Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Travel

Under Consideration

Last month, we went to Arizona, partly for a vacation and partly to look around the areas we visited for possible relocation. Our trip took us from the Phoenix area eastward toward Globe and then southward toward Willcox. From there, we drove to Tombstone, up through the Tuscon area and back toward Phoenix. Of course, we stayed at RV parks along the way.

marana.jpgThis place, Marana, Arizona, came under consideration for a couple of reasons. We camped here for two nights just because there were so many vacation spots to visit in the area; Saguaro National Park and the Pima Air Museum, just to name a couple, but there are more. While we camped there, we found that we liked the area, the scenery, the climate and the people we met while we were there. Damsel likes the Wal-Mart just down Interstate 10 from here. I-10 is just a couple of blocks away from where we stayed, so getting to Phoenix or Tucson would be easy commutes, since Marana is between the two cities – albeit Marana is closer to Tucson.

We will probably return to our areas of interest in the dead of winter 2010 in order to scrutinize the climate at that time of year. We will post more about that later. Click on Damsel’s photo to enlarge.

12 Nov 2009 by Arizona Travel

Saguaro National Park

Damsel took this shot from the Saguaro National Park (West), near the museum. I cropped it down to this panoramic image looking west from the park. We drove up from Tucson to visit the park, then on to Marana, where we stayed for a couple of days to relax and look around.

saguaro-pan.jpg

There certainly is some pretty scenery in Arizona. Click on the image to enlarge.

04 Nov 2009 by Panorama Travel

Tombstone Territory

Other than a few anachronisms, this is pretty much how Allen Street looked in the days when Doc Holliday Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp got into it at the OK Corral, seen on the left. Click on the panorama below for a closer look.

tombstone-pan.jpg

WikiPedia says:

Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday fought Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Claiborne, Ike Clanton, and Billy Clanton. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne (who later claimed that he had been unarmed, though some reports credit him with shooting one or more times) ran away from the fight, unharmed. Both McLaurys and Billy Clanton were killed; Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday were wounded.

31 Oct 2009 by Arizona Culture Firearms Travel

A Good Experience

rv-camping.jpgI recently posted about our travel strategy of first driving to Phoenix before renting the travel trailer for our vacation in Arizona. The strategy worked out great and we enjoyed the vacation a lot.

Image: The cruise America Travel Trailer at Apache Junction KOA. Click image for full-size. We were in one of several Cruise America RVs there.

When we returned the rental trailer to Cruise America in Mesa, AZ, we inadvertently forgot Damsel’s Canon Camera battery charger which was still plugged in to one of the AC outlets in the kitchenette. As soon as we discovered it was missing, I called the Rental Supervisor, Joe Morales, and asked him if he would look for it. He agreed, and was to call me back later. He did call back later that day, but I missed the call. By the time I got his voice mail, Joe would not have been at work. I sent him an email asking him if he would send the charger to us, with an offer to pay for shipping and handling. The next day, Joe emailed us back saying he would send the charger and advise us of the cost.

Two days later, the big brown truck of goodness (UPS) delivered the charger. It was bubble-wrapped in a small parcel – a real professional-looking package. Damsel was glad to have the charger since the battery was low and you know how she loves to take pictures.

After the package showed up, I sent Joe a follow-up email thanking him for the effort and asked how I could pay them back. Joe sent this response today:

No problem, just let your friends and family know how great we are, nice doing business with you.

Joe said it – they were great! We’ll be back to the Mesa Cruise America for sure. Soon, we hope.

29 Oct 2009 by Arizona People Travel

The Ghost of a Saguaro Cactus

saguaro-ghost.jpgHow about a good, but not scary, ghost story for Halloween?

From WikiPedia (edited):

The saguaro, pronounced suh-HWAR-o, (Carnegiea gigantea) is a large, tree-sized cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and an extremely small area of California. The saguaro blossom is the state flower of Arizona.

The common name saguaro came into the English language through the Spanish language, originating in the language of the Tohono O’odham native American nation. Saguaros can grow to forty-five feet tall and ten feet in circumference.

The ribs of the saguaro were used for construction and other purposes by Native Americans. A fine example can be seen in the roofing of the cloisters of the Mission San Xavier del Bac on the Tohono O’odham lands near Tucson, Arizona. The Seri people of northwestern Mexico used the plant which they call mojépe for a number of purposes.

When a saguaro dies, the woody support ribs remain after the flesh decays or is consumed. What you see in the image (click to enlarge) is the ghost (skeleton, maybe?) of a saguaro in Apache Junction, AZ.

23 Oct 2009 by Arizona Photography Travel

Road Runner

We stopped briefly in Quartzsite, Arizona, for gas and some bottled water (the desert makes you very thirsty). While we were parked there, this road runner walked across the parking lot. I took this picture of him from the truck just before he ran off into the field. For a moment, he was a “parking lot walker,” before becoming a “field runner.” At no time did he say anything like “beep, beep.”

road-runner.jpg

No larger size image available.

22 Oct 2009 by Arizona Critters Travel

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