Travels of Antares : 2018 Tuscon Air Muesum and Sonora Desert Museum

Tucson
Monday, March 19, 2018

Supposedly Tucson doesn't have as much sprawl as Phoenix, but we passed one development after another as we approached town, with the attendant mall sprawl that is required to serve all those new homes and residents. I suspect the boom will continue as more Boomers retire looking for a warm place to retire.

It was nice to arrive in Tucson in the afternoon rather than after dark. Our condo was interesting - a shotgun unit, entered from the back, through the bedroom, with an enclosed courtyard out front. We had time for a quick trip to the Visitor's Information in town before it closed for maps and info about the area. Since there is more to see than time, we'll need to pick and choose our day trips.

Tuesday, February 19, 2018

B36 bomber - In service from 1947 to 1959

Leonard's choice for Tuesday was the Pima Air and Space Museum. It was huge, with multiple large hangers filled with everything from a Wright Brother's plane to a Lockheed S71 Blackbird (and everything in between) and an airfield filled with even more planes. We spent the best part of the day looking at the various exhibits. Thankfully it wasn't hot - it had been near freezing in the morning. Davis-Monthan AFB is virtually across the street and various aircraft flew overhead during our visit. I wondered if the planes in the museum had been flow into the AFB and then taxied across the highway to the museum - there were gates in the fence at the edge of the parking lot. It would have been interesting to see some of the big planes being moved.

SR71 world's fasted plane used for spy missions (retired)

A B 29 that flew 31 missions over Japan during WWII

A P51 credited for shooting down 7 German, 1
Italian, 1 Japanese, and 1 American planes

Here is the story

The clouds gradually began breaking up during the afternoon, revealing snow at the upper elevations on Catalina Mountains, Mount Lemon and Rincon Mountains to the east. Unfortunately the peaks were almost in the clouds and our camera doesn't do well in hazy conditions.

With what remained of the afternoon we drove to Sentinel Peak Park, a stand alone hill west of downtown Tucson, also known as "A" Mountain, for an overview of the area. It has probably served as a sentry post as long as humans have lived in the region with a 360 view, giving warning of any approaching foe. Once back at our Airbnb, we took a walk around the neighborhood before calling it a day.

Wednesday February 21, 2018

Ocotillo bloom - note the prickers on the stem - the branches are used in
corrals, good for keeping animals in and thieves out

Wednesday we headed to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. We arrived just as a docent tour was starting, so we tagged along for a very entertaining and informative talk before spending the most of the day wandering through a great facility. It had just about everything - botanical gardens, zoo (all rescued native animals), an aviary and hummingbird exhibit, an art gallery, a small aquarium and the usual gift shops and eateries. Our favorite part was the hummingbird house which had 2 active nests and some courtship activity. The docent said the nests had just enough room for 2 eggs the size of tic-tacs, with an incubation period of about 2 weeks, so they were expecting to see babies soon. It would be a fun place to be a docent - it was hard to leave with so much to watch.

Cactus beginning to bloom

Purple cholla cactus with purple prickly pear cactus behind it

Cactus wren on an agave stem (century plant)

Javelina or collared peccary - although they look like feral pigs, they are not related

The museum has a huge staff of docents. I asked our guide how much training they receive - six months, including a mid term and a final - a lot of dedication for a volunteer position. The museum does outreach to the area schools as well as tours, including taking animals for the kids to see. They had a bob cat named George who enjoyed the school trips until he passed away - he must have been a very special cat! And I bet he was a hit with the kids.

Big cat in the zoo portion of the museum

Humming bird - the fushia color would flash occasionally

Humming bird nest with mom sitting on the eggs

Rufus humming bird

We'd planned to include the Mission San Xavier del Bac and possibly 'Old Tuscon' where a number of movies have been filmed, but decided to visit the Saguaro National Park West instead. There is another, larger half of the park east of Tucson we planned to visit another day. After the film, we drove the 5 mile Hohocam Loop road, stopping for several short hikes to points of interest along the way. The Valley View Overlook had a nice view of the Avra valley to the west, and the petroglyphs at Signal Hill were a short climb from the parking lot. We caught the sunset as we headed back to town on Gates Pass Road, a twisty road with numerous over looks, and a favorite for viewing sunsets (it had already set by the time we got there) - another long day.