Trip Index
- Pre-lockdown road trip: Palm Springs, Prescott, Phoenix
- Tucson: gem shows, hiking, Pima Air and Space Museum, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
- Tucson Gem and Mineral Main Show, hiking, Titan Missile Museum, Nogales
- Arizona Biltmore Resort, return home, future travel cancellations
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Monday morning, we awoke to a beautiful warm day in Tucson. Our Airbnb had the comforts of home and unexpected touches like board games, organic toiletries, laundry detergent, a record player with vintage vinyl selections, and even a bottle of wine and gourmet whole bean coffee with grinder and French press. Despite the upgrade to solar power, time seemed to have forgotten this place: the kitchen colors were circa-1950's, the range looked original as the oven had funky wiring inside, and the living and dining room furniture exuded mid-century flair. The only negative was that the driveway was too narrow for full-sized cars, so I had to park on the street. I didn't take pictures of the home as I planned to include a link to the Airbnb listing, but as of this writing (and probably since the pandemic started), the owner had removed it. In the future, you can try searching for "Downtown Solar-Powered Mid-Century Modern Home" hosted by Dan in case you are interested in staying here; he lives in the backyard casita. Surprisingly, we had abundant privacy; in fact, we managed never to bump into each other the entire week.
the only picture I have of the Airbnb |
Our plan today was to visit a high-end gem and mineral show called the Westward Look, located in...take a guess...the Westward Look resort. It was a far drive from home so we added a hiking stop in the area to make the outing worthwhile.
Before our trip, Kate recommended this link to useful information about the Tucson gem shows to get up to speed with the format, pricing, content, etc. The Westward Look didn't disappoint. There were so many museum-quality specimens, some that seemed impossible to exist in nature, but there it was in front of your eyes! The really rare ones cost upwards of six to seven figures, but a meticulous search through the hundreds of items on the sale tables can uncover quality finds for a reasonable price. I didn't buy anything, but I admired all of the beauty. I was also amazed by this show's setup. The vendors booked rooms in the resort, moved all of the furniture out of the living space and set up secured glass displays all along the walls. It must take a lot of work and money to ship their showcases from city to city across the US, especially the heavy or delicate specimens.
I didn't take any pictures of the minerals up close as some of the vendors had "no photography" signs. Not all did, but I didn't want to draw any ire. I only noticed one person taking pictures with a high-end camera, maybe for marketing. But don't worry, I took pictures at the main show so you can see some when we get to that blog entry. Or you can do a Google image search for "westward look mineral show".
taken outside the door |
After our visit, we picked up lunch at Tucson Tamale Company. I don't eat corn, so take everyone else's word for it that the tamales were delicious. I had a chorizo and cheese quesadilla instead.
and removed the corn from the salad... |
After lunch, we drove to the Pima Canyon trailhead and enjoyed the cactus landscape for about half an hour before turning around, seeing very dark rain clouds headed our way. We got back to the car just before the downpour ensued.
Pima Canyon trailhead - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
Afterwards, we went to the grocery store to buy food for the week, then returned to the house. Later in the evening, we went to Mineral City, where a bunch of vendors had set up shop. Night driving through pouring rain in an unfamiliar city felt unsafe, so we decided to take an Uber there. Flooded roads are common in Tucson as there is no drainage built in. Our Uber was slow-going, carefully avoiding deep puddles in the street. Mineral City was located in an industrial part of town where many of the businesses were closed for the day. We and the driver were skeptical of the address until we saw lighted buildings and people walking in and out.
An after-party was going on, open to all as advertised on their Facebook page. We saw a plastic tub full of bottled beer on ice, along with picked-over snack items on a table nearby. Some vendors were serving wine in their spaces. The four of us just had dinner so nothing looked appetizing. Based on the map on their website, we entered through Building C. I am unsure if we ever made it to Building A or B as there were a lot of twists and turns. It was late so many of the vendors had closed. We did have the opportunity to see a large specimen that had thousands of years old water trapped in it - pretty cool. The guy gently shook the translucent slab and you could see and hear the water sloshing inside. I didn't take any pictures that night as no one was doing so.
On Tuesday, we made our way to the Pima Air and Space Museum. This is the place for aviation history enthusiasts. There were so many different kinds of aircraft on display, inside and outside, ranging from warplanes to personal planes. The Women In Flight exhibit was very interesting. I was awed at the size of the "Super Guppy" airplane...how did that thing fly? It used to carry rocket components.
find me in front of the Super Guppy |
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360 spherical image of the outdoor museum, taken with the Ricoh Theta S: (click here if you cannot see the preview below)
Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AZ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
Afterwards, Kate had a hankering for Navajo fry bread, so we found Cafe Santa Rosa on Yelp and headed there for an early supper. The Indian tacos and sweet popovers were pretty good.
On Wednesday, we got to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in time to catch the 10am Raptor Free Flight show. I recommend you get there early to snag a good spot next to the cactus and tree roosts in order to get a clear view of the birds when they swoop and land.
13-second clip of "What does the owl say?": (click here if you cannot see the preview below)
19-second video of swoop and poo: (click here if you cannot see the preview below)
We explored the rest of the grounds, including the aviary, gardens, and animal areas. There were spectacular minerals on display as well. A quick lunch was had at the Ironwood Terraces food court.
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After browsing the gift shop and enjoying some refreshments, we left the museum and parked a short distance away to enjoy a desert sunset.
360 spherical photo of the desert sunset, taken with the Ricoh Theta S: (click here if you cannot see the preview below)
Tomorrow, we attend the main Tucson Gem and Mineral Show...stay tuned!
(Missed reading about the first part of our road trip, visiting Palm Springs, Prescott and Phoenix? Click here! Don't miss a single update! Click here to have the latest delivered straight into your inbox...opt out anytime.)
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