We arrived in Las Cruces, NM,
on February 3, and parked at Hacienda RV Park.
We had stayed here last year and knew this to be a comfortable spot for
Abe and us.
Saturday afternoon we drove
east of Las Cruces to the foothills of the Organ Mountains and hiked up the
Soledad Trail. This easy climb follows a
trail up the canyon on the alluvial fan.
Pretty scenery! Wonder what that
“X marks the spot” means? Even though we
were there late in the afternoon there were lots of folks walking up and down
the trails.
Sunday we found a new church
to attend in Las Cruces. We had attended
Easter services here last year in another ELCA church so thought we’d check out
a new one and glad we did. Prince of
Peace Lutheran Church was located near the University of New Mexico
campus. We found the congregation to be
younger, peppier, and eager to visit.
Our kind of folks! The sanctuary
had been recently remodeled and was beautiful.
Monday, February 6, we moved
once again to make our way to Tucson. We
planned to stay here for two weeks to finish touring the area. We also planned to fly to San Jose for a
weekend…more about that later. I wonder
how many cameras were looking at us as we drove through this border crossing on
I-10. Profiling at its best! Two white-haired geezers in an RV apparently
didn’t pose any threats. We were waved through.
We drove to Green Valley,
just south of Tucson on I-19 to visit the Titan Missile Silo Museum. This intrastate interstate runs from Tucson
to Nogales, AZ, just a few feet north of the US-Mexico border. We were surprised to see this signage! You’ll notice it gives the distance to the
next exit in kilometers not miles! We
thought that was due to the heavy traffic to and from Mexico, but when I looked
it up I learned that the signage anticipated the US conversion to the metric
system in the 1980’s. Right!!!
The Titan ICB Missile
Museum was the only remaining Titan II site open to the public, ran by a
private foundation. All other silos were
destroyed at the end of the cold war.
According to the docent who led our tour, “the Titan II was capable of
launching from its underground silo in 58 seconds and could deliver a nine
megaton thermonuclear warhead to its target more than 6300 miles away in less
than thirty minutes.” From the mid-60’s
to the mid-80’s, 54 Titan II missile complexes across the United States stood
"on alert" 24 hours a day, seven days a week, acting as a deterrent
to nuclear war. Jerry is standing
outside the museum near a little red and white sign that said, “Watch for
Rattlesnakes”! I was rather surprised he
agreed to pose there!!!
The photo of the photo shows the layout of the underground facility: Far left was the crew quarters, in the middle
was the access stairs and the control room (and the only part we saw), and far
right was the missile silo itself.
The
control room reminded us of how far comuting and digital information had come
since the facility was built.
The Titan II missile was
never fueled, nor did it ever have an active warhead. The agreement with the Russians specified
this site only could be used as a museum and the blast doors could be opened
only halfway. The Cold War came alive as
we wandered the hallways and heard the very grim stories. The docent reminded us that the Cuban Missile
Crisis was the closest the US came to a nuclear war with the USSR. From the outside, we could
peer down onto the top of the Titan II missile and the silo that extended 8
stories into the ground.
In the photo Jerry
is standing at the viewing platform above the silo doors. Once again we were reminded to watch out for
rattlesnakes! I imagine this would be a
big problem in the summer.
It was pleasant to be
parked in a nice RV park in Tucson and it gave us a chance to stock up on
supplies, do a few chores on the bus, and even pick oranges, lemons, and
grapefruit from the trees around the park.
However our primary reason for staying here was access to a good airport
so that we could fly to San Jose, CA, the second weekend in February to see our
family. Lauren’s birthday was 2/5 and
Jill’s was 2/12, so we made this weekend our official winter get-together.
We flew to San Jose on
Thursday, 2/9, and arrived in time for dinner with Jill and Lauren. At 4, she’s old enough now to remember us
from visit to visit and to talk about “stuff”.
Friday Lauren was off to school to get ready for their Chinese New Year
celebration and program. Jill took the
day off so we got groceries, ran errands, picked up Joy at the airport and went
to the festivities at Lauren’s school.
Of course I’m terribly
biased, but Lauren was the star of the show!
Her class of 20 or so did a little dance routine.
Lauren and her best friend Sydney lead the
dance and got to wear special kimonos. Her favorite rain boots added just the right
fashion touch!
After the performance,
complete with a Chinese dragon, each classroom had a potluck. Lauren probably had the most family in
attendance…Jill, Bob, Joy, Jerry and I!
Lauren travelled without a
fuss in her car seat wherever we went…usually Grandpa on one side and Grandma
on the other. Part of the easiness of it
all was the fact that she always had one of her friends with her. In the photo she is giving Snuggles a
bottle! This was a Christmas present and
no one seemed surprised that she wanted a puppy that took a bottle! Such a girl!
Friday night we had planned a
special meal and everyone pitched in!
Joy and Lauren are working on the rolls.
After dinner I did a little
repair work on the mermaid tail that I had knitted for Lauren. A couple of the flower bunches were loose, so
I stitched them down again and she and monkey posed for me. Jill said when Lauren received the tail she
wanted to wear it and be carried around the house! I think she sleeps in it some nights. It’s really just a big wrap around blanket
with a tail.
Bob and Lauren are painting a
picture from “Frozen” on Saturday morning.
Lauren is definitely going to be right-handed and had pretty good fine
motor coordination to stay inside the lines.
We had thought we would go to
Santa Cruz on Saturday but Route 17 over the coastal mountains was closed due
to mudslides! The Bay Area had had lots
of rain and many roads in the area were about to flood. We learned on the news that the dam at
Oroville, above Sacramento was in danger of failing. Lots of rain in California…too much all at
once!
So, we stayed in San Jose and
entertained ourselves by entertaining Lauren.
She demonstrated her scooter skills for us. Notice her fancy helmet that has a crown on
it! She was pretty good at riding up and
down the driveway. You might notice that
once again she has her favorite boots on.
Very stylish little girl!
Saturday evening Jill and Bob
went to a show in San Francisco, so Jerry, Joy and I stayed with Lauren. She chose macaroni and cheese for dinner and
ate really well, but didn’t seem to feel well the rest of the evening. She finally went to sleep on the sofa and
about half an hour later up came all that macaroni and cheese. What a mess!
Joy and Jerry tried to clean the couch while I cleaned and settled
Lauren. She obviously wasn’t feeling
well and certainly wanted Mommy, but they didn’t get home until about
midnight. Long story short, I think she
had a touch of the stomach flu. Fortunately
none of the rest was affected.
Sunday Jerry, Jill, Joy and I
went to the Campbell Farmers’ Market and to the mall, while Bob stayed home
with Lauren (what a good Dad he is!).
By
afternoon she was feeling better, so we could celebrate Jill’s birthday with a
cake and presents.
Sunday evening we went to
dinner at a favorite Mexican restaurant and then did some more Lauren watching
back at the house. She posed with her
favorite stuffed animals and, of course, Monkey!
Monday morning, February 13,
Joy flew back to Portland and we flew back to Tucson. What a fun weekend! Too short, but we knew we would see the
Klucks again as we headed north in April.
Tuesday, February 14, we
continued our explorations of the Tucson area and went to Mission San Xavier
del Bac, was founded as a Catholic
mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692.
In 1783, Franciscan missionary Fr. Juan Bautista Velderrain was able to
begin construction on the present structure using money borrowed from a Sonoran
rancher. He hired an architect, Ignacio Gaona, and a large workforce of O'odham
to create the present church. The oldest
intact European structure in Arizona, the church's interior is filled with
marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. The current church dates from the late
1700's, when Southern Arizona was part of New Spain. (according to the church’s
tour information).
The interior of the church
was spectacular. We saw floor to ceiling
statuary, frescos, and ornate paintings.
The restoration of the interior was begun in the 90’s, although came to
a halt before completion when the grant ran out. Beautiful art work!
Sunday, February 19, we met
Allie Goudy, with whom we had become acquainted at Trinity Lutheran in Canton,
IL, at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oro Valley. Allie and her husband spend 6 months in
Canton and 6 months in Oro Valley, just NE of Tucson every year. We had been to many little struggling
Lutheran Churches with barely enough Sunday worshippers to fill ¼ of the
pews. This church was just the
opposite. I don’t think we’d attended a
larger church! Five services were held
each weekend and I think I heard that about 800 worship each weekend. We chose the 9 AM service, a “blended”
service, rather than the 7:45 traditional service during which Allie’s choir
sings, and the seats were almost full.
It was a very friendly church with a great sermon, and it was wonderful
to have a visit with Allie!
After church we drove a
little further north to Saddlebrooke to have lunch with friends we had first
met Anacortes Lutheran Church. In fact
all three of we ladies were in the church choir together! Chuck and Jan Mallory have moved to the
Tucson area and Hildy and Jeff Radke are snowbirds, living in Sedona during the
winter. Jan took us to lunch at the
country club, but Chuck was under the weather and couldn’t join us. What a great afternoon!
Monday, February 20, we moved
southeast of Tucson about 60 miles to Tombstone Territories RV Park, a highly
recommended park out in the middle of nowhere!
On our way there, we saw about 300 Union Pacific locomotives parked on a
siding south of I-10. Apparently there
was not enough rail business to keep all the engines active.
Tombstone Territories RV Park
was surrounded by mountains and sat on the bluff above the San Pedro
River. The views were wonderful but we noticed the
change in elevation…cooler and windier here.
We knew there were lots of things to see in the area so we had a busy
week ahead of us!
Our first area to explore was
the Cochise National Monument. Time for
a little geology discussion, thanks to Wikipedia:
Located approximately 36 miles (58 km) southeast
of Willcox, Arizona, the
monument preserves the remains of an immense volcanic eruption that shook the region about 27 million years
ago. The thick white-hot ash spewed forth from the nearby Turkey Creek Caldera, cooled and
hardened into rhyolitic tuff, laying down almost two thousand feet
of dark volcanic ash and pumice, highly siliceous in nature, which eventually eroded into
the natural features that we see at the monument today.
We hiked to the fire lookout
on top of Sugar Loaf Mountain and had spectacular views! In fact, we could look across a valley to see
the rim of the Turkey Creek caldera…remnant of the volcano that covered this
area with lava and ash. The highest peak
in the Chiricahua sky island (an isolated mountain range) was 9,763 feet.
We were amazed at the
balanced rocks and the hoo doos. The
peak in the background of Jerry’s photo has a little knob on top…that’s the
fire lookout! Chiricahua National
Monument was not busy, and unknown to us, but beautiful with lots of great
hikes to explore. We’ll come here again!
Tuesday, February 21, we were
off in search of another hike and drove to the Cochise Stronghold in the
Dragoon Mountains, another sky island south of Willcox. This was the famous area, which was the
hideout of the Chiricahua Apaches, seeking refuge from the U.S. Cavalry. Cochise is buried somewhere in this mountain
range, among the granite boulders. We
found more spectacular peaks and spires and trails. What gorgeous country!
We found a small campground
at the end of a five-mile dirt road, on the way to the trailhead. There were a scattering of homes along this
road, which included four creek fords and five cattle guards! Satellite TV service might be a challenge,
but this house seemed to be covering all bases!
What a place to live!
At the base of the hills was
an apparently large ranch called Cochise Stronghold Ranch, with a brand to
match. Check out the fence. Yep, we were in the Wild, Wild West!
On our way to visit Fort
Huachuca, in the foothills just east of Sierra Vista we saw this puzzling spot
in the sky.
We soon found out that an
aerostat was deployed from the army base to control drug traffic across the
border! The Tethered Aerostat Radar
System is a balloon-borne radar. The
aerostat is a large fabric envelope filled with helium. It can rise up to
15,000 feet while tethered by a single cable, which has a maximum breaking
strength of 26,000 pounds. The aerostat
was about twice the size of the Goodyear Blimp. The 275,000 cubic foot,
aerodynamically shaped balloon measures 175 feet long by 58 feet across the
hull, with a tip-to-tip tail span of 81 feet. The aerostat system lifted a
1,200-pound payload to operating altitude for low-level radar coverage. The photo at
the right shows it tethered, but I “stole” this shot off the internet…we never
saw it parked here.
Fort Huachuca was another in
the series of Indian forts established after the Civil War to protect the
frontier. Fort Huachuca became known as
the home of the Buffalo Soldiers and the history museum presented their story
in detail. The fort has continued to be
active to the present day and is the only Army base between El Paso and the
California coast. Today the primary
mission of the fort is Military Intelligence.
We toured the Military Intelligence Museum, too, and even saw a piece of
the Berlin Wall!
Sierra Vista with a
population of 44,000 and an elevation of 4,600 feet was the closest “big”
town. The weather is cooler than that of
Phoenix and Tucson, and seemed to be a booming town, reminiscent of Visalia
when we first moved there.
Bisbee was another
destination to explore. Jerry’s memories
of working for Kennecott Copper in Utah made him curious about the copper
mining in SE Arizona.
The first copper mining
operation was an underground mine through the hills of the town. We imagined the entire town riddled with
tunnels! Eventually the mining practice
converted to an open pit mine on the south edge of town. It had been closed since the 1970’s, but
evidence of the mining was everywhere…the pit at the side of the road, the
rusting equipment, and the mine tailings.
Of course not a tree or a blade of green grass to be seen…just cactus
everywhere!
Old Bisbee Microbrewery, in
the middle of the old downtown area, was the perfect place for lunch. Great beer and chili-brats…Yum!
The old mine headquarters, a
spectacular old building, had been converted to a Mining History Museum. This was another spectacular museum full of
intriguing information about SE Arizona.
The Smithsonian had assisted in the display creation.
One of Bisbee’s unique claims
to fame was their ballpark. Warren Ballpark was recently home to the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings of the
independent Arizona–Mexico League and was
the current home of the Bisbee Killer Termites (you
just can’t make this stuff up!). The Stadium was built in 1909 by the Calumet
and Arizona Mining Company as a recreation for the miners and their families,
pre-dating the construction of Chicago's Wrigley Field by nearly five years! Pretty cool!
Our final exploration was old Tombstone…that infamous town of
the OK Corral, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
As the RV park hostess pointed out to us…”there’s more to Tombstone than
that gunfight!” We stopped at Boot Hill,
yep, right on the edge of town, and paid the $3 to learn about the residents of
this cemetery. There were quite a few
“unknowns” and a lot of folks had been “shot” and “hanged”. A few headstones were quite descriptive, like
this one.
Tombstone, a short 10 miles down the road from the RV Park also
had a great microbrewery! We stopped in
a couple of times and enjoyed their patio.
Sadly, they didn’t serve food, so we made our way down the street to the
Crystal Palace for sliders and onion rings.
Perfect end to a day in Tombstone.
Sunday, February 26, we went to church in Sierra Vista at Sierra
Evangelical Lutheran Church…another winner! They were in the process of updating their sound system and we saw six large flat screen TVs in the sanctuary!
We learned that this church has an active knitting group. We received a visitors’ gift pack, which
included a knitted hot pad. Nice! Draped on every other pew or so were prayer
shawls with a lovely note included. That
was a first!
Monday, February 27, it was
time to move again. Our destination was
the north side of Phoenix where we have reservations for 9 nights. Northern Illinois friends Jerry and Sue
Hipple will join us 3/1 – 3/3 for a railroad trip to the Grand Canyon. We hope to meet up with several other friends
who are snow-birding in the Phoenix area.
More stories to come!
