The Old West at Old Tucson

Time to be a kid again watching the good ole westerns.

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Tucson -- the terribly hot

Our next stop was Tucson where we stayed 3 days. We went to Old Tucson Studios which was where a good number of westerns were made. Now it is an Old West theme park with shows, an old West street and a few rides. We got there late in the afternoon the first day and came back the next morning to finish our visit. We really enjoyed it.

We also drove through the Saguro NM which was very scenic. I loved the cacti. The local Indians regard them as ancestors and in the sunset shadows I can see how they could imagine that. We also went to the Arizona Desert museum which was a combination zoo and botanical desert garden. It was one of those places I wish we could have come earlier and stayed all day.

The city of Tucson itself was very hot and our AC doesn't seem to be working too well. The trailer did not cool down until after nine pm. We were headed to find a WalMart to get cool when we were rear-ended by a mini-van. Unfortunately for her, she hit the trailer hitch full on and caused quite a bit of damage to her car but for the truck only the bumper was nicked by the mudflaps. It did require about 3 hours waiting for the police and their paperwork. The damage won't slow our trip but it sure was a pain.

Ft. Huchuca AZ

Chuck was stationed in Ft. Huchuca just before he went to Vietnam and wanted to see what it looked like 40 years later. Most of the buildings had been renovated and he didn't recognize any of them except the theatre which is now a museum. We enjoyed the museums on the fort.

Bisbee, A Big Hole in the Ground

From Tombstone we drove to Bisbee which is a copper mining town. We had hoped to take a mine tour but arrived too late. The town itself is perched on a hill and looks like it should be sliding down any minute. We drove out to the Lavender Pit mine that closed in the 1970s. It was amazing how they dug this pit.

Tombstone, Bisbee and Ft. Huchuca --Mining the Tourists

During our stay at Benson we drove down to Tombstone, the ultimate tourist attraction. It was actually very interesting. We toured the Courthouse museum, walked the old West street.

I found a shop that sold reproduction clothing of the 1880s and bought some patterns. I also stumbled on a clothing museum that was wonderful. It was in an original house that belonge to a Tombstone lawyer and the back porach had been converted to display the garments. There were many lovely things and the gentleman running it was very nice and appreciated my enthusiasm. He allowed me to take pictures but unfortunately with the glass cases and overhead lights, the glare did not allow good pictures.


We found that finding a tour such as the trolley we rode makes a good way to see and learn about the history of an area. All in all Tombstone was fun!

Breezy Trail to Benson

We left Midland about 6:30 AM and as soon as we slid onto the Interstate, the wind began to blow. By the time we got to El Paso and beyond it was hurricane strength or so it seemed. There were many places where the sand would blow dangerously across the road and lower visibility to zero. We saw numerous dust devils. We pulled into Benson where we are staying at the Butterfield RV Resort. It is a snow bird resort and is very nice and has lots of nice advantages like a gym, game room pool, library, and computers. WIFI is extra which is why this is slow being posted. Benson is quite small but we plan to travel to Tombstone, Bisbee and Ft. Huchuca while we are here.

Hittin' the Road Again

It is hard to believe that a year has passed since our trip to Olympia, WA and other western destinations.

It was such fun but I would never have thought we would get to do it again and a year later. Our son Mike and his bride to be, Beth, will be getting married in late June, our anniversary date (39 years later) to be exact. What better reason to "have" to make another trip up there! (Mike, your mom thanks you!)

On the way to the wedding, we plan to travel through Arizona, Nevada, California and Oregon. In California, we will get to visit with some friends we made last summer. Of course, we will visit as many history sites as possible. Autie and Ulysses will be back seat co-pilots again.

You are invited to comment and leave messages here for us as we travel. We intend to keep this up for each destination. Oh, and we might just post some pictures of the wedding. So visit often.