Tucson, AZ
This week we stayed at Sentinel Peak RV Park so we could be close to Tucson, AZ, and the surrounding area. Right off the bat, the neighborhood seemed a little questionable as we drove in from Mesa, Arizona but after being there for the week we just realized we hadn’t stayed near a college city in a while. The RV park was clean and small (a total of 23 sites). The staff was extremely helpful and we even participated in a Thanksgiving potluck they hosted. It was our first holiday alone on the road and it was pretty sad for me. Our route was changed due to the fires in the Pacific Northwest and we couldn’t get to family in time without putting ourselves through extra long travel days. We still don’t see extra long travel days as an option since we still consider ourselves as newbies.
Activities
We tried to make the best being without family and got out and about all week. Activities have this great effect of distracting you! 😉 Here’s what we got up to:
Saguaro National Park: Even though we are still trying to pronounce this park correctly, we recommend it to everyone! This is definitely a change of scenery when you think of National Parks. They have two dog-friendly trails as well, which Carmen appreciated. We spent the entire afternoon exploring and even caught a killer sunset before heading home.
Biosphere 2: This place is a must do if you are in Tucson, AZ! The work that is being done here is fascinating and will truly help fellow humans in the future. It’s so cool to be standing in a rain forest in the middle of the desert then five minutes later your at the “beach”. Also, we didn’t realize that the movie Biodome was (somewhat) based on a true story! Turns out, there were scientists that lived locked in the Biosphere for 2 years conducting research. We recommend taking a tour (included in the ticket price) so you can hear about the history of this place and what they are working on the present day.
Titan Missile Museum: We stopped here to take a tour and see what an old nuclear missile looked liked. There were three Titan missile silo locations in the United States (with a total of 54 missiles between them) from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. When all the nuclear silos were decommissioned in 1982, two locations were destroyed and this one was deactivated and turned into a museum. If you want to see a nuclear missile up close, this is the place to do so.
Tombstone: You can’t pass through southern Arizona and not visit Tombstone, right?! Well, that’s how we felt at least. We were pretty excited to see this old town and even booked a ghost tour. We were pretty excited when we started walking the streets of Tombstone and seeing all the people dressed up in garb from the 1870s. However, we were surprised to start picking up a low-end Disneyland vibe from the town. Every other storefront was a souvenir shop and if you wanted to participate in any activities, you better believe you were pulling out your wallet. Sadly, our ghost tour was a big let down too. All of the stories on the tour were about the history of the town (everything we had already heard from participating in other activities during the day) and there wasn’t a single ghost story! Shouldn’t Tombstone be oozing with ghost stories? Oh well, it’s still a fun little town to walk through and learn the history of the area.
Overall, it was a pretty good week. We made it through our first (and hopefully last) holiday without family and explored some major sites in Tucson, AZ. We rolled out fairly early Sunday morning and hit the road to cross our 9th state border into New Mexico!
