Saguaro National Park

Today we drove through the Saguaro National Park and the cactus are awesome. They stand there in the desert with their arms extended. We were told by a Ranger that the Saguaro does not grow arms unless it's at least 50 years old and that they add a new one about every 5 years.

It's against the law to have one in your possession and if you get caught trying to take one from the park, the fine is real big and there is also the possibility of jail time. If you should have one on your property you must sign a statement that says the cactus will not be removed and if you sell the property the new owner must sign the same statement. This type of cactus only grows in this part of the country.

The Park should be on the "must see" list of anyone staying in the Tucson area. It's really pretty.

We went out for dinner with our new friends we met in San Diego and really had a good time. Scott is a retired Professor at the University of Arizona with a degree in Political Science. His wife Nur is from Turkey and is really a nice lady. We have really gotten to be close to them in a short period.

We're going to rest up for a day or two and then we hit the road again.

Old Tucson Movie Studio

Today we toured the famous Old Tucson Movie Studio. There we were able to walk on "hallowed ground", John Wayne made a lot of movies at this studio. We spent most of the day seeing places where some of our favorite movies were made, such as El Dorado, Gunfight at OK Corral and McClintock just to name a few. Now that we've been here it helps to appreciate a movie that much more.

River in Movie El Dorado

The O.K. Corral Old Mission Guess Who??

Tomorrow we're going to tour the Saguaro National Park. If you see a "western" movie with Saguaro Cactus in it then the movie was filmed at the Old Tucson Movie Studio.

Tucson Arizona

We drove to Tucson and got a site at Davis Monthan AFB FAMCAMP. We plan to be there for about a week or maybe more depending on how much we have to see. We have a commissary and BX here so we can stock up on supplies.

We took a trip to the Old Mission section of town and the buildings and churches were beautiful. There are a lot of quaint shops but their prices were real high. We had a good lunch and took a lot of pictures. For a stranger in town it was not too hard to drive from the base to downtown.

Old Old Church

Alter of the Dead in Church

Church Alter

Gift Shop

Tomorrow we're going to a place I've longed to see for quite a while. We're going to tour "hallowed ground" Stay tuned in.

Touring Casa Grande

We went to the ruins of old Casa Grande. It was a village where the Indians lived who were native to this area about 300 years ago. The buildings were very unique, one of them had a small opening that emitted sun light only once every year. There was another opening that allowed moon light once every 5 years. How they were able figure all this remains a mystery. The timbers used in the building were cut from a forest 300 miles away No one has quite figured out how they did all this without any heavy equipment.

We really enjoyed touring the Old Casa Grande, it was quite interesting. We went to the old towns of Coolidge and Florence. Coolidge is the place where prisoners from the Yuma Prison were sent to be hanged. We learned that contrary to popular belief there were no prisoners executed at Yuma Prison.

The town of Casa Grande is a good place for someone to "winter", there is a lot of activity and the weather is nice and warm in the winter. If you like sand and cactus this is the place for you, there are very few green yards and trees.

We enjoyed being with "Torchie" and Jim but it was now time to move on. We're going to Tucson for maybe a week then hopefully on to Tombstone before heading home.

Yuma to Phoenix

We got a call from "Torchie" and Jim wanting us to meet them at Quartzsite tomorrow and follow them to Phoenix. They have a good RV Park in mind and would like to show us the town. Jim was stationed in Phoenix with the Air Force. We'll leave early tomorrow. We may have to stop and spend the night along the way, after all Quartzsite is 90 miles from us.

We met Jim and "Torchie" at the Flying J Truck Stop in Quartzsite and had breakfast. We started a trip over to Phoenix to spend maybe a week or so with them. We stopped at the Cracker Barrel so that "Torchie" could have lunch. They have an RV place in the back but it's a little tight for a big rig.

We went to an Encore RV Park in Apache Junction to spend some time in Phoenix. This park is about 30 miles from the nearest town out in the middle of nowhere. It's the "pits". They had one small pool open and it was COLD. We stayed one night and left to find a better place. We went to Valle Del Oro in Mesa, AZ and it was real nice. They also have a lot of activities to keep us busy. They have two large pools which were nice and warm and two hot tubs. You can stay there for $11 per day or $167.51 for two weeks. We took the two week offer.

Valle Del Oro

Jim and "Torchie" knew all the good places to eat and all the nice things to see. They really got a lot of pleasure showing us all the spots. One place we went was a pizza restaurant that had an organ that played all the old favorites. We went to Scottsdale and saw some of the homes where the "rich and famous" live. We went close to Superstition Mountain but didn't get up to it.

We went with them while they were looking for an RV Park where they could "winter". Those in Phoenix were about $500 per month plus electricity. We drove to Casa Grande and the RV Parks there were about $400 plus electricity. We looked at our "sister park" and could stay there for $10 per day. When our two weeks in Mesa are up we'll go to Casa Grande and spend a week there. From there we'll go to Tucson and Tombstone before leaving AZ.

Jim and "Torchie" were able to land a workamping job in Casa Grande at Sundance 1 RV Park. We came down to spend a month with them and they were able to get us a site at $200 per month plus electricity.

Sundance 1 RV Park

Lake Havasu

We took a daily trip to Lake Havasu to see the London Bridge. On our way we went through Quartzsite and just after we got out of town we saw a tree on the side of the highway. Hanging from the tree were"shoes" of all types and sizes. There is no sign around to let you know how and why they are there. I took some pictures and sent them to our children. I said "you've heard of shoe trees, well here is one blooming". I told them the "legend is that an old prospector planted some old shoes and watered them and now the tree has shoes each year".

The ride to Lake Havasu is real pretty. You can see the Colorado River and the lakes along side the road.There are a lot of nice big homes and RV Parks right on the river.

We arrived in Lake Havasu and there in all it's glory is the original London Bridge.Some years ago a wealthy man bough the London Bridge and had it dismantled stone by stone and brought over to Arizona. While they were reconstructing it they dug a large lake that went under the bridge. The canal goes out and connects with the Colorado River. This is one place in Arizona that is a must to see.

Yuma Arizona

The FAMCAMP at the U.S. Army Proving Ground is 21 miles north of Yuma and it's out in the desert with nothing around it. The nearest Wally World is 26 miles away. The base doesn't have more than 75 full time Army personnel so needless to say most everything is closed. The FAMCAMP is mostly gravel but at least it does have full hook ups. This is the type place to stay for a short period but not for a long time, too far from everything and nothing to do on the base.

We drove into Yuma to see the "Old Town" but since we're between seasons everything was closed. We were there early September and things don't open till sometime around mid October when the "snow birds" arrive. We did tour the old Yuma Prison and it was real interesting. There isn't too much of it left but what is left is just like it was back in the 1800's. The Colorado River runs right along side and the area around it is nice and green. Since the entire of Yuma is in the desert, this looks like an oasis.

On one of our tours we came along a date grove. They place large plastic bags over the dates and shake the trees to harvest the dates. All the farms use an irrigation system that takes water from the Colorado River. You can drive by a farm that is just being planted and come back three weeks later and see crops beginning to show.