Mt. Lemmon - Tucson, AZ

We made our trek up to Mt. Lemmon yesterday afternoon and it was so picturesque! It was about 24 miles to reach the top, which meant there were many, many curves. As Bob said at one point, "Around every curve there is a totally different scene". It was a beautiful day for a beautiful drive. I'm still amazed that Bob drove all the way up and back without the slightest hint of the jitters. I still don't know what got into him, but I'm liking it a lot! I took over 300 pictures going up & down Mt. Lemmon, so it was very difficult to choose just a few to post here.

Interesting rock formations

Beautiful vista

The Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley

at the top.

The sun hitting this formation.

I loved how the setting sun cast

a reddish gold shadow on this area.

Sunset on our way back down.

Another sunset shot.

Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse at Trail Dust Town

We made it back to Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse at around 6:30 last night. They have fantastic steaks that are cooked on a mesquite wood fire and they are excellent! Bob ordered the "Big Cowboy", which is a 30 oz. Porterhouse and he ate it and all the trimmings (and part of mine) and didn't leave one morsel on his plate. He loves this restaurant! It's a neat atmosphere...no neckties are allowed and if you wear one in, they will cut it off and hang it from the ceiling. Coincidentally, one of the gift shops in Trail Dust Town sells ugly old ties for a couple of bucks. :-) At Trail Dust Town there are several shops, a carousel, shooting gallery and an old west gunfight show. If you're ever in the Tucson area, visit Pinnacle Peak...you won't be disappointed!

Definitely a "Cowboy Cadillac".

Check out the rifles mounted

on the fenders.

Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse...

this picture is deceiving...

this place is very big inside.

Sabino Canyon in Tucson, AZ

We had a great day yesterday. We went to Tucson to visit the Sabino Canyon in the Coronado National Forest. We took the tram tour through the canyon and it was nice. When we left there we went to Bob's favorite restaurant in Arizona - Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse at Trail Dust Town. It was 3:30 when we arrived and they didn't open until 4:30, so Bob suggested we drive up to Mt. Lemmon while we waited. I could have fainted! Mt. Lemmon is 9,157 ft. above sea level and Mr. Flatlander decides he'll drive up there. It's 24 miles from the base to the ski lodge at the top. So...up we went and it was a beautiful drive and Bob did fine. We're both still in shock that he did so well. The following 2 posts will show Trail Dust Town & Mt. Lemmon. The photos below are of Sabino Canyon.





This formation is called "The
Mask" or "Winking Tiki"...it looks
like a mask winking at you.

Casa Grande Area

Today we took a picturesque drive to Florence, AZ. We had been through there a couple of years ago and passed a "Prison Store" where they sell things made by the prisoners. They were just closing when we went there 2 years ago, so we decided to go back there today. It was quite interesting and they had some nice items, but we felt that everything was way overpriced. Oh, well...it was a nice drive!


A saguaro in the mountains


Another saguaro


A load of cotton being hauled
from the field


The Prison Store

An interesting building in Florence

More saguaros

Loved this multi-armed

saguaro

Today Bob found a couple in our campground that make really nice items from PVC pipe. They have copyrights for them and have some technique that they use to create birds, etc. from one piece of PVC. Then they paint them and mount them. They are so whimsical and beautiful! We stopped back by their campsite and I purchased the 2 items below.

This eagle is made to mount on a

wall with a hook or on the outside

of the RV with 2 suction cups. It

is on our 5th wheel in this picture.

These are my Egrets. Aren't

they adorable???

Casa Grande, Arizona

Yesterday we moved from St. David, AZ to Casa Grande. We have been trying to get into this park for years. We did have reservations 2 years ago, but had to cancel them when my mother was in the hospital and we had to rush back to Michigan. This park is very nice and they have plenty of activities. Vivian (my first mother-in-law) lives right next door to this park, so we will be visiting with her this week. Here's a few pictures I took yesterday:



Driving through Tucson


Picacho Peak, between Tucson
and Casa Grande


These 3 pictures were taken
out of the back window of our
5th wheel. The sunset last
night was spectacular!

Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, AZ 01/07/11

On Friday we visited the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson. It was interesting, but a little disappointing that you aren't allowed to go in any of the planes. At Wright-Patterson AFB Museum in Ohio, there were some planes you could go inside, including Eisenhower's Air Force One plane.



The entrance to the museum.


Also at the entrance.


Sweet plane!

This flag was the first one ashore on Utah Beach on D-Day:

Apollo Command Module.

Mars Polar Lander.

Tucson Ring Meteorite.

This plane is at the "Boneyard",

which is part of Davis-Monthan

AFB in Tucson. There are acres

of scrapped planes there. You

may remember seeing scenes

of it in the movie "ConAir".

Titan Missile Museum - January 5, 2011

We spent yesterday afternoon at the Titan Missile Museum in Sahuarita, AZ. It was very interesting and informative and it sure makes you think about how fortunate we were to have survived the Cold War without ever having to fire one of these missiles. The Titan II missiles could hit a target 6,000 miles away in 35 minutes. WOW! That is moving!!!


Entrance to the Museum


Beyond the gate you can see
the top of the missile silo with
the door in the 1/2 open position.



View of the missile from the top
of the silo.


The Command Center

The red file cabinet which

contained the launch keys and

codes for the missiles.

The tunnel from the Command

Center to the silo.

View of the Titan II

from the 2nd level.

Another shot of the missile

from the 2nd level.