Caves Cacti and Copper

We stayed overnight at Tombstone and decided to see some other sights in the area. Kartchner Caverns is an incredible underground cave site. It was just opened 8 years ago and the 3 huge caverns are spectacular.

This is the entrance to the caves, built by the park and is the only picture we have of the caves. The guys that found the caves 14 years ago crawled in through a crack in the hill. We were awed by the caves, too bad we can't show you. Unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures in the caves so this is all we have. They did have great gardens with a number of the plants labelled so we thought this would be a great opportunity to highlite some of the cacti here.
Yosemite Sam has been with us on all our walks and felt he had the intimate knowledge of cacti necessary host this portion of the blog. This is a barrel cactus. This is a great time to be taking pictures because a lot of the cacti are in bloom. The yellow flowers are not light and lacy like at home but thick and fleshy. The flowers also become the fruit which is eaten to spread the seeds.

This is a Buckhorn Cholla which is also in bloom. There are at least 2 nests in this plant built by the Cactus Wren.

This is an Agave cactus. There are dozens of different types and they are used for everything from making rope to supplying sugar to making tequila. Although they look like Aloe Vera they are native plants and Aloe Vera comes from Africa.

This is another Agave. This shows the variations that can be found in this plant family when compared to the last plant. One variation sends up stalks up to 30 feet high which are cut down and used for soap.

This plant is an Ocotillo and is more of a bush than a cactus I suppose. Its covered with vicious spines. In the dry hot spells this plant drops its leaves and turns brown. It looks totally dead until it rains then the branchs turn green and tiny leaves sprout overnight.

This is the Prickly Pear cactus and is probably the most common cactus in the area. When it blooms, its fruit is used to produce jellies and compotes. Like a lot of cacti, this one is segmented so if bumped, the section comes off and stays on the victim. This helps it spread to new areas.

This is a Pincushion Cactus. seems like a good name. It had probably the prettiest flowers we've seen on any cactus yet. Plants need photosynthesis to survive but in the desert green leaves would dehydrate the plant. Most cactus solve this by having needles not leaves and their bodies are green to provide the necessary photosynthesis to survive. Cactus also store water in their bodies and the needles keep animals from eating them for their water. Remarkable adaption to survive in the heat with little water.

After a morning of spelunking and cactus wrangling we drove to Bisbee for lunch. Bisbee was built around a huge copper ore deposit in the 1880s. The mine is still producing and the town has beautiful buildings built along a meandering valley with the homes built up the sides of the valley. Very charming. We stopped for lunch at the Copper Queen hotel built in the 1880s. It looks like it did back then. The only changes made have been to upgrade the rooms with bathrooms instead of just one per floor. Not many people want to share the bath anymore.

The second floor balcony gives a great view of the downtown area. Its a little higher in altitude than Tucson and much greener. This is the prettiest town we've seen in Arizona so far.

This is not an old town thats dying. The buildings are in good repair and with the winding streets it reminds you of a quaint European town. It seem odd to find it in the desert which adds to its charm I think.

Tombstone

Tombstone, probably the most famous wild west town, started because the hills were full of silver and hundreds of claims produced millions of dollars. The town boomed and attracted gamblers, ne'er do wells and fallen doves. Along the street behind me are numerous plaques showing where persons were shot. In front of one building 6 people died in 2 years. In my last blog we saw that we could kill millions from afar. This takes us back to a simpler time when you had to kill face to face.
With thousands of miners looking for entertainment the Bird Cage theatre was packed every night. Acts from around the world were brought in and some of the biggest names of the time played here. Raucious, and probably inebriated crowds loved to fire off their guns in appreciation of a good show. You can now go in and try to count all the bullet holes in the ceiling. This was one of the reasons the town initiated a law requiring guns to be turned in upon arrival which indirectly helped provoke the gunfight at the OK corral.
The gunfight at the OK corral is the most famous gunfight of the wild west. Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Halliday had been feuding with the McLaury bunch for a long time and it all came to a head when the Earps, deputised by Virgil Earp, the marshal, went to find the McLaurys and to disarm them. Even today in Tombstone, some say the Earps were just upholding the law and some say they used the law to attack the McLaurys. This reenactment shows the actual location and positions of each man as the gunfight started. Notice how close they are. Nearly 30 bullets were fired. 3 of the 4 McLaury gang was killed and both Virgil and Morgan Earp were wounded.
The live reenactment was excellent because they showed events and attitudes which led up to the fight. It was very sobering and everyone left quietly afterwards. 30 shots in under 30 seconds is almost overwhelming. This didn't end the feud and Virgil Earp was shot and lost the use of his left arm a few weeks later. Morgan Earp was shot and killed shortly after that. Wyatt was never shot and lived into the 1920s.
The 3 men who died at the OK corral were buried at Boot Hill, probably the most famous cemetery in the west. The cemetery was only used for a few years but a lot of graves are here and most died a violent death. Lots of murder and accident victims.
Frontier justice could be swift but not necessarily accurate. This guy bought a stolen horse by accident and by the time his story was proven correct he had already been hanged.
This is probably the most famous headstone in Boot Hill. It shows they had a sense of humour even in Tombstone.
This is the saloon in the Crystal Palace hotel. The Earps hung out here and Wyatt got a portion of all the gambling because he owned some tables. Gambling went on in the back while ladies entertained in rooms above. Across the street was an opium den for the thousands of chinese who worked in the mines. Something for everyone it appears.
Although the stores are mostly for tourists now, the buildings and most of their contents are authentic to the 1880's. The town is a national historic site and walking the streets does give you a feeling of what it must have been like back then. A great town to visit.

Missions and Missiles

A day trip southwest of Tucson takes us to 2 seperate places of interest and a cool title. The first is the Mission San Xavier Del Bac. As the Spanish moved north from Mexico they brought Jesuit missionarys along to convert the local indians. This was the most northerly and biggest mission in Arizona. It was built in 1797 of all local materials like brick and adobe.
This is the front of the sanctuary behind the altar. The very ornate interior was carved by Mexican artisans and shipped by wagon to the site for assembly. You can only imagine how impressive this must have been for the local natives who were used to worshiping rocks (or whatever).

This is the dome of the mission. Low light prevents the colours from showing; the decorations were very colourful. Imagine building a dome like this using only local materials and native help. This is probably 40 feet across.
The patron saint of the mission is St Francis Xavier and they have a wooden effigy that the faithful can touch and ask for blessings. Legend has it that only the righteous can lift the effigys head. Watching some of the tattoed bikers perform the task suggests looks are deceiving I guess.


In an alcove the faithful can light candles in memory of loved ones. This room was so hot from the candles burning that I darted in, had my picture taken then darted out and then scraped the burned hair off the back of my legs. Well, almost.
This mission is know as the "White Dove of the Desert" and for many years was the only structure for miles other than native huts. By allowing parts of the local customs to remain, almost total conversion of the local indians was achieved. It must have been hard for the local shaman to compete with this.
Which brings us to the second half of our day out and a different kind of worship. The worship of technology, and peace through mutually assured destruction. As the cold war started to end, the US and Russia agreed to destroy their ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles). The US had nearly 30 sites with Titan 2 missiles, each capable of destroying a large city in Russia. This is the only site left.
This was the control centre that monitored the equipment and where the launch would be initiated. A complex process of locked safes, codebooks, verification procedures and keys made sure a launch could only occur under very rigid control. We were told that the nuclear warhead and all the fuel had been removed from the missile so I felt kind of safe pushing the launch button.
The control room was buried underground and isolated from the ground by large springs. Multiple blast doors protected the crew from a launch accident or a nuclear attack. This was a one use site. Once the missile was launched it destroyed its launch area. It was probably assumed there would be no one around to reload anyway. I guess the fact that they were never used proved their worth.

Mount Lemmon - a ski resort

Although we came south to get away from snow its hard to quit cold turkey so when we heard of a ski resort in the mountains we had to go see. Tucson is in the valley as we start our climb.

The terrain changed dramatically as we ascended. Flat boring desert soon gave way to these hoodoo rock formations. At about this altitude we stopped seeing cactus as well.

About half way up the mountain we turned a corner and found snow. This is the biggest pile we've seen this year. Notice that the foilage has changed from scrub to evergreens as well.
A few more turns and a few thousand feet of climbing later we arrived at the ski resort. There were plenty of lifts and around 10 runs so it was quite active. There looked to be at least a couple of feet of base.

We couldn't miss the opportunity to play in the snow, so we threw a few snowballs and got a bit wet.
It was so warm that we sat out on the patio and had something to drink. It was like a warm spring day but the snow wasn't melting. Kind of a weird experience.
After getting our fill of snow and having a picnic it was time to head back. We were at over 8000 feet high and had to descend back to 2000. There were lots of switchbacks and steep turns. It was nice to see some snow and all the green trees. Its like an oasis of cool green in the sky.

The Bone Yard

Bet you thought you'd seen the last of the airplanes. Not likely! Also in Tucson is the biggest military airplane storage and reclaim area in the US. There are around 4500 planes here. About 3000 are ready to be used when needed. The rest are for parts.

Planes that are in storage are sealed against sand and coated with a white rubber to keep the cockpit from getting too hot. Every few years they are tested, started up, cleaned and put back in storage.

Everything from helicopters and fighters to transports are in storage for when they may be needed.

Some jets, like this F4-F are no longer used by the US but is flown by a number of other countries. Hundreds of these are in storage here and can be sold to allies or used for parts. Once no one flys them anymore, they'll be dismantled.

Other planes are being taken apart for parts and then recycled. Hundreds of planes each year are stripped and melted down for the aluminum.

Planes in various stages of dismantling are spread all over the desert inside the facility.

Jet engines that are still being used are recovered and placed in these storage units until needed.
These wings are being stored for planes that are still being used.
This place is like a giant new car lot with a huge junkyard out back. There must be miles of new fighters and transports all lined up waiting to be needed.

Pima Air and Space Museum

I have always been a bit of an aviation nut so couldn't pass up the chance to see one of the largest aviation museums around right here in Tucson. If your not interested in airplanes this blog may be boring.

One of their most prized exhibits is the SR71 Blackbird. It flies at over mach 3 and at extreme altitude and was used as a spy plane to take pictures of Russia. It flies so fast that missiles can't catch it. It holds all the high speed and altitude records. Pilots wear space suits because they go so high.
This is an A10 Warthog. It is in active service and is used mainly as a tank destroyer. It fires depleted uranium 50 cal bullets out of a gatling gun which go right through tank armour. The neat thing about this plane is Tucson is one of the military airports they train out of.

They were flying past the museum all day. Here is one coming in for a landing at the military airport next to the museum.
Lets go back to the second world war for a minute. Behind me is a V1 Buzzbomb developed by the Germans. It was an unguided rocket that was filled with explosives and aimed at London. Hundreds fell on London and killed thousands during the blitz.

This is a B29 Superfortress brought out by the US near the end of the war. It was this type of plane that dropped the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This particular plane flew missions dropping bombs on Germany.
This is a Russian MIG29 Foxbat, probably the best jet they built. It was faster and could outmanouver anything the US had when it came out 20 years ago.

This is the original Airforce 1 built for John Kennedy. Walking through it shows it wasn't too fancy inside. This is the plane that took him to Dallas.

This WW11 float plane was under heightened security as evidenced by the armed guard.

Once we caught the guards eye, we couldn't shake him. The helicopter behind him is used for lifting heavy loads.

Told you this would be boring but I enjoyed spending the day looking at the planes. Carmen was a trooper and tagged along although bored to tears I'm sure.