Arizona travels

After leaving Casa Grande we headed south to Green Valley (south of Tucson). We stayed with friends, Sue and Rich, at their home. They have a nice casita - a separate bedroom and bathroom unit where we slept. While with them we went to the Titan Museum and to Old Tucson Studios. The Titan silo became operational in 1963 and was deactivated in 1982 as part of President Reagan's policy (announced in 1981) of decommissioning the Titan II missiles.

We had a fun day at Old Tucson. We watched several shoes, had lunch there, and toured around the various buildings. On Saturday, March 14th, which was Bob's birthday, we said our goodbyes and headed north. We had a late lunch in celebration of Bob's big day. That evening we went to a square dance and Bob even won the 50/50 pot of $26.

We then stayed for 3 nights at Usery Mountain County park in Mesa. While there we did some hiking. We hiked up to Wind Cave twice (800 ft elevation gain), and part way up the trail once. We also went to the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. There was a Dale Chihuly glass exhibit there which made the gardens really interesting. It was a very hot day - almost 90!

That same day (St. Paddy's day) we met mom and dad at the Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa. They have a Mighty Wurlitzer, one of the largest and finest theater organs in the world. A musician plays a wide variety of songs - everything from the Sound of Music, to Phantom of the Opera, to My Irish Eyes Are Smiling (for St. Paddy's day). We said goodbye to mom and dad and the next day headed north towards Las Vegas. We arrived in Las Vegas on March 19th. We'll be here for 3 nights total. More on Las Vegas in the next post.