February 19, 2021-It's time to head to Tucson. It is about 70 miles to Tuscon from Tombstone so for us that is about a 2 hour drive depending on whether it's freeway driving or back road driving. Tucson is another one of those quintessential places that is typical of southwestern Arizona. Stucco buildings, desert surroundings and lots of Saguaro cactus. In fact so much Saguaro cactus that there are two national parks dedicated to it...Saguaro National Park East and West and while we were there, we visited both of them.
Our RV park was really just a parking lot with Full Hook ups in it. There was a small pool but we were so busy we never got a chance to check it out. I wouldn't recommend the park itself but it wasn't all that bad. Located in the city of Tucson, we were pretty close to just about anything we needed in the way of food. There wasn't a lot of shade but we were only going to be there three nights.
I had hoped to be able to go over to Old Town Tucson, the set and backdrop for many of the Western movies I had grown up on. The Guns of Fort Petticoat with Audie Murphy, Rio Bravo with John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson (my favorite of all time) McClintock with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara (another favorite) The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with Paul Newman, The Man who Loved Cat Dancing with Burt Reynolds and then some newer movies like The Three Amigos with Steve Martin and Martin Short, and Young Guns II with Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland and of course, Tombstone with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer and Sam Elliott (swoon, Sam Elliott is a major babe). Unfortunately, either due to COVID protocols or a lack of funds to open up safely, it was not to happen.
Saguaro National Park West has over 25,000 acres and the East has over 67,500 acres. The West has about a 5 mile loop to drive and the East has about a 8 mile loop to drive. The Wide side has the younger and more prolific cactii and the East has the older, and higher elevation cacti.