Down Tucson Way

Blooming Barrel Cactus in the High Desert

We’d been grounded, RV-wise, for the past 3 months, with our 5^th Wheel in the Shop (the slowest RV service in the West, in our experience at least, name of RV dealership, on Main St,. just east of Gilbert Rd, in Mesa, Arizona , withheld to protect the guilty party), some repairs from our “tirefalloffepisode” (see earlier Blog) in SE Oklahoma WAY BACK WHEN  being tended to as well as a number of other maintenance/repair/desired upgrade items accumulated during our travels.

Anyhow, the 5^th was retrieved from the obscenely tardy RV dealership just last weekend, and we headed out soon enough this past week to check out repairs and explore nearby Tucson.  After a routine 2 hour haul down I10 to a KOA campground  just south of Downtown, we set out to explore all that Tucson and the surrounding area offered. 

 First up was Mexican food… in abundance… naturally enough given that it’s only about 50 or 60 miles to the Mexican border.  They advertise down here a “23 Mile Mexican Food Trail” that pretty much encircles the greater Tucson area and includes maybe 20 to 25 local eateries.  I suspect that those 25 (or so) restaurants have had to pay a fee of some sort to be included in the Tour… for indeed there are probably two or  three times as many such restaurants NOT on the list in that same area.... But nevertheless, we sampled a couple restaurants on the “Official Tour”, and were not disappointed.

One place, called Mi Niditos, advertised the President's Plate, namely a special order by then President Bill Clinton on a personal visit there in 1999.  

"Health Food", Mexican style, Bill survived, so will I

Bill had a healthy appetite apparently, as there were five different entrees on this “Special”.  Naturally, I HAD to try it out; I’m still taking care of the leftovers as I write this two days later.  But it was very good and well worth the visit!

Bill's plate, and mine!

Next day I just had to run out to the nearby Pima Air and Space Museum. I love airplanes; been on or around them in one capacity or another pretty much all my life.  So this was a must see, 300 or so airplanes, most of them military craft, but some private and commercial aircraft as well, displayed in 5 large hangars and 80 outside acres.  I was in “Hog Heaven,” literally, going from plane to plane and enjoying every moment of the morning I spent there. 

JFK's "Air Force One",  circa early 1960's

I found, among so many other treasures, the types of planes my 3 generation Air Force family (Uncle John, Cousin Tom, and  Tom's son, Jay) flew, not to mention a vast number of other historic aircraft.

F80 "Shooting Star", a very early Jet Fighter flown by my Uncle John in the Korean Conflict. He earlier flew P51 Mustangs in WWII

And Uncle John's son, Tom, my cousin, flew an F4 Phantom much like this one during two combat tours of Vietnam.

My own little "non" fighter plane, a 1946  Ercoupe 415C, in which I completed my Private Pilot's flight test Way Back When.  This particular plane and pilot was NOT on display in Tucson.

On our third day in Tucson, we were on to other cultural experiences (Religion and Wine, specifically, a nice balance).  First up was a visit to the old Mission of San Xavier, just a little Southwest of  downtown Tucson.  This was a beautiful old Catholic church/mission, the bright white of its stucco exterior standing out from several miles away as we approached.  

z

San Xavier Mission

 It was well worth the short jaunt from our KOA campground.  I was especially pleased to see a statue of St. Bonaventura, literal translation (mine), being “Saint of Good Fortune”.  My own family surname derived from a Portuguese first name, Boaventura, denoting same (ie good fortune). I don’t know if my Portuguese kin were saintly, or not, and I don’t really care.   St. Boaventura (Portuguese translation) is my GUY from here on out.

My Patron Saint of "Good Fortune"

From there it was on to Southern Arizona Wine Country, headquartered in the tiny little town of Sonoita, an hour Southeast of Tucson.  And what a pleasant surprise this was, good, bold red wines grown in local vineyards in the high desert climate of Southern Arizona, much like the red wines we'd earlier found and treasured in Southern Oregon.  We quickly joined our first Arizona wine club, and went back to our RV  Park that afternoon with a good batch of fine Reds to savor sooner or  later.

Grape vines in the high desert of South Arizona

Big Bertha patiently waiting as we sample the wines at Callaghan Vineyards near Sonoita

Now we were in to our last full day in the Tucson area, and we headed up into the hills west of town to Saguaro National Park. Here we found a beautiful display of native plants, primarily cactus, in a lovely mountain setting.

Desert landscape in Saguaro National Park

Majestic Saguaro Cacti in the high desert near Tucson

 We will definitely be back to explore more of this beautiful area in and around Tuscon in the future.