ON TO TUCSON, AZ.

Monday, February 13 – We pulled out of Hickiwan RV in Why, AZ, this morning taking AZ-86 to Tucson. This was a nice route with very little traffic bringing us into Tucson and the Justin's Diamond J RV Park without having to drive on I-10 or drive through the city of Tucson.

We are in site #11 at Justin's. It is one of 19 pull-thru sites. The streets in Justin's are paved and the sites are gravel. Very level and nice in size. We have full-hookups with 50 amp electric. We have a nice shade tree we can sit under during the hot afternoons. We received a Good Sam's discount because Passport America is not honored during the winter months. We've stayed here previously and like the park and its location. There are hiking trails right off the park near and into Tucson Mountain Park.

Looking right.

Looking left.

There are many activities here at the Park. Mini Golf, Pickleball courts, bocce ball and horseshoes are a few of the activities. There are also organized events at the clubhouse.

After getting set-up in our site, we drove downtown to the Tucson Visitor's Center to pick-up some brochures and talk to the workers about visiting the city. This is our third visit to Tucson, one of our favorite cities!

Since it was still early, we decided to do a hike into the Sonoran Desert behind the Park. There are several marked trails in the desert. Tucson Mountain Park is only a short hike to the north of us. The hike we did would be considered very easy. We hooked several trails together to get the distance we were looking to cover. We hiked 4.1 miles in about 2 hours. There was very little elevation change. We did a little scouting to see if riding our bikes on these trails was a possibility. Seems like a possibility in the future.

A very nice way to mark the trails. No big signs.

Stop along one of the trails for a little rest.

No idea.

We met a few friends along the way.

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

HIKING AND BIKING AT HICKIWAN TRAILS RV PARK

Sunday, February 12 – Hickiwan Trails RV Park is located on Tohono O'odham Nation Reservation. There are miles and miles and miles of desert all around us. We really enjoyed biking/hiking in the desert. There are numerous hiking/biking trails all around the park.

During our rides, we frequently found clothing, water containers and other signs of aliens passing through the area.

We have never felt threaten by these items. It is a common site in the Southwest.

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

THE TOWN OF AJO, AZ

Saturday, February 11 – Since Marsha is using Blogger right now to post, if you use Feedly to read the blog, you may notice extra blank lines. You might want to consider reading the post on our website.

We enjoyed strolling around Ajo, AZ, this morning at the weekly farmer's market. It wasn't very big but was certainly well attended. The only purchase we made was a cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito. Our contribution to the struggling local economy.





Ajo is an historic mining town. Once part of Mexico, the Spanish mined silver here as far back as 1750. The entire town was built to house and support the Cornelia Mine that opened in 1914. In 1931 The Phelps Dodge Corporation acquired the mine and most of the town. By 1960, the population of Ajo swelled to over 7000 people. In 1984, during a bitter strike, the mine closed causing many families to leave town. We took a tour of Ajo by following a self-guided walking tour.

The old railroad station is now the visitor’s center.

The Plaza.




There are two churches across the street from the Plaza where the farmer's market was held. The Immaculate Conception Catholic Church completed in 1925 is an adobe construction and very simply done both inside and out.





Not to be outdone, the Federated Church, designed in 1926 and directly across the street, lacks almost all ornamentation. We were not able to enter the church.



The former Curley School, located at the end of Lomita Street which begins at the square, has been totally renovated to provide living and work space for 30+ artists. This school was originally owned by the New Cornelia Phelps Dodge Mining Company.



Beautiful architecture.








A very nice art gallery.


We then drove up to an open-pit mine viewing area to see the New Cornelia mine. WOW! One and a half miles across and 1100 feet deep, the mine was one of the largest in the country at one time. At one time, it was the largest producer of copper in Arizona. Gold, silver, and molybdenum were also mined here.



We were so fortunate to meet Bob Hightower at the viewing area. He is now the Ajo Historian and worked over 35 years at the mine. He volunteers at the Mine Museum and is a wealth of information about the mine and the city of Ajo. He gave us a printed information sheet, but it was nothing compared to the information he shared with us. He recalls working at the bottom of the pit during the summer where temperatures reached 165 degrees. To reach the bottom of the pit, one would ride a train down the spiraling route 32 miles. It took over 6 hours for a fully loaded train to travel out of the pit.

They could drive the train without being in the engine.

What one of the trains looked like.

Over 200 men worked on the railroad alone! Bob spoke to us for over an hour. We were mesmerized with his knowledge. He and his wife volunteer at the mine Visitor's Center six days a week, so be sure to speak with him if you ever visit the mine.

We really enjoyed our day in Ajo, AZ. A town full of very friendly people.

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