Dillinger Days and more...

Sat Jan 24 – Went to downtown Tucson for “Dillinger Days.” Way back in 1934 John Dillinger (aka Public Enemy #1) and his gang chose sleepy little Tucson as a spot to “lay low” and escape the “heat” from the cops and feds back east. They took rooms at the Hotel Congress. Every year during Dillinger Days, the hotel sponsors dramatic re-enactments of the last bank robbery and events leading to the gang’s capture. The hotel was built in 1919 and is still furnished with pieces from that time period. For the event, the streets were filled with 1930-era cars, particularly Model A’s. And lots of folks were wearing 1930’s style clothing. (Wonder where the men get those hats, and the ladies get those stocking with the seams in them?) What a hoot!

By the way, Dillinger doesn’t look anything like Johnny Depp.

Jim with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Boy, those guys are tall!

The weather is slowly improving. We’ve had rain and wind, lots of wind, but also some sunny periods. The temps however are below normal – don’t think we got above low 50’s yesterday. Our satellite TV dish kept blowing over, even after Jim anchored it down with long spikes. He finally found a sheltered spot for it which seems to be working. They have cable TV here in the park for an additional fee, but we are already paying for DISH network.

Played a game of Joker with some locals here last night. It’s basically the same as Pegs & Jokers but with some very different rules. (Fellow P & J players, remind us to tell you about the different rules) They do play that spouses can’t be partners, which is what we do and is always a good idea.

Another gorgeous sunset!

Mon Jan 25 – We bought a Tucson Attractions Passport at the Visitor Center which gives us discounts and/or 2 for 1 deals for most of the Tucson area attractions that we were planning to visit anyway. So, we headed out to the Colossal Cave at Mountain Park (free admission). The first inhabitants of the cave were Hohokam Indians. Later, white men discovered the cave and train robbers as well as gunslingers used it as a hideout. There is, of course, a treasure hidden somewhere in the Cave. In the 1930’s the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the headquarters buildings and the walkways and handrails inside the Cave.

 

Next, we stopped at the Pima Air and Space Museum (2 for 1 admission!). They have 300 vintage and modern airplanes on display including planes which served as Air Force One for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson. We took the tram tour of the outside aircraft (at least 100 of them) and our tour guide had something to say about each and every one of them. We had several veterans on our tram (WWII, Korea, Viet Nam) who added to the dialogue. Their comments really brought the tour to life.  Saw a moon rock in the Space Museum.



Wed Jan 27 - Went to the Mission San Xavier del Bac which is about 3 miles from our RV park. Nicknamed the “White Dove of the Desert” the mission was built 1783 – 1797. It is still an active church, preaching to the Tohono O-odham tribe. It is incredibly beautiful and is constantly being restored by artists from the Smithsonian who also worked on the Vatican.  You can see this mission from several miles away and it looks much whiter than this picture.  We saw it years ago from the freeway while visiting Karen.

Even the ceiling is decorated intricately. Wish the colors showed up better in this picture.

One thing we have learned here in Arizona is how to tell if the street intersection, regardless of a traffic light, is a major one or not. If it has either a Walgreens or CVS Pharmacy it is major. If not, it is just another intersection. Sometimes they have another major intersection (and a pharmacy) less than ½ mile away! The pharmacy business must be very good with all these senior citizens living here.