PIMA Air & Space Museum

We spent an entire day at the PIMA Air and Space Museum.

Over 300 airplanes are displayed outside and in four hangers.

The 390th Memorial Museum is on the grounds of the PIMA Museum. The Museum honors the 390th B-17 bombardment group, many of whom died while flying missions in World War II.

This is a fully restored B-17 also known as the "Flying Fortress". There were 12,731 built. This is one of only 39 remaining.

Tail gun on the B-17.

The Ball Turret gunner was picked for his slight size.

Two Waist Gunners manned the 50 caliber guns in the middle of the B-17.

Besides those guns, there is a top turret gun, nose gun, and chin gun. Even at that, most of the B-17's were lost flying missions during WWII.

Many planes were displayed outside.

Three from the Presidents fleet were on display. The center plane was used by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

The Classic B-52

 Blue Angels F/A-18A Hornet

The Liberator B-24

Super Fortress B-29

 Navy Corsair

 

 

We took two hours out of the middle of the day to take an additional special bus tour of the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) also known as the "Graveyard of Planes" or "The Boneyard". It was required to buy our tickets at least two weeks in advance in order to complete security clearance before ticketing. This was necessary because AMARG is on the neighboring Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. There are over 4,000 planes mothballed here. Some awaiting re-service into the fleet and others being cannibalized for parts as needed.

This C-9 aka The Vomit Comet is used for astronaut weightless training.

We saw 310 C-130 wrapped up and stored for later.

 

Meanwhile back at the PIMA Museum

Huey Irocouis Helicopter

Grumman F-14 Tom Cat, used in the movie "Top Gun".

Chiricahua National Monument

On Sunday after church we decided to drive 70 miles east to the lesser known National Monument of Chiricahua. This 12,000 acre monument contains an eight mile paved scenic drive into this sky island to see the myriad of rhyolite pinnacles and balanced rocks. We even saw our first coatimundi in the wild, but couldn't get a picture of it.

Chiricahua National Monument was established in 1924.

The Faraway Ranch was started in 1888 by Swedish immigrants, Neil and Emma Erickson. It was called Faraway Ranch because "It was God awful far away from everything." It still is.

The Ranch was added onto many times and the oldest daughter, Lillian, turned the homestead into a guest ranch. In 1973, the house and property were sold and incorporated into the existing National Monument.

The Chiricahua Apache called the pinnacles "standing up rocks." This formation is called the Organ Pipes.

The Civilian Conservation Corp built the roads, trails, and Massai Point Overlook. From this overlook, at the end of the road, you can view Rhyolite Canyon below.

We encountered many alligator bark juniper while hiking throughout the Monument.

We took the three mile Echo Canyon Grottoes hike. This was a great opportunity to walk among the rock formations. We called this formation the Water Tower.

We paused to see if this one would fall over across the trail.

This one could have used a good shove.

We reached the Grottoes and climbed around in them.

The lichen on the rocks was beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight.

This canyon looked like it was full of chess pieces.

Sites Around Tucson

MISSION SAN XAVIER

This mission, just south of Tucson, is locally known as "The White Dove of the Desert." Built between 1783 and 1797, the original buildings have seen the flags of four nations flown over them.

The Mission Courtyard

Vivid baroque altars and original frescoes adorn the interior.

In 1797, the tower on the right was not completed because of lack of funds. Since this Mission is a National Historic Site, and UNESCO World Heritage Site, the right tower must remain incomplete.

 

ASARCO MINERAL DISCOVERY CENTER & TOUR

The Asarco Mission Mine, just south of Mission San Xavier, offers bus tours daily. This working copper mine, was not working the day we visited because of a union strike. The tours were still available though.

Cactus garden in the Discovery Center picnic area.

Our first stop was the Mission Mine Overlook. The Mission Mine is a quarter-mile deep, two miles long, and a mile-and-three-quarters wide. About six times the amount of earth moved to dig the Panama Canal has been mined here.

Slag Separator

These large drum tumblers crush large rocks down to powder.

This 240 ton capacity truck has been obsoleted by the new 320 ton truck.

 

OLD TUCSON STUDIOS

We spent the day at the Old Tucson Studios. This studio was built in 1939 to represent 1860's Tucson, for the movie Arizona staring William Holden.

Over 400 movies have been  filmed in Old Tucson. Many western sets were built around the "town". Some notable ones include Death Wish, Outlaw Josey Wales, and some city scenes of Little House on the Prairie.

Church and Cemetery Set

We watched a stunt show at the Mission Set.

Many, many gun fights were filmed on this main street set.

An old train ride, carousel and antique car ride were included in our admission.

Saguaro - East Unit and Mt. Lemon Scenic Byway

SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK - EAST UNIT

Saguaro Rincon Mountain District is on the east side of Tucson.

We noticed that the density of the Saguaro Cactus was less in the East Unit than in the West Unit. We learned that the park put an end to cattle grazing rights here in the 1990's. The cactus are slowly recovering.

We learned that the Saguaro reaches the height of a man at about 35 years of age. It will begin growing arms at about 60-75 years old and can live 150+ years.

The Santa Catalina Mountains are off in the distance.

We drove the eight mile scenic loop at the base of the Rincon Mountains.

There are over 25 varieties of cactus found in Saguaro National Park.

 This variety of cholla cactus is called a Jumping Cactus.

 

SKY ISLAND SCENIC BYWAY TO MOUNT LEMON

We picked up the Sky Island Scenic Byway at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains. This Byway climbs more than 6,300 feet, winding up the southern flank of the Santa Catalina Mountains thirty miles to the top of 9,157 foot Mount Lemon.

The Byway starts in the Sonoran Desert and passes through 5 distinct life zones.

When we reached the higher elevation, we began to see the aspen in their fall foliage.

View from near the top of Mount Lemon.

Descending, we noticed the road below from the Windy Point overlook.

This rock formation, Hitchcock Pinnacle, is named after General Frank Hitchcock, who was inspirational in creating this beautiful scenic drive, completed in 1939.

When we left the desert floor the temperature was 86. At the top it was 52. This was a most interesting and beautiful afternoon drive.