Tucson, AZ (124)

After leaving Palm Springs, we spent some time with family in Mesa, Arizona. My sister flew in from Virginia and the highlight of the trip was seeing my mom and dad together after more than a year, due to COVID restrictions in the memory care facility where dad lives. It was a really good day for all of us. My sister took this photo.

After a week, we then headed to Tucson. It was our first visit to the area and we stayed at the Tucson Lazy Days KOA.

It has something for everyone, even shade for your RV under some solar panels!

We chose a nice site with some grass, which Lucy really loved.

Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum

We could not wait to visit the beautiful Arizona desert. A great place to start is the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum. It is located out of town on a mesa near Saguaro National Park.

and the views are stunning.

The Desert Museum is a combination of both outdoor and indoor exhibits, including wildlife…you don’t want to run into this guy alone in the desert.

And a wonderful cactus garden. Even after our desert experiences in Palm Springs, we spent hours wondering around here.

I loved the mineral and gem exhibit. All of these rocks are from Arizona.

Here are a few in their more natural setting.

We enjoyed the day and it was a beautiful drive back to the motorhome.

Pima Air Museum

Our next outing was to the Pima Air Museum. Bring your walking shoes, because there is a lot of ground to cover!

There are 5 large hangars filled with restored aircraft of all kinds.

From large…

…to very small

…and everything in between!

Canada made over 4,000 of these for the US war effort. They were called a flying boat because they could takeoff on land or sea.

I had a model of the Blue Angels I used to play with as a kid. Good memories.

And there are hundreds more outside! It can be a little overwhelming, but just pace yourself.

A great feature are the placards set in front of most aircraft that include a QR code to access detailed information about the aircraft and their history.

There is a lot of history represented here and worth multiple trips back.

The Loop

Another great find was The Loop. The Chuck Huckelberry Loop is a bike trail and multiuse path encircling Tucson.

There are currently over 136 miles of trail in The Loop.

You can bike through downtown Tucson, along river beds, and through canyons. I chose to ride a section in the Oro Valley.

It is a real gem. I plan on riding a different section of the Loop each visit.

We enjoyed our first visit to Tucson, and hope to be back next year for the big FMCA rally at the Pima County Fairgrounds.

Al & Deb