Jim and Vickie Chronicles

We spent the day visiting two more area attractions, The Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley and Old Tucson- Western Movie Set.

First was the Titan Missile Museum.

During the Cold War, there were three locations in this country, each with eighteen Titan II missiles in hardened underground silos scattered around the countryside. In less than a minute, these could be launched at any country on earth with an accuracy of a few hundred feet. This is the only one left and is preserved as a museum and a learning tool. People need to understand what a deterrent these missiles were and how they kept the United States safe.

This is the thermonuclear bomb that was in the Titan.

The nosecone that housed the bomb.

Dick, our guide was a wealth of information and explained the procedure required to launch the missile. Here we are in the control room.

The missile in the silo.

It still was a bit cold yet but fairly soon, this sign will be quite relevant.

The cacti are starting to bloom.

Then we went to Old Tucson Western Movie Set. On the way, we drove through miles of a literal forest of Saguaro Cacti.

The ride was amazing.

We spent the afternoon in Old Tucson.

There was a three day Western Steampunk Convention going on while we were there.

The place was full of interesting characters. If Jules Verne were writing today, it would be referred to as Steampunk.

We watched a fun demonstration of stunts from these professional stuntmen/comedians. They took the man on the right from the audience to participate in a quick draw contest.

This place is an active movie location. Hundreds of movies have been filmed here from Rio Bravo to The Three Amigos.

The Reno has been used in many westerns including The Wild Wild West.

Livestock

A Conestoga wagon wheel. It gives you some idea of the size of the wagons.

Another beautiful day.

We have a couple more days here that we'll use to chill out and get some housekeeping done and then we head East to New Mexico.

We are staying at SKP Saguaro Co-Op campground for eight days. It's a really nice park centrally located to quite a few places to see.

We went to see Kartchner Caverns State Park. It was discovered by two amateur cavers named Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts when they explored a narrow crack in a sinkhole that was the source of warm moist air and ultimately led to 2.5 miles of pristine caves . They kept it a secret for years fearing that the intrusion of man would destroy it's fragile purity. Eventually, they and the Kartchner family were able to get the state to buy the property and turn it into a park.

The state is extremely protective of this fragile living ecosystem. It is a constant 76 to 78 degrees and 95% humidity. We had to go through three "airlocks" before we entered the caverns. In one of them, we were misted to help keep our lint, hair and dead skin from falling off of us while we were inside. We had to stay on the foot paths and only touch the handrails. They wash the footpaths frequently to clean anything our bodies left behind. Even lint can become a breeding ground for organisms not native to the caverns and they do their best to prevent it. They constantly take temperature, humidity, CO2 level readings, etc. to monitor the health of the caverns. They even limit the number of visitors. We weren't permitted to bring our cameras or cell phones in the caverns so this narrative will have to do. It has been preserved just as it was when it was discovered. It was a beautiful tour of a wonderfully preserved part of our planet, parts of which, have never been touched by man.

We visited a place called Gammons Gulch, run by a fellow named Jay.

It's an old west town that he built that has been and is used for movie sets. Jay gave us a tour of the town while regaling us with stories of his life and all the movie stars that he and his dad worked with.

We spent a day in Tombstone, "the town too tough to die". The Earp's, Clanton's and many other famous people lived and died here.

We attended a western gunfight. These guys were very funny and entertaining and put on a great show. We were encouraged to boo the bad guys (with red sashes) and cheer for the good guys.