Finne's Follies: Tucson and Carlsbad

Hello from Gulfport, Mississippi. We're on our way to Florida, but first I want to tell you about our excursions after we left Mesa, Arizona.

Our first stop was Tucson, where we stayed only three nights. It was actually Benson, about fifty miles east of Tucson, which was the closest RPI park we could find to the Tucson area. We arrived Sunday afternoon (the 2nd) and settled in. On Monday, Mark had an appointment to visit the "Bone Yard" at the Pima Air & Space Museum. Not being the least bit interested in looking at a bunch of old planes, I opted to stay home and hang out with my crocheting projects. Here are some pictures from that adventure...

Navy planes

Viet Nam era Huey

More old planes

Jet fighters outside the museum

More of the same

50's era cargo/transport planes

Bone yard - B52 missing two engines

Air Force B1 bomber

One of two YC14 experimental planes (C130s in the background)

Tuesday, in spite of the very chilly weather, we drove in to Tucson to visit the Old Tucson Studios. Being in the middle of the week during the school year on a cold day, we figured it would probably not be too crowded. We were right! The place was practically empty. But most of the interesting stuff was still going on. We saw a showgirl "talent show" that was fun, sat in on a talk about how to differentiate and draw in customers to your bar in an old west town full of bars, and saw a reenactment of an old TV movie about a nun who comes to town with a bunch of children to set up an orphanage in an old church, and the trouble she runs into. Of course, the good guy saves the day in the end and runs the villains out of town. It was a very fun day and worth the forty-some dollars we paid to get the both of us in.

From the "Little House on the Prairie" TV show

Our actors from the re-enactment

Remember the High Chaparral? (eons ago)

The "river" that runs through town

Tough western lady leading a walking tour

How to get folks to come into your bar

Beautiful desert scenery

A ride on the train

Our next stop was Carlsbad Caverns. That place has been on my bucket list since I was a teenager. Finally made it...and can't wait to go back again. What an amazing place. Pictures cannot capture the magnificent beauty lurking in the dark underground-- mainly because there weren't enough lights. My camera did an okay job where it was lit up, but in the dim light, all I ended up with are orange shadowy shots not worth posting. Here are a few...

Underground pool

One of many lighted "grottos"

Fascinating formations

Walkway down to the natural opening

Ominous cavern entrance

We thought about making the hike down through the natural opening and taking the elevator back up. In retrospect, I wish we had, but at the moment, twoish miles overall seemed far. We decided to take the elevator down as well to shorten the walk a bit. God willing there's a next time, I will definitely take the walk down. After all (at least for me) going down is always a breeze compared to climbing up, and hopefully I'll be in a little better shape by then.

One of our concerns about Carlsbad was campsite availability. We were pleased to find there were a few BLM camping options, and since we would be there only one night, dry camping was not an issue. We found a very large BLM lot just a few miles away where we spent the night before. Then the next day, we drove the rig right up to the Caverns and parked in their parking lot, where there was plenty of space. Another pleasant surprise was that our National Park Senior Pass got us in for free! (Great investment.)

BLM near Carlsbad Caverns

Since then we have been hopping and skipping across the country on our way to Florida, drycamping one or two days in a row, then stopping at an RV park for two or three days to rest up, shower, wash clothes, etc. Next week we'll be in the Florida panhandle and then we'll be two weeks in Pompano Beach, where I hope with all my heart to finally find some warm weather.

Until next time, God Bless and safe travels to all!

More Carlsbad pics...