes where the aircraft are lined up with military precision. It's the perfect climate conditions to store planes that they obviously can't store in hangars for space/cost reasons. They won't rust in the Sonoran Desert, that's for sure! Some are wrapped for permanent storage, and others can be used for spare parts and future activation. It's an amazing sight to see along S. Kolb Rd.

Sparky kept trying to get a photo of the planes from off the road, as tours are no longer offered, but had to settle for a couple from the internet.

We always check out the visitors' centers wherever we go to get literature and info to check out the area. Since we are only here two weeks, we are taking a low key approach this time as far as tourist activities and the hiking thing. They are taking a back seat as we are going to be investing in new RV batteries and maybe having to replace a new front jack in the near future.....

5 mountain ranges surround Tucson

So we got our new batteries installed and are ready to see if the one bothersome jack has improved any. We called on a mobile tech in the park, Urgent Care RV Repair, and Scott Harris came out and installed our batteries for us. Because electricity and very heavy batteries were the order of the day, we preferred to have him do the electrical work and heavy lifting. Those suckers weigh over 60 pounds a piece! We highly recommend him if he is in the Tucson area to help you with any RV needs and repairs. We also highly recommend Merle's Automotive Supply for any car parts needed. Excellent customer service, super friendly (and funny staff), exceptionally kind, caring service and attention for whatever you need.

As far as how much improvement the new batteries will make on the problematic jack, we won't know till our next destination, when we go to put them down. We just know we now have plenty of juice for the slide motors and our automatic electric cord reel and the jacks. We just don't know if there was not enough juice for the jack, or it's gone bad. We head out in two days. We hope the coming year is a healthy, happy one for all of our readers, family and friends. 

We will see you down the road. Next destination--Cottonwood, AZ, near Sedona!

 

Things to Do in Tucson

The Boneyard in Tucson-see below

The list of things to do in Tucson is a huge list. We are covering a few things that DON'T have to do with eating in restaurants--(WHEW! That would break the bank, laughs Eldo) art, culture, and sports--not because we don't enjoy those things, but because we are here for just a short period of time, for two weeks, and Sparky is into NATURE, as you probably already know, if you've been following us. So Sparky's posts are more about biking as a senior with a hybrid Trek bike, a museum or two, and anything else we come across. 

We visited the Pima Air and Space Museum as it is about two miles from the park. It was very cool and we highly recommend it, especially if you are a history buff, or an aviation guy, or a veteran, or someone who enjoys learning about something that's not in your usual orbit. (Haha, see what Sparky did there?)

Lots of planes, jets, inside and out. Lots of information and cool facts about aviation pioneers, early planes, famous people, and evolving technology. Below is the smallest flying plane every built--the Bumblebee. Isn't it cute? It has a wingspan of only 6 ft. 6in, with a maximum speed of 180 mph. It was designed for the sole purpose of taking the record for the world's smallest aircraft in 1984 and designed by Robert Starr. The record didn't last long in the Guiness book of records. One of the designer's former partners built a SMALLER one, a single wing design plane. Guinness gave Starr the record for the smallest bi-plane. In 1988, Starr built another bitty plane and broke his own record.

Lots of military planes and history on museum grounds here in Tucson. And, the aircraft are displayed up in the air as well!

bay door

Below is one of the most famous helicopters, the Bell UH-1. The army designated it as the HU-1.You probably know this one as the "Huey", used in Viet Nam. The first Hueys flew in 1958. They were heavily armed and provided armed escorts for troops. The one below is the Sparky likes the nose designs on many of these aircraft. Each company would paint special designs on the noses and/or the bay doors. They look ferocious! Guess that is the idea, scare your enemy or at least worry them.

Here's another one!

Sparky saw needle nose shafts on most of the jets. They looked like they were spears. For a brief moment, she thought that ok, if they were going to crash, the idea was to stab something upon landing, but she knew that wasn't it. 

The tubes are called pitot (say "pee-toe" tubes), named after the French guy who invented them. They are flow sensors, they measure the speed and pressure of air, liquid, or gas. They help a pilot gauge and measure  airspeed and altitude. They are usually found in the front of the aircraft, but they can be in other locations on the aircraft as well. When  school kids come to the museum, they might play a game, "Find the pitot tube" Sparky was on the lookout the rest of the visit, seeing where they were.

Sparky learned about different wing designs....the Delta wing, the variable geometry wing, (they move back and forth and help aircraft take off in short distances) and how about these wings listed below? Geometry anyone?  Uh, no thanks, math was and is not, Sparky's forte. BUT-just so you know, in case you did want to know and impress someone, the dihedral wing design (upward wing span) is on most commercial planes. 

Sparky really enjoyed reading about women in aviation. There were several panels about women in aviation, going back to the beginning of aviation history. Remarkable that women were striving and achieving the impossible for the times in the male dominated field of aviation. She remembers Vicki Van Meter... She was TWELVE years old!!!!

B-52

We also enjoyed seeing the Presidential jet that carried Presidents Johnson and Kennedy, a Mars landing rover, the Apollo cockpit simulator, (Yikes! Unbelievable number of gauges and dials!) the B-52 bomber that was so huge, the black Sikorsky helicopter, jets that were in movies (Top Gun) and even art done on the aircraft themselves. 

Inside one of the hangers is a cool K'nex (building blocks for kids) panel of the space shuttle Columbia. And, Sparky impressed her grandson with her sitting in an old simulator. His response?  "WHOA!"

One of the coolest exhibits was a reconnaissance spy plane, similar to the one Gary Powers (for you old folks) that was shot down in and he was captured in 1960 in Russia. This was a super secret spy plane with a bunch of different serial numbers and names, trying to disguise the fact that we had such an aircraft, and it carried a drone as well. It established speed and altitude records--2,193 mph., and 85,069 feet in altitude. It could fly from New York to London in 1 hour and 55 minutes. It was darkly beautiful....

We really enjoyed our trip to the museum today...we highly recommend it. The place we REALLY wanted to visit was the historic Davis-Monthan Airforce Boneyard in Tucson. It's a preservation/graveyard for planes, the largest in the world. There are more than 4,400 planes stored here, but it's permanently closed. You used to be able to tour the facilities, but no more. (See first photo above). 

With the humidity levels from 10% to 19% and only 11" of rain annually, hard soil (the planes can be moved around without the necessity of paving) and 2500 feet of elevation, it's the perfect place to store planes. Some of the planes are there for preservation and some are there to be used for parts. It's a shame you can't visit it any more...here is a link to what they do there....https://www.airplaneboneyards.com/davis-monthan-afb-amarg-airplane-boneyard.htm

The weather is so beautiful here! Glad it's not summer, though, we'd be long gone. Temps in the 60's and low 70's, nighttime lows in the 40's. Sparky is riding as much as she can with our remaining time here. Be sure to watch for the next blog for some bike riding in the biking capital of the world, Tucson, Arizona.