Arizona

Tucson

February 10, 2012

Today our friends Ray and Evelyn joined us in a visit to Old Tucson Studios in Tucson, Arizona. 

 

 

Old Tucson was built in 1939 as a filming location for the movie Arizona starring William Holden and Jean Arthur.  After Arizona, Old Tucson lay dormant under the desert sun until it was revived briefly in 1945 for the film, The Bells of St. Mary’s starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.  In the late 1940′s, Old Tucson Studios came to life.  Gene Autry, Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan were a few of the actors who starred in movies filmed there.  The 1950′s found the western movie era in full swing.  Such classics as the Gunfight at Ok Corral starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas; and The Lone Ranger, The Lost City of Gold, and Cimarron starring Glenn Ford were filmed at Old Tucson.

Since 1940, well over 200 movies and television shows have been filmed at Old Tucson including Gunfight at the OK Corral (several different versions over the years), Lone Ranger, the Lost City of Gold, Rio Bravo, Have Gun Will Travel, El Dorado, Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, Mark of Zorro, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Harlem Globetrotters, Little House on the Prairie, The New Mavorick, Buffalo Soldiers, Calamity Jane, Highway to Heaven, Revenge of the Nerds, Cowboy Up, and The Three Amigos just to name a few. 

At Old Tucson Studios we strolled along the dirt streets and wooden boardwalks of Main Street.

 

 

 

You never knew when you might run into saloon girls and cowboys,

 

or some old horse thief,

or make friends with one of the natives,

or have dust kicked in your face by one of those dad-blamed horseless buggies!

or find somebody skipping school again.

There are the usual tourist attractions such as sweets shops, old-style mercantiles selling souvenirs, and old-style bars and saloons.  You can also take a ride on a horse, a train, or a child-size model T car.  We took a ride on the train,

and passed the road to High Chaparral.

Throughout the day, skits are enacted at different locations about the town.  I was very impressed by the talented actors in the skits.  The skits were quite well done.

We listened to the stagecoach driver warning us about the inconveniences of traveling on a stagecoach.

Since February of this year is the centennial of Arizona’s statehood, there was a presentation at the courthouse reliving the speech given by the first Governor of the state. 

The Governor’s speech was interrupted by a parade of women demanding the right to vote and prohibition,

followed by a parade of men protesting against prohibition.

We enjoyed watching a short play solving the mystery of The Secret of Santa Maria.  At some point in this play, every actor fell off the roof!

 

 

 

 

 

After a fun afternoon, we bought some fudge and headed for the gate.

The Old Tucson Studios is worth a visit.  Plan to arrive at opening in order to see all of the skits and talks scheduled throughout the day.

We enjoyed our day and our time with our friends Ray and Evelyn.

Arizona

Casa Grande

February 5, 2012

Today we took a couple of hours to go and look things over at the Weurtz Gourd Festival.  The Festival is being held at the Pinal County Fairgrounds.  Exhibitors and vendors have come in from all over the nation to display and sell their gourd art.

Here are just a few that caught my eye.

 

 

 

 

 

These are only a few of the gourds we saw at the Festival.  My camera ran out of battery power so I was unable to take pictures of many of the most awesome gourds.

Arizona

Lake Havasu City

January 30, 2011

After spending a fun week camped out in the desert at Quartzsite, Arizona, we headed for Lake Havasu City.  Our son, Joe and his wife, Tamara were due to have a baby on January 25.  We planned to watch their three-year-old, Atreyu, while they were busy in the hospital; and then stick around for a few days to help out once Tamara was home from the hospital.

We had a great time with Atreyu.  We walked the dog.

Trey rode his bike.

 We went to three different parks.

 

 

 

 

 

We just played around the house.

 

 

Asher was born and came home without incident.  All are well.

 

 

 

 

After a week in Lake Havasu City, we headed for home.  It was a wonderful experience and we thoroughly enjoyed visiting with our kids and getting to know our grandsons better.

Tucson

Sabino Canyon

January 13, 2012

Just about a mile from Bob’s old home in Tucson is Sabino Canyon.  Sabino Canyon is a natural desert oasis located in the Coronado National Forest just north of Tucson in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains.  Sabino Canyon presents a world of natural beauty and stunning vistas.  The fresh morning air, tranquility of running creek water, desert plants and animals, and rugged peaks make this a unique place to visit.

People who are physically able have the choice of several hikes.  In addition, a person can ride the tram up the Canyon and walk down, or jump on and off the tram at any of the nine stops.

An earthquake centered in northern Mexico in 1887 dislodged the massive boulders that lined the canyon walls.  They crashed down and came to rest in the valley bottom.

During the Great Depression, the Work Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corporation (CCC’s) built a road up the canyon complete with bridges across the creek at several locations, and the Sabino Dam.

The Park Service now offers a narrated, educational 45-minute tour via tram into the Canyon.  The trams have nine stops along the tour.  At Stop Number Nine, the tram turns around and heads back down to the Visitor’s Center.  Trams run every thirty minutes.

 

 

We left Sabino Canyon after enjoying the tram ride to the top of the Canyon and back again.  We stopped for lunch and then drove north on Arizona Highway 77 to Oracle.  From there we headed northwest on Highway 79 to Florence and then west on Highway 283 to Casa Grande.  It was a fun day in the desert.

Casa Grande

December 31, 2011

On New Year’s Eve, Foothills West RV Resort had an evening of fun including drinks and a band for dancing.  I mixed up a batch of bloody mary’s, and we headed for the clubhouse to enjoy  a few hours of listening to music, dancing and visiting with friends and neighbors. 

 

 

We had a good time, but decided to sneak away at about 11:45 p.m. and bring in the new year in the quiet of our motorhome.

Happy New Year! We hope that 2012 brings you happiness and health.