A couple of days exploring the Tucson, AZ area

      We ended up spending several nights in Tucson, AZ.  We ended up with a large RV site in the RV park on a corner.  The management led Mark/RV to our site where we were diagonally parked on the two end sites  which gave us lots of room to park the CRV and we did not have too look in to our neighbors windows. We were also close to the lounge, laundry room, pool and office. We decided to join the "locals"/winter residents for happy hour after we arrived for some "local knowledge" about the area. Most people here were here for the winter and arrived before Christmas.  We also agreed to join them the next morning for their weekly breakfast get-together in the social hall.

      We drove out to the Saguaro National Park  to see the unique Saguaro cactus which are called the monarch of Sonora Desert and a symbol of the Southwest. The national park is the only place where the HUGE - giant  Saguaro cactus have been protected since 1933. We also made a stop at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Lots of desert plants and wildlife helped us understand the 100,000 square miles of the lush Sonoran Desert that extend from central Arizona through Sonora, Mexico.

      A trip to Old Tucson was also on the agenda for us - located next to Saguaro National Park.  Old Tucson is famous for the close to 200 films produced there on the grounds with the Catalina Foothills and plentiful mountains for a backdrop. Movies such as Tombstone and Rio Bravo and more recently, The Three Amigos. Several TV programs were also filmed here such as Little House on the Prairie and Bonanza.

      Another day was spent touring the Pima Air and Space Museum where we took the "boneyard" tour and the large collection of aircraft on the field there. The "boneyard" tour was through 4,000 military and government aircraft that has been prepped for storage on the air base located here -some permanently and some go be put back into action if needed. WOW!!! The air and space museum was 80 acres and housed more that 300 retired planes from legendary military aircraft ranging from Thunderbolts and Falcons to seaplanes and amphibians.

      We spent more time hiking the trails in the desert which was amazing. Next stop is Phoenix...