Pima Air & Space Museum & Boneyard

This was my day for PT and it was scheduled for 12-1pm which broke up the day for sightseeing for me.  Gerry was tired out from the previous day so we directed Barbara & Henry to a nearby attraction that is very interesting.  

The Pima Air & Space Museum and Boneyard are very close together and after spending hours walking around looking at old airplanes, most people take advantage of a bus ride to view the airplane boneyard in Tucson.  There are over 3600 planes there all lined up in neat rows.  20% of them are ready to fly and others take a little longer to get ready.  Those that won't fly again are parted out and the rest become scrap.  In the past the US sold some of the older planes to friendly foreign countries that didn't need the latest and greatest planes, but since 9/11 that practice has been discontinued.

 

The Pima Air & Space Museum is a must see for anyone who likes old planes and a chance to get up close to them.  They have a number of planes inside hangars and even more outside in the open.  Due to the low humidity in the area rust isn't that much of a problem.  
They have guided tours by many docents who actually flew or worked on some of the planes that are now at the museum.  They have some great insider stories to tell about their experiences with the planes.  Barb & Henry move at a lot quicker pace than the docents, so they listened for a while and then took off on their own.

The pictures on this blog were taken by Barb & Henry.

Air Force One 1961-1965

 Air Force One above was the plane President Kennedy & Johnson used for 5 years.  I believe it was the plane that Johnson was sworn in as president after Kennedy was shot.  

By the time Barb & Henry were done touring the boneyard and  museum it was time for dinner.  Even though Henry isn't a fan of Mexican food we decided to drag him down to the Guadalajara Fiesta Grill for dinner.  It fills up fast so we left early to avoid waiting in line.  We must have really been early since we were seated right away on the patio.  That was a new experience for us to sit on the patio and since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to stay and dine outside.  Good move.

Barb & Gerry ordered Margaritas even before we sat down.  Just kidding, but trust me, they were the first drinks ordered.  They have huge margarita drinks and no Mexican dinner without them would be good enough for Gerry.  They go very well with the freshly made salsa, as well.  We opted for the mild version of salsa.

Barb says,  ummm good

We were the first stop for the Mariachi Band and the first song I requested was Volari which the band leader said was a difficult song to start with.  It was more suited to be played after a lot of drinks were consumed.  They did play it to the best of their ability, but I had to agree with him, it sounded better after a number of drinks.  The next group of songs sounded better, more like their typical efforts.

 

 We all enjoyed the meals, drinks and music very much and stayed until the sun went down and it chilled off somewhat.  The weather was great, the decor fun and the atmosphere was, of course, very lively and similar to a small fiesta.

I took them on a short tour of downtown Tucson but there really wasn't much to see after dark so we returned to the motorhome early.

It had been a long day for me with PT and everything else, so I decided to hit the hay early again.  I was one tired puppy.  It wasn't long before everyone else decided it was a good idea, also.