We are heading out for our first really long trip in our van Saturday morning. The destination is the Tucson, Arizona area including the mountains to the south of it. It’s one of the few areas of the West we have never explored together. I hear the hiking is terrific.
I will be taking a break from my CC duties, which means that our content will be taking a partial vacation too.
There will be some more “CC Best of 2018” extending into the new year, and some of our self-publishing contributors will probably post a few things too. But we’ll be back in full force around the 15th of January.
And here’s wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
Happy New Year and safe travels, Paul & Stephanie!
Enjoy your trip and may you have safe travels. My brother and his wife are planning on leaving for the desert southwest after the first of the year. They purchased a new self-contained RV (on a Ford E450 chassis) a couple of years ago and have put close to 30k miles on it since then. They just bought a Jeep Wrangler to tow behind the RV; this enables them to leave the RV parked when they reach their destination and use the Jeep for local trips, etc.
Paul: If you are going to be in Tucson you should try to go to the Pima Air Museum and, time permitting, take the bus tour of the Boneyard/AMARG across the street at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. It is one of the top ten or even five aviation destinations in the country.
Thanks for the tip. I’ve read a lot about it over the years, but it was not top of mind just now. Stephanie also wants to see the arboretum.
Wholeheartedly agree on the boneyard. Very close by is the Titan Missile Museum, where you tour a silo complete with rocket, minus the warhead. Interesting and creepy experience for those of us who remember the (first?) Cold War. Certain body parts tightened when the guide discussed “peace through mutually-assured destruction”.
We tried to tour the boneyard but it was booked several weeks out for this last week (we tried to book it a month ago). So if you are going to be down there then try to reserve ASAP or see what’s available and work around it or just check out the museum this time. They also wanted/needed to do a background check on any visitors prior to visiting including wanting my passport number etc, something about national security. We’ll plan further ahead next time.
I’ll third the suggestion for the museum and boneyard tour. It’s very cool.
Last time I was at the museum, they had some of their volunteers working on restoring a WW2 era plane in one of the hangers. They let us come in and watch and spent quite a while talking to my boys about what they were doing. It was fascinating and probably right up your alley Paul.
Stealth fighter in the boneyard…
I studied that photo WAY to long before getting it, then laughed really hard!
I will second on the Pima Air Museum. One of their planes is the by-now exceedingly rare B-36. They have an SR71 Blackbird, too. The Santa Rita mountains, to the south of Tucson, near Green Valley, have great hiking. So do the Santa Catalina mountains, on the north side of Tucson. On the west side of town are the Tucson Mountains, a much lower range, but still filled with good hiking trails. They’re also the home of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a zoo and more dedicated only to wildlife and plants found in the Sonoran Desert.
It will be chilly this week: highs in the low to mid 50s, lows around or even below freezing. (Yep, happens even in the desert!) Mostly sunny, though. Lots of great Mexican food here, too.
The Pima Air Museum is fantastic. I haven’t been there for at least 15 years but I remember it well, especially because my cousin and I visited in August and still had a great time (much of the display is outdoors and you all know what Tucson is like in the summer;-).
I am especially interested in presidential aircraft and President Kennedy and the Pima has a C-118, a militarized version of the Douglas DC-6, that served as the official Air Force One for him. Wiki says it was the last propeller driven aircraft to be designated as a primary Presidential transport.
Have a great time Paul – no one deserves a holiday more than you.
Happy New Year to everyone!
Happy New Year to you as well, and safe travels.
As I have only been aware of CC for a little less than a year (thanks to Dave Saunders for showing the way) I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for what you have created, and to the contributors for their excellent articles. This is a great, and respectful, place to visit; rather unusual these days on the internet.
Looking forward to 2019!
Best wishes to you for your trip and the new year.
Happy new year! And I hope you can avoid the kind of canine explosion you experienced with Little Man the last time out. 🙂
He’s staying home with my son. Which will be better on several fronts. And rears. 🙂
Have a terrific trip! Arizona is one of the 6 states I haven’t visited yet, so I’m anxious to go there someday. I’m looking forward to hearing about your adventures.
Happy New Year, safe travels, and thanks for this site. 🙂
Safe travels + good hiking!
+1 on the Pima Air Museum. I enjoyed the outdoor display as much as or more than the indoor display. It’s a great place, run mostly by volunteers if I remember correctly.
Have a great time and a great New Year.
Happy trails! Eat at least once at La Indita in Tucson’s 4th Ave. Everything’s delicious, but make a point of trying the chicken mole.
Safe travels Paul, and happy new year to you, Stephanie and family!
Campervan Kevin on YouTube spent some time there last winter. His videos would provide some ideas on what to see. It’s a bit chilly in the winter compared with, say, Quartzsite/Ehrenberg, but it’s one of the most scenic parts of Arizona. I hope to get there some time myself.
Enjoy the ride, I look forward to your trip report.
Happy New Year Paul and Stephanie, and have a safe enjoyable trip.
Personally, I am really enjoying the “Best of 2018” CC Series. Rereading the articles has been great, as has rereading the discussions in the comments.
Remember to watch your speed going thru any small jurisdictions this time…. sorry, too soon? 😉
I like Tucson and the area a lot. Hiking in the Saguaro “forests” is really pretty amazing. I’m kind of jealous…
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum might be worth a visit. It’s very well done, though I suppose it’s more oriented at families. It is also pretty near the west section of thr Saguaro National Park which has some hikes including one to a set of petroglyphs.
Kartchner Caverns is worth a stop if you like caves. In some ways it’s quite comparable to Carlsbad Caverns, though a visit is much shorter since the tours are guided. But they do take much better care of the cave – the airlock system to get in is really something.
Have a great trip!
Happy Trails!
Bon voyage!
Hurry back, we will miss you.
You’ll be dearly missed, but deserve time away from CC and to enjoy the fruits of your labors (on the van). Happy New Year!
Have fun travels. Oatman, Arizona is home to wild Donkeys and Lake Havasu City has a London Bridge.