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Arizona, January 2026
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Arizona, January 2026

Heading out to Arizona without the boat for a couple of weeks. We'll spend the first eight days checking out the sites in and around Tucson, then the next six days visiting with my Dad in Goodyear. Read more
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    🇺🇸 Schuk Toak District, United States
    C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    View of the Observatory grounds as we drove up the mountain.
    Another view driving up. The building on the left is the one we took a guided tour of.MaryAnn looking at solar flares.Les looking at solar flaresLooking thru the telescope, we are looking for those little flares around the sun's edge.Me looking at the solar flares.I managed to capture a tiny flare with my camera at the telescope eyepiece. (Marked by black ring)I believe used now for some of the technicians and visitors staying overnight for night programs.Walking down to one of the buildings on a self tour.Telescope in previous photo.Control module inside the solar telescope buildingComputer room. The telescope's brain center. A vintage PDP-11 computer.An infrared camera shows body heat.Close up of Rosanne and I with the infrared cameraView walking to the telescope building we did the guided tour in.Another view. It's the building on the right that we toured.Some more Observatory buildings and telescopes on Kitt Peak.Our tour guide giving us some information on the walk up to the telescope.Another view of all the telescopes on Kitt Peak.The telescope we saw on the guided tour.

    Kitt Peak Observatory

    Yesterday in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Most of today was spent touring the Kitt Peak Observatory and it's telescopes. Founded in 1958, Kitt Peak National Observatory is home to one of the largest arrays of optical and radio telescopes in the world! We were able to tour two of the telescopes. All very interesting. Also got to see some solar flares with a smaller telescope that we could actually look through. Learned that most astronomers work remotely. There are very few staff on the grounds. Other than some maintenance technicians, ground's people, and administrative staff, it's the docents that are there to answer questions and provide a few tours. The drive up was steep and windy, as the observatory is about 4,500' above the surrounding valley, with great views of that valley below. Back at the room, we ate supper, and then we all went to relax in the hot tub.Read more

  • C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    Typical day here! Wish we could stay here until Wisconsin warms back up!
    Scenery along my walk. Mostly in a wash area. (River bed)Geocache description. URL: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCB44GH_why-fiyFound the cache boxPressing the button and see the green light, so had to go to my iphone internet settings to logon.Internet settings page on iphoneCombo code page comes up. (I blacked out the combo. Wouldn't want to give that away to you muggles.Need to open this combo lock now.What's inside?WiFi transmitter....Lots of Javelina tracks, along with human tracks. But I didn't see any.The path thru the wash is easy to follow, and fairly flat.My walk from the room to the geocache.The hot tubs are nice!

    Oro Valley day two

    January 18 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Today was just one of relaxation. While I slept in, the gals (Rosanne and MaryAnn) attended Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral Catholic Church, and Les went for a walk. (I didn’t sleep in long, as I streamed service from Christ Lutheran Church back at home.) Later morning, Rosanne, MaryAnn and Les played cards, while I watched some TV, checked email and eventually made my lunch…then took a nap. Early afternoon the resort had a social hour of Margaritas or Lemonade, with tortilla chips and salsa. Rosanne, MaryAnn and Les got some sun and pool time then, while I went for a walk. On my walk I found an interesting geocache that was placed by some gadget nerd. Lol! (See https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCB44GH_why…) I have not seen one like this before. It has a small wifi transmitter in it. You have to logon to that wifi, to get the password to open the combo lock that is on the cache container. Popped the code, opened the cache and signed the logbook. Came back to the room, changed and went to the hot tub, where Rosanne joined me. Enjoying the mid 70 degree days and sunshine. Wish I could take it back with me to Wisconsin!Read more

  • C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    Alain feeding the quail.
    The quail also enjoy Alain's hospitality.A few peanuts for the woodpecker.A view of Alain's place. Main home left, guest house right.Wyndham Worldmark in Oro Valley. We're in the 1st floor unit behind the stairs.Rosanne in her glory.And me in my glory.Dinner with Les and MaryAnn at The View Restaurant

    Moving Day (Oro Valley)

    January 17 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F

    Today was moving day. We left Alain’s guest house and drove about 20 miles north to a Wyndham Worldmark in Oro Valley. Staying with Rosanne’s sister at a very nice time share. MaryAnn and Les left northern Wisconsin and arrived here Thursday. They’ll be here a month, and graciously letting us stay with them for the next four nights, before we head to Goodyear to visit my dad. We did some laundry, then Rosanne went to hang out at the pool. I went over later to enjoy the hot tub. These evening, we all went out to The View restaurant for supper.Read more

  • C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    Some nearby home art sculptures.
    Some nearby home art sculpturesScenery along Gates Pass Road. (Saguaro Cactus.)Raptor free flight show. This one is a Raven.Raptor Free Flight show. This one is the Great Horned Owl.Great Horned Owl with one of the handlers in the background.Forgot the name of this bird. All part of the Raptor Free Flight show.Bird with one of the handlers.Interesting cactus growth around a tree.Some of the desert trees/cacti.Bighorn sheep.Squirrels live in the desert too.River OtterTwo beavers asleep.Art sculpture "Jaffa".Humming BirdRosanne at the Humming Bird gate curtain. It's lightweight chain.One of the many "free" residents at the desert museum.One of many specimins in the snake and reptile building.Kissing? Frogs.This large lizzard was sunning himself on a dead tree. Another free living desert resident.Mexican Gray WolfRosanne and I posing at the Desert Museum.Homes on the east side of Gates PassSonora Desert Museum map

    Senora Desert Museum

    January 16 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    This morning we headed over to the other side of Saguaro National Park to visit the Senora Desert Museum. We got there just in time to see the Raptor Free Flight show. That involved a speaker telling us about some various raptors (birds), and several other staff members that would actually direct the birds into roosts nearby or on to their gloved hands. I suspect the birds were let out of cages nearby as they appeared in group order. Was really pretty cool to see the birds and learn a little about them. The rest of the day was spent walking through various sections both inside and outside, all part of the “Museum”. Saw many various dessert dwelling animals and Arizona gems and minerals. Bighorn Sheep, snakes and other reptiles & amphibians, beavers, river otters, bobcat, humming birds, other small birds, Mexican Gray Wolves, Fox, lizards, etc. Many of these animals were enclosed, but we also saw a number of lizards that were natural in the area. Drove over to Old Tucson, which is just a couple miles away from the museum. Late in the day at 3pm, and not much going on, and didn’t feel it was worth the admission at this time. Old Tucson is basically an old movie set and theme park. Came back to our guest house, and then socialized with our gracious host, Alain, for a little bit. We’ll depart here tomorrow, and head a few miles north to Oro Valley to spend the next four days with Rosanne’s sister, Mary Ann, and her partner, Les, as they are down here from Northern Wisconsin for a month or so.Read more

  • C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    Our first view walking into the Pima Air & Space Museum, hanger 1.
    The C130s I flew, used the T56 engines.T56 engine, which was used in the C130's I flew.Another view inside Hangar 1. The Honey Bee was somewhat of a famous plane.The BD-5J mini jet.The Rutan-Long EZOne of the many projects my dad worked on while employed at Goodyear Aero SpaceRosanne and I standing in front of the GEMS on displaySR-71 BlackbirdLooks like I fit here.I never flew the HU-25 Falcon, but it was also stationed at Sacramento.Looks like Rosanne belongs here.And old TWA plane.An old USCG C123. I did take a ride in a similar HC-131 "Convair" which started me in aviation.B377 Super Guppy.Two USCG workhorses, the HH 52 and HH 3.B17 Flying Fortress. 102 yo retired USAF Colonel Richard Bushong speakingDavis Monthan Bone Yard. A whole lotta aircraft mothballed!Unable to get a picture of the entire C130, but this may be the one I flew out from Sacramento.Museum mapMuseum map

    Pima Air & Space Museum

    January 15 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Today we stayed in Tucson, and visited the Pima Air and Space Museum. Afterwards, we drove by Davis Monthan AFB Boneyard, before stopping for a very late lunch or early supper, and then back to the guest house. There is a lot of history at Davis Monthan Boneyard, and worth your time to google it. Some of that history includes shutting down the Naval plane storage at Litchfield Park, (where my dad has ties to with his flying and a side job or two), and moving those aircraft to Davis. There is also a lot of aviation history on display at the Pima Museum. A little of my own history in aviation. Many, if not most, pilots live and breath aviation. For me, it was only a job. But one I enjoyed and had a lot of pride in. I started my aviation career with the USCG. I trained with the Navy on the T34 and T44, and then transitioned to the C130 with the Air Force, before being stationed at USCG Station Sacramento, and then my last tour at USCG Station Kodiak. My dad is a general aviation pilot that does live/breath aviation. He has built several experimental (a title given to home built aircraft) airplanes. Also, for many years he worked as a Electronics Technician at Goodyear Aerospace. There, one of the many projects he worked on, was a mapping system (GEMS) related to the SR-71 Blackbird. During my USCG career, I piloted one of our C130’s to the Boneyard. The one I photographed today, may be that one. After the USCG, I flew B727s, B757s and B767s for American Airlines. I retired early, drove school bus until retiring from that, and now enjoy traveling and boating. So anyway, today reminded me a little of my history, and was special seeing one of the projects my dad worked on. (We’ll visit him in another week.) Just a little more background on a couple of the pictures, where Find Penguins doesn’t allow enough space to fully describe the photo. The EZ, was a plane one of my dad’s friends took me up in and let me fly. Its claim to fame is it's designed to be very resistant to traditional stalls. It is also the airplane model that John Denver died in. The Bede 5J is the world’s smallest jet. Its predecessor was the BD-5 propeller driven aircraft, which came after the BD-4. My dad’s first homebuilt was the BD-4, and my brother and I spent several of our younger years helping him build it.Read more

  • C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    Our diggs for a few nights. Alain's guest cottage main room.
    This is the kitchen.BisbeeBisbeeLarge boulder in front of the Bisbee Copper Queen Mine visitor center and gift shop.Downtown BisbeeRosanne posing in front of a resident's gateWonder if the mural is true?This homeowner has lots of shovels around their home.Iron Man StatueDowntown BisbeeMe posing on one of the old mine trolleys.Another photo op.I need one of these that works!Rosanne and I dressed to be miners now. Or at least ready for the tour in required garb.Entrance to the Copper Queen Mine.The trolley we rode on the tour.Our tour guide, Dave, talking about mining.Another talk by our guide, Dave, on mining.This is what the dynamite fuses looked like.Even minors need a toilet. Two seater at that!Hard to take a selfie in the dark inside the mine.Lavender Pit, open copper pit mine.Lavender Pit. Some buildings at the top of the pit mine.Border wall at Naco Mexico.Riding the trolley into the Copper Queen Mine.Our tour guide, Dave, pointing out some mining information.

    Bisbee, Arizona

    January 13 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 43 °F

    “The importance of copper mining. Rich copper mines transformed Bisbee from a rough camp in the late 1800’s to one of the largest and most cultured cities between St. Louis and San Francisco by the early 1900’s. From the time of the discovery of rich surface deposits in 1877 until 1975, when the last of the underground mines closed, Bisbee’s mountains yielded more than 8 billion pounds of copper, as well as gold, silver, lead and zinc, representing one of the most productive mining districts in the world. The wealth generated by copper mining built not only the expensive business and residential districts, but was responsible for untold contributions worldwide.”
    Today we drove down to Bisbee to walk around town and check out the mines. The above statement was on a plaque on a large boulder in front of the Copper Queen Mine visitor center and tour office. While we had also planned to stop at Tombstone on the way back, we weren’t able to get the tour of Bisbee’s Copper Queen Mine until 2pm. They had a tour at noon, but it was already filled with 70 5th graders. One of the older tour guides asked us to pray for him. Lol! We strolled through the mine visitor center and gift store, than sat down to watch a very interesting video about copper mining. Interesting and old! Video was produced in 1955. Still very informative to see what’s involved from getting the rock out of the ground and to the finished sheets of copper. After watching the video, since we still had a couple hours until the tour, we walked through town and got lunch. The tour was well worth our 105 mile drive down to Bisbee. After the tour, we drove past the large Lavender Pit, open pit copper mine. Then past historic Warren Ball Park, the oldest operational multi-use sports park in the U.S. The first ballgame recorded is June 27, 1909 when the El Paso Browns matched up against the Bisbee Beautiful.. From there we drove down towards Naco, Mexico, getting a glimpse of the border wall. Thought about crossing the border for some tacos, recommended by our lunch waitress, but decided to pass this time. By this time it was getting late, and not enough time to see Tombstone, so we decided to take a different route home. While at lunch, another local suggested we take hwy 83 to miss some of the I10 construction, and visit some of the wineries along the way. Ended up passing a couple wineries on hwy 82, enroute to hwy 83, but missed the turnoff to one and passed another, thinking there would be more on 82. There were none on 83, and it was already after 5p when most close anyway. All in all a fun day in Bisbee. Maybe tomorrow we’ll just lie low. We’ve been driving pretty hard for the last four days now. Late note I forgot to add earlier. On the way down to Bisbee, Rosanne was googling information on the mine tour, and realized her open toed sandals were not going to cut it for the tour, as closed toe shoes were required. So we made a quick stop at a Family Dollar store in Tombstone, that fortunately had a cheap pair of sneakers that fit Rosanne. And some socks as well. ...    Read more

  • C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    Rosanne getting her breakfast at the Super 8
    We saw quite a few of these wind vane's being transported today.Our view from Alain's (another one of my boating buddies) place.The guest house Alain is graciously letting us stay at for the next four nights.DeJa La, Alain's C-Dory 25. (Rosanne at the back of our CRV.)Partial view of Alain's home. And his great view.Some more of the view around Alain's home.

    Arrived Tucson, Arizona

    January 13 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Another good day of traveling. Made 530 miles today. Nice breakfast at the Santa Rosa Super 8, and then we were on the road by 6:30am local. Some more new road for me. (Road I've never been on. At least don't remember being on it.) We turned down hwy 54 from Santa Rosa, then on to hwy 70, passing Holloman AFB and White Sands National Park, before jumping on I10 at Las Cruces. Now I thought all of 54 and 70 were highways I had never traveled before. But I do remember a trip I took with my boys a long time ago, in our motorhome, (This was over their spring break, but their mom had to work as McFarland schools, where she worked, was on a different schedule...) And I remember we stopped at White Sands National Park. So, I must have been on at least that section of Hwy 70.... I am pretty sure, the section of interstate between Springfield, Mo., and Joplin was all new to me however.... I've been across our grand country so much, there aren't many interstates that I haven't traversed! We stopped at Walmart, once we arrived in Tucson, to do a little grocery shopping, before continuing up to my boating friend's home, up against Saguaro National Park. Beautiful area, but has to be interesting for him to tow his boat (another 25' C-Dory like ours) up and down the long, narrow, winding street to his house.Read more

  • C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    Drury Inn breakfast food line
    My breakfast at Drury InnLeaning Tower of Britten. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_BrittenThe CRV only has a 14G tank!

    Santa Rosa, New Mexico

    January 12 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    Another long day of uneventful driving. Had a nice breakfast at Drury Inn, and then departed at 7:20am. Pullled into the Silver Moon restaurant, here in Santa Rosa, at 4:45p. Another 630 miles down. Buc-ees in Amarillo, TX., was $2.10/gal for regular gas. I'm quite glad Rosanne's confidence wasn't shattered. I was getting quite nervous in making Buc-ees for gas, as the fuel mileage left counted down to zero, and the fuel gauge was on E, no gauge bars left, at 17 miles away. Rosanne said we would easily make 20 miles on E! Ok, whatever..lol. I put 13.2 gallons in a 14 gallon tank. So I'm pretty sure we were on fumes in the tank! Prior to arriving at Buc-ees, we passed the leaning tower of Britten. Wonder if they still store water in it? The Silver Moon had some good specials of Mexican Food, along with some of the hottest salsa I've had. Afterwards, we made a quick stop at the Dairy Queen across the street to get some ice cream to put out the Mexican salsa fire! Finally pulled into the Santa Rosa, NM, Super 8 around 6pm. I make much better time without the boat in tow, in the CRV, than in the pickup towing. Of course I'm also running the speed limits of 75 or 80, rather than staying at 65...Read more

  • C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    Gateway Arch in St. Louis
    I thought this photo of the arch behind the transmission tower was pretty cool that Rosanne capturedAnother view of the ArchI'm beginning to like stopping at Buc-ees for gas!The main food line at Drury InnRelaxing in the hot tub!

    Joplin Missouri

    January 11 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 34 °F

    Made good time today. Pulled out of our driveway around 7:10 this morning, and into the Drury Inn, here in Joplin, around 5pm. Pretty breezy out today, cold, and sunny. Had a nice view of the Arch in St. Louis as we drove by. Gas at Buc-ees in Springfield, MO., was $1.95/gal. We also paid $2.89/gal just east of St. Louis. Gas prices came back down after we got farther into Missouri. We originally had reservations at the Day's Inn here. And we had planned to eat supper at Texas Roadhouse. However, we passed right by a Drury Inn, right across the street from the Day's Inn, and just before the Roadhouse. Rosanne's best friends stay frequently at Drurys, and like them, especially for the evening meal that is also provided, besides the decent breakfast. We checked their pricing and found them $20 more than the Day's Inn. Now I'm pretty sure, even with my free veteran's meal coupon I still have for Roadhouse, our meal price for Rosanne would have been about $20. Soooo, we decided to try out the Drury. So far, so good. Tonight's meal was pulled pork and buns that you could make your own sliders. Also baked beans, tortilla chips, nacho cheese and hot peppers. So Rosanne and I made nachos out of the pulled pork. Salad, coleslaw, Macaroni & Cheese, Hot dogs and buns, were also available. And a soda machine. Each guest also received coupons for three free drinks. (Beer, wine, some other liquor.) And, nice indoor hot tub here. Day's Inn had an outside pool. It was below 40 degrees outside air temp. lol. So I think we'll start looking at Drury Inns when looking for hotels. 630 miles down today.Read more

  • C-TravelerArizona, January 2026Traveler
    Whispy snow on the ground from some flurries this evening. Past week warmth melted what we had.
    All loaded up.Cooling off at night. Forgot what it was earlier today, but 50 yesterday with rain.Still some unseasonably warm weather forecast for early this week.

    Westward Ho

    January 10 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 27 °F

    All packed and loaded up, ready to head out first thing in the morning. Thought we would be going out to Arizona to thaw out. But it's been unseasonably warm here the last couple of days. I'm sure that won't greet us when we come back.Read more

    Trip start
    January 11, 2026
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