AIRCRAFT BONEYARD.

Friday, March 9 – Today we visited the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) or commonly refereed to as the Aircraft Boneyard. This is the area where old military aircraft are stored here in the Tucson desert. The Military chose this location because of its dry environment, hard pack desert floor, and the presence of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The aircraft parked on these storage fields would make the Boneyard the third largest air force in the world. There are currently more than 3000 airplanes stored here. All the planes are Vietnam era or newer. Older aircraft are used as static displays, such as those at Air Bases, or are destroyed. Since 911, it has become very difficult for private citizens, states, or other public groups to obtain retired military aircraft.

There is an area where they are testing which materials are the best for covering stored aircraft.

 

Just about any military aircraft used since the Vietnam War can be found here. B-1 bombers, B-52 bombers, helicopters, F-16, F-14, huge military transport planes like the C5a Galaxy, jump jets as well as unique prototypes which never made it into service.

F14

F106

A3 Sky Warrior

Sky Hawk painted like Russian plane for training.

P2 Neptune

Some aircraft are stored for possible reuse, metal reclamation and others to be stripped for spare parts. You see aircraft in new condition wrapped in protective plastic, planes stripped for parts, and planes in the process of being cut-up and destroyed.

A10 Thunderbolt

Engines ready to be reused.

Planes being stripped for spare parts.

Wings

Paul enjoyed the hour bus tour but was a little disappointed in the tour over-all. He was looking forward to this experience for a long time and it just didn't live up to his expectations for some reason. It might have been because of post 911 security that required we remain on the tour bus at all times.

We chose not to tour the Pima Air & Space Museum today. We may come back, in a day or so, but we've been through several air museums.

Just down the road from these tours is the Saguaro National Park (East). There are two sections of the Park. Our campground is next to the Westside Park, and we toured it a couple days ago and have hiked there almost daily. The East park is very similar in appearance but may have a more dense population of cactus and desert flora. We drove the 8-mile loop stopping often to walk among the cactus.

Paul looks tiny next to this very old cactus.

Looking up that same cactus.

Javelina Rock in the background.

It should be noted that one is not charged for visiting the Westside Park, but a $10 admission is charged for the East park, although with the Senior Pass it also was free. Both Parks are beautiful. We enjoyed driving and hiking in both areas.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

BREAKFAST WITH FRIENDS…LAURIE AND ODEL

Thursday, March 8 – We met fellow bloggers Laurie & Odel, Semi-True Tales, for breakfast this morning at the Bisbee Breakfast Club. The BBC has a branch restaurant here in Tucson. What a delightful couple. We felt so comfortable meeting them for the first time....even though they are soooo famous in the blog world. We were a little late for our agreed upon time due to a GPS error on our part, but Laurie and Odel were very understanding and we had a great visit for about two hours. They were checking out of their campground this morning and heading toward Phoenix, so we were happy they could spend a little time with us. Thanks and have a safe trip Laurie & Odel.

Paul, Marsha, Laurie, Odel

We then took Bella out for a desert hike for about an hour.

After returning her to the motor home, we headed back out for a hike ourselves. We spent about two hours roaming around the desert and then returned to the campground to relax in the sun for the remainder of the afternoon.

It was then off to the Walmart grocery store this evening to re-supply our refrigerator.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM

Wednesday, March 7 - This morning we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum, and botanical garden all in one. Within the Museum, you see more than 300 animal species and 1200 kinds of plants native to this region. There are almost two miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert.

During our walk through the desert zoo, we saw prairie dogs, owls, snakes, bobcats, birds, coyote, lizards javelina, wolves, mountain lions, black bears, and numerous other desert animals all displayed in a natural setting.

Bobcats

Biggest porcupine we have ever seen.

These javelinas have a huge area to roam around. 

We could watch these little guys all day. They are so funny.

Mexican Wolf. They have been trapped, shot and poisoned to near extinction. Today fewer than 50 remain in the wild.

The highlight of our day was the Raptor Flight. These trained birds put on an unbelievable display of bird of prey flight. We saw a couple Ravens, a Gray Hawk, a Great Horned Owl, a Harris Hawk, and a Ferruginous Hawk. Three trainers, in separate parts of the viewing area, would entice the birds to landings in nearby trees using food. These birds would soar within feet of the viewers, many passing inches from our heads. What an experience!

Raven

Great Horned Owl

Harris Hawk
 

Ferruginous Hawk

There is hummingbird center at the Museum. As you walk around in the building, the birds fly everywhere. It was fascinating to be able to watch these birds up close and personal.

The desert is coming alive with color. Marsha was in Heaven looking at all the gorgeous flowers.

When we rounded on of the corners, Marsha said, "Look at the huge Wisteria." Once we got closer, she found out that is wasn't Wisteria but Mescal Bean. She just loved it and the beautiful Sunflowers.

This is the cutest picture of the day. This little squirrel was watching this hummingbird.

We then drove through the Saguaro National Park on our way home. This is the same area butting against our campground that we hiked in yesterday. So many cactus and other beautiful desert fauna. Many of the wild flowers are blooming and the cactus have fruit on them. It has been a little windy today and the air is filled with desert dust (dust storms). That has cooled temperatures down into the sixties. The forecast calls for the sun to shine, the winds to die down, and temperatures to get back into the 70's by tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!