We didn’t drive very far today but it was still a very full day.
First stop was the Pima Air & Space Museum. This place is also known as the “Boneyard” as it is used to store old US forces planes, helicopters and plane parts. It is over 5,000 acres and currently holds about 4,600 planes of various shapes and sizes.
There are some that, whilst obsolete from service, are basically “under wraps” as they are maintained and could be put back into service if the need arose. About 19% actually get used again. Others are used for parts for planes used in other parts of the world. One example they gave was the F111 – which the Australian air force used up to a year or so ago. We were the last country to use them and there are parts here for it. Finally there are others that are gradually being stripped to nothing and sold off as scrap.
Planes as far as you can see
We did a bus tour with an elderly gent volunteer – ex air force – giving a detailed explanation of about 50 types of planes being held there as well as driving through the rows and rows of planes.
There was also a museum section of various planes that have been used over time, from the “Air Force One” presidential plane used by John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson, to the plane used by NASA to train astronauts in weightless flight – called the “Vomit Comet”.
San Xavier del Bac
After a cafeteria lunch at the Space Museum, we then headed to another military site, the Titan Missile Museum, one of the original rocket sites established during the Cold War. The site is basically an underground bunker with an underground silo housing a Titan II missile armed with a nuclear warhead, ready to be fired if the Russians had fired a nuclear missile. There were originally 54 of these and this is the last left – and its original condition (except no nuclear missile – just a test version). The tour was very interesting – Adrienne & Liam were selected to act as the 2 man crew in a dummy missile launch.
These crews manned the site 24 hours a day for 20 years and thankfully none were ever needed !
Saguaro cactus – very tall !
Our next stop was a Spanish mission originally established in 1692. The current building dates back to 1797, original buildings having been destroyed by Apache Indians. It is a spectacular whitewashed building standing out in the brown countryside.
Our final visit for the day was to the Saguaro National Park, home to the massive Saguaro (pronounced sah-wah-row) cactus. They are very slow growing, and the tall ones in the pictures would be over 120 years old.
The hills around the area are covered with these cacti, of all shapes and sizes – quite a unique sight.
Cactus as far as you can see !
Again, while we were driving around, we found a road runner zipping across the road – this time we actually managed to get it on film ! The drive around is on a pretty good unsealed road but there are many rivulets along the road and it would be a treacherous place to be in or after heavy rain !
So a busy and varied day !
Our holiday time is drawing to an end but we all agree this has been a great trip with so many varied things and experiences occurring day after day. Off to Flagstaff tomorrow so we will see what tomorrow brings.