Saguaro Nat'l Park East & Free Pie

Grant came out here with a bucket list of things he wanted to see or do and Saguaro Nat'l Park East was high on the list.  We picked today to venture out to the park and made the short 7 mile drive there and took the 8 mile drive through the park.  We've been there a number of times, but this was a first for Grant and he seemed to enjoy the sights a lot.

The information center has a small garden with different cacti labeled so us non Southwest people can get to know the names of the different cacti.  I do know that the Saguaro cactus shown below is over 100 years old since it has arms and they are fairly large.  The Saguaro cactus doesn't grow arms until it is 75 years old at least.

 Right after we entered the park (free because of my Golden Age Pass) we spotted a nice prickly pear cactus with the beginning of flowers.  I had to pull over in order to not block the one lane road and some old geezer couldn't wait and zoomed by me and ran off the road and hit the side of the cactus.  You can see his tire tracks near Grant's foot.  I don't understand how anyone can speed through a park at 40mph plus and actually see anything.

 The Saguaro cactus buds are forming now and should be in bloom within a week or so.  They bloom at night and if the mornings are cool, the blooms will be visible for a few hours in sunlight.

 The hedgehog cacti have a number of blooms on them and come in multiple colors.  They are favorites of ours since they bloom early and last a long time.

 More prickly pear cactus with beautiful blooms.  Grant is lucky to be here at this time since the cacti are starting to bloom and there will be fields of these along side of the road.  They are beautiful to see, but terrible to walk in.

 The Ocotillo are in full bloom now and are throughout the park.  It is hard to believe that just a few weeks ago they looked like dead sticks and were brown. 

The Village Inn restaurant gives away free pie on Wednesday and we stopped in for a late lunch.  The lunches were large and good and we managed to fill our stomachs to overflowing almost.   We asked for the pies to go and picked two cherry pies (Gerry & I) and Grant had a German Chocolate Cake Pie.  It must have been good since he wolfed it down later in the evening.  We also enjoyed our cherry pies with ice cream as a late night snack.

Oh, before all this we went to the library so I could download the latest version of Windows 8.1.  My new computer came with 8.1, but this new download was around 4gig and I didn't want to use up all my 20gig bandwidth on the download.  Even with the super fast internet at the library it still took 30+ minutes to download the files and another 45 minutes to fully install the new version of 8.1.  The best thing about it for me is that it boots right into the desktop rather than into the tile format of Win 8.1.  There are a number of other features but I haven't had time to try them all out.

That was our day out here in the desert, how was yours? 

Titan Missile Museum

We started early today since we had a lot to do on our schedule.  Gerry was invited to her friend Katy's house for lunch along with Katy's daughter and granddaughter.  Since it was most likely to be a hen fest, Grant and I decided to skip the lunch and just show up for dessert.  Cake with chocolate icing does that to guys.

First we dropped Gerry off and Grant and I went to a Taco Bell just down the road from the Titan Missile Museum.  Properly fortified with nourishment we went to the museum and arrived a little before 1pm and caught that tour.  I've been on the tour a couple times and each time learn something new.  This was the first time for Grant and to say he was excited would be an understatement.  He was first out the door and first down the stairs to the control center. 

They have a dummy nuclear warhead in the gift shop at the museum and Grant standing next to it gives you an idea of the size of an actual warhead.  It had 650 times the power of the bombs dropped on Japan during WWII.  Hard to believe all the power could come in something that size.

 The missile was located under the concrete doors just above and behind Grant's head in the below picure.  The Titan II missile was 103 ft long and 10 ft wide at it's widest point.

 There were 54 silos located in groups of 18 in the Tucson, Wichita and Arkansas locations.  The site we toured is the only one left that has all the original equipment left in place.  All the other sites had the equipment removed and the silo filled in with dirt and then concrete.  That came about as a result of the nuclear proliferation treaty signed between the US and Russia.

The tour guide had served in a site for 4 years and really knew his stuff.  He explained how it all worked and the safeguards to keep one person from firing the missile.  The control center was located underground and had 4ft concrete walls with rebar in it.  The doors to the underground area were 6,000lbs each and made of steel with 4 huge pins holding them in place.

 A young lady was selected to help with the demo much to Grant's dismay.  He wanted to fire the missile, but did get a chance to sit at the council after that part of the tour was over.

 The next part of the tour took us to the missile silo where another guide explained how it all worked.  They had plexiglass windows so you could see the top part of the missile with a fake warhead on it.

The photo below was taken from the top of the silo and sure does look menacing.  They leave the top doors open so the Russians can verify nothing is going on at the silo.

The photo below shows all the workings of the silo including the door above.  They had a huge water tank that was emptied into the silo when the missile was fired.

Since everything was underground and it took a 4 step identification system to get in the control area, they installed a radar surveillance system on each corner of the launch area.  One such corner is shown below in this picture.  In the background are tailings from a copper mine nearby the site.

After the tour was over Grant and I went back to pick up Gerry and get our dessert from Katy and crew.  It was delicious and really hit the spot.  We visited with them for a while and finally had to hit the road.

By this time it was getting late and we stopped at Costco for a few things and then on to a local Mexican restaurant.  As usual, they serve you more food than you can comfortably eat.  We waddled out of there and made it back to the motorhome and collapsed.  It was an early to bed night for us to catch up on some much needed sleep.

That was our day, how was yours?

Trip to Skyharbor Int'l Airport - Phoenix

During a conversation with our son Larry Jr on Saturday it was mentioned that grandson Grant had a two week spring break starting on April 7.  They weren't sure what to do with him to keep him busy and entertained, so we volunteered to take care of him here in Tucson.  There was a mad frenzy to find a reasonable airfare from Charlotte, NC to Tucson, but there wasn't a decent fare available with Southwest Airlines.  I then check fares to Phoenix, AZ from Charlotte and found a super great deal with Southwest.  It was about 1/3 of the fare to Tucson.  We put the wheels in motion to make this happen.

Well, Monday afternoon we made the 135 mile drive up to Skyharbor and picked him up at 8:45pm.  We got there early and were hungry, so we looked for a restaurant nearby the airport.  Much to our surprise we wound up eating at a restaurant that we used when Barbara & Henry were here last spring for the NASCAR race.  It was near their hotel and we had dinner with them and Henry's parents after the race.  Barbara & Henry loaded their luggage into our car and we headed back to Tucson for a week long visit with them.

Gerry ordered the chicken fried chicken sandwich and ate 1/2 of the sandwich.  I ordered a club sandwich and was able to eat most of it, but was stuffed when we left.  The picture below shows our food and the remaining half of Gerry's sandwich.  It is impossible to walk out of there hungry.

The decor there is southwestern/cowboy and it looks like the restaurant has been there for a while.  

We arrived at the airport and tried to decipher the layout to find which terminal and door to enter in order to pick up Grant.  I dropped Gerry off at the terminal and then parked in the cell phone lot.  Gerry managed to get a pass and walked right up to the arrival gate and met Grant.  He thought they were meeting at the arriving luggage area, but since he only had a carryon bag, he was looking for the luggage area and almost walked right past her.  They had a big hug and then called me to pick them up at the door.  

I swooped down and they jumped into the car.  We were out of the airport in a flash.  Then we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us.  Since traffic was light, we made great time getting back to the motorhome.  Grant was very tired and so were the two of us, so we hit the hay very quickly after we got home.

It would take us at least 10 days of driving to duplicate the trip that took Grant about 8 hours.  I think I am going to buy an airplane.  Not!

We did have a "gotcha" moment on the way up to Phoenix.  I was driving along around 72 mph in a 75mph zone when a black BMW flew by us in the fast lane running around 90-95mph and it was out of sight in a minute or so.  We drove down the road about 15 miles and there he was talking to an Arizona State trooper and exchanging information and papers.  I wonder what the fine is for running 20mph over the speed limit.  

Gerry had a routine doctor appointment in the morning and we met Judy & Steve for lunch at a local restaurant called Buddy's.  We had a nice long chat with them and enjoyed the meal very much.  We've been trying to get together with them all winter and with my knee replacement, my brother's visit and their many friends and family visiting with them we finally each had a free day.  I hope it doesn't take that long next winter if we all come back to Tucson.

It sure was a long day for us, but it went by quickly.  That was our day, how was yours?

Going away dinner & Owls

It won't be long and we will be the last snowbirds left in the park.  People have been leaving in droves.  They are eager to head back north to the snowy and cold weather up there.  I saw where they were having blizzard like conditions in Michigan, so I can't imagine anyone being that desperate to return to that kind of weather.  To each his own.  Travel safely back home.

We drove by the area where the mother owl is sitting on the nest with her chicks.  The young owl we saw is getting big very fast and is in plain view up high in the nest.

We had a few errands to run and wound up at the new Walmart near the park.  We like International Delight Sugar Free Hazelnut in our coffee and will drive for miles to find it.  The new Walmart had some in stock and we picked up two bottles of the liquid gold.  We even have friends Ron & Dee C looking out for us when they go to various Walmarts in the area to see if they can find it.  

Speaking of Ron & Dee C, they are scheduled to leave for their home in Illinois on Tuesday morning.  They have a mobile home in the park, so they don't have to tow their home with them.  We set up a dinner date for this evening.  The local Montgomery's has a nice fish dinner and we headed for there.  Of course, I was the only one who ordered fish and Gerry ordered the shrimp cocktail.  We got there in time for happy hour and that helped keep the costs down.

We finished our meals and sat and talked for a while.  Afterward, they stopped by our motorhome and we continued on with conversations.  They are both easy to talk to and there never was a lull in the conversation.  Sure is going to be lonely around here after they leave.

 

Fort Clinch, Fernandina Beach, FL - 2004

While we were in the Keys our good friends Mann & Carolyn and Gloria & Doug joined us at the campground.  Gloria & Doug drove down from Melbourne Beach and loved it down there.  More to follow on the Keys trip in 2004.

Mann, Carolyn, Gloria & Doug

Our daughter Barbara and family joined us in the Florida Keys for many years, but in 2004 it didn't work out for the g'kids and Henry to join her.  Barbara did not want to miss her Florida fix.  She hopped in her car and drove from Concord, NC to spend the time at Fort Clinch with us for a week.

One of our favorite restaurants was called "Down Under" and it was right on the inter-coastal waterway and down under a bridge.  They had great seafood dinners and cold beer, so it answered all the basic food needs.  Unfortunately, the restaurant closed down after a few years and never reopened while we were there.

Barbara & Gerry

Down Under restaurant taken from the bridge.

 Barbara and Gerry at the entrance to Fort Clinch State Park.  The campgrounds were on the ocean and also on the river.  We preferred the ocean site since they weren't in the trees and there were fewer bugs there.  We could also watch the nuclear submarines coming and going from the nearby sub base at Kingsland, GA.

Barbara & Gerry

Ocean side campground with electric and water site, plus a bathhouse.  It was a short walk on the boardwalk over the dunes to the beach.  It wasn't that nice of a beach and had some dropoffs and wasn't considered safe for swimming.
 

Fort Clinch is one of the most well-preserved 19th century forts in the country. Although no battles were fought here, it was garrisoned during both the Civil and Spanish-American wars. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps began preserving and rebuilding many of the structures of the abandoned fort. Daily tours with period reenactors depicting garrison life bring the fort to life for visitors.

Enlisted men's quarters.

Officer's quarters

Quartermaster storage room

Food storage room

Coastal guns

Outer wall on the beach

We made it a point to stop at Ft Clinch on our trip back north for a number of years.  It was a good stopover after leaving the Keys and there was a lot to see and do in the area.  We made sure we filled up on shrimp and grouper while we were in the area.

Barbara is getting her Florida fix now.  She and Henry are in Melbourne Beach, FL and are staying in a hotel right on the ocean.  Henry has to work during the days, but can relax with Barbara in the evenings.  I hope they have great weather and enjoy the area.  Barbara, make sure you order a grouper sandwich and think of me out here eating codfish or pollock (only fish available).  Keep those phone lines clear and open.

This was a work around the motorhome day with laundry, storing articles and such.  It also was one of the most painful and frustrating days I've had in a long time.  I started entering tax data into Turbo Tax a while back and finally got around to finalizing our federal tax return.  We get money back, but that doesn't help alleviate the pain of dealing with the forms.  The US really needs to update and revise the federal tax system; it is pathetic.  Thank God for Turbo Tax.

That was our exciting day here in the desert, how was yours?