Tucson, Visiting Old Friends and Old Beginnings

We left Phoenix Tuesday morning after a visit to Jiffy Lube for an oil change and set out for Tucson 120 miles away. A familiar landmark on the way was Picacho Peak, were a Civil War incident took place.  The road is very flat between the two cities, but just like the road between Colorado Springs and Denver, the road was wider and busier than we remembered.

Picacho Peak

Cactus replace trees along the highway.

We landed in north Tucson Tuesday afternoon, found an rv park convenient to our friends, and headed for the pool for the first dip of the vacation.  It has been a fast paced tour till we arrived in Arizona.and it has been good to slow down and visit with friends. Now a soak in the pool cemented the fact that we were truly on vacation.

Jeannie and Tom Baxter: Elaine met Jeannie in her freshman year of high at Good Counsel in White Plains, New York.  They became quick friends.  When we moved to Tucson to attend the University of Arizona in 1974, Elaine found out that Jeanie also had just moved to Tucson to also attend UA. Old friendships were caught up and we spent the next four years sharing occasional pot luck dinners.  Jeannie met and married Tom and settled in  Tucson.  Jeannie and Tom have a beautiful patio home on the north side of Tucson with minimal outside upkeep(jealous am I!)  Jeannie prepared a wonderful lazgna dinner and we shared and caught up on our life stories.

Elaine, Tom, and Jeannie

When we first visited Tucson, Elaine was a research editor for Readers Digest in New York.  She paid for her trip by combining business with pleasure with an interview with the Director of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  A visit to Tucson is not complete without a visit to the Museum.  Just the trip out into the Sonoran desert to get to the museum is worth the trip.  We headed out through Gates Pass, surrounded by huge slopes covered with Saguaro Cactus, passing also the old movie studios at Old Tucson where John Wayne filmed his famous westerns.

At the Desert museum.

Advanced acoustic research in a cave in the museum.

Someone once told me that organizations are not static, they are either growing or shrinking.  The University of Arizona is definitely growing.  Old Main and the Mall were the same, as were the the Physics building.  But gone were the old Mechanical Engineering lab buildings where I changed my daughters diapers in my lab/office. The new Aerospace and Mechanical engineering building was awesome.

The U of A mall center of campus

Old Main, U of A campus

New Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering buildings

Elaine enjoying the mid-day heat.

A trip to Tucson is not complete without a picture of "A" mountain.  "A" mountain is a little hill west of downtown where the university students white wash a huge letter "A" and also hang glide off the hill.  Of course in these times the white wash has been replaced with red,white and blue colors.

"A" Mountain

Phoenix, Warm air and warm friendships, Oct 9th - 11th…

The ride from the North Rim was fairly uneventful.  We stopped at Marble Canyon on 89 to visit the Navaho Bridge.  This bridge saved a lot of miles for travelers who could now cross over the gorge carved by the Colorado River.   The bridge was built by cantilevering from both sides of the canyon with the bridge structure and meeting in the center many feet over the Colorado River.

Navaho Bridge, Az  Original on left newer one on right

Colorado River below

Posing in front of Navaho Bridge marker

Vermillion Cliffs near Marble Canyon 

We lived in Phoenix from 1978 through 1983, where I worked at Sperry Flight Systems working on various instruments for space and airplanes.  One friendship that flourished was with Will and Nancy Blevins.  Will Blevins worked with me at Sperry and Nancy became good friends with Elaine.  Our kids were closely matched in age and spent good times together.  This week Will took time off from work to spend  the afternoon and evening  with Nancy, Elaine and I on their back patio recounting what had transpired in our respective lives over the past 30 years.

Nancy, Joe, Elaine and Will on the Blevin's back patio.

Will Blevins on the left, in full view this time.

Another great friendship grew out of our involvement with youth ministry at Saint Rapheal's in Glendale.  Mindy Hansen was in the early 1980's a peer minister.  We spent many a night in long discussions over our kitchen table and Mindy was always there for us.  We kept in touch over the years and had a wonderful day with her,  husband Ted, and daughters Kelsey and Megan.  As always there was a large family party with all of Mindy's sisters and brother.  This time there was also many nieces and nephews present. As usual Mindy blended us into her extended family seamlessly.

Elaine and Mindy 

We left Phoenix Tuesday morning with our next stop Tucson.  The 90 degree weather, bright sun, and good friendships has us well warmed.

THE GOAL: The North Rim, Oct 8-9 2010...

I know, goals on a vacation?  So I am only one week into decompression so we have a goal:  Make it to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for our Friday camping reservations made a month earlier.  This is the last goal of the trip.  And we made it.  We left Arches mid-day and headed north to connect  back onto I-70 West.  At the intersection of 191 out of Moab and I-70 entrance is a gas station called Papa Joes:

Papa Joe's at 191 and I70, no relation.

We hooked up with State route 89 off of I-70 and headed south to the Grand Canyon, passing Bryce and Zion National Parks.  Utah is an absolutely stunning state which we hope to visit again and do some serious camping.

Looking East of 89 near Hatch, Utah

Biker motel Hatch ,Utah

Looking East from 89 toward Bryce National Park.

Mission accomplished:  The North Rim, truly magnificent.

I actually was turned onto the the North Rim by Phil Sarty at Bose.  He mentioned sitting in the lodge in big leather seats looking right down into the canyon.  Thanks Phil, it was great!

The perfect view and a perfect seat!

Thursday Oct 7 2010, on to Utah and Arches

We left the Springs by 11am and headed north to Denver and then west on I-70 through the Rockie Mountains and finally ending the day in Moab Utah.  We had never been west of Glenwood Springs all the years that we lived here.  When you come out of the mountains and get into Utah, you are greeted by large frozen, rolling sand dunes that are left over from ancient oceans.

Solid sand dunes along I-70 in eastern Utah

Shortly after entering Utah we turned off I-70 and headed south to Moab near where Arches and Canyonlands Natioanl Parks are.  I finally realize where the name Canyonlands came from.  The tall mesas have sheer walls and remind me of walking in the canyons of downtown Manhattan among the skyscapers.

Ancient skyscrapers near Arches National Park.

Friday morning we toured Arches National Park. The landscape is truly magnificent. And we did see some arches!

Colorado Springs Thursday, Oct 7, 2010

Thursday Morning Oct 7...  We cruised around Colorado Springs first thing Thursday morning visiting the Olympic training center, the Garden of the Gods, and of course our old homestead up on Table Mesa Way. The Olympic Training center, where Elaine worked, has transformed itself into a polished landmark for the city.

Sculpture at the entrance to the Olympic Training Center

The Garden of the Gods was a small introduction to what we were to see in Utah.

Garden of the Gods on the west side of Colorado Springs.

We lived on the northwest side of Colorado Springs adjacent to the Air Force Academy from '89 to '98. It is interesting to see how the small trees that we planted have grown.

Our old home in Colorado Springs.

The Arch, 36 years later…

The first time Elaine and I drove cross country together was back in 1974.  We were newly married and I was going back to school at the University of Arizona after touring the world courtesy of the US Navy.  I was going back under the GI bill, Elaine would work, and I would take another crack at engineering, this time, at Engineering Physics. I had gotten out of the service in the spring of 1973, fallen in love with Elaine, married her after a very long six week courtship, packed our old ’68 Chevy Belair, and headed west for a new life.  Did I mention that our Siamese cat Poo-Poo and all of Elaine’s plants were also in the car?

Mid trip it sunk in that we were crossing the Mississippi River when the Arch at St Luis rolled into view.  Wow, gateway to the west and a new life!

All these memories came back as we saw the Arch one more time today, Tuesday.Oct 5 2010.

                                            Gateway Arch Tueday Oct 4 St Louis

                                         The Happy Couple 36 years later

Katie and Colorado Springs, Oct 6…

We lived in Colorado Springs 9 years and the only friend we could think to visit was Katie.  We met Katie when we started attending Sacred Heart Parish in Old Colorado City.  Our parish near us just did not do it for us and once again we connected with another parish that was run by an Order out of Notre Dame University.  I became a greeter and shortly Elaine and I noticed this young girl sitting by herself and very much pregnant.  One week she was very much pregnant and the next week she was holding a new borne baby in the pew.  Elaine and I introduced ourselves and we have been friends ever since.  We spent a nice evening with Katie talking about our lives over Mexican food in Old Colorado City.

                                          Dinner with Katie at Henrie's

                                           Katie and Elaine