Tucson, Az to Phoenix, Az

Sunday morning in Tucson found us at the PIMA Air and Space Museum. The first impressive transportation vehicles was this selection of Route 66 pickup trucks in the carpark.

Going into the museum in an increasingly futile attempt to find good coffee, I found this F-14 fighter jet in the courtyard behind the main hanger.

Inside the hanger was a few hidden gems, including a sight not often seen - the back of a jet - a Lear Jet, I believe.

The Lockheed SR-71a Blackbird - one of the most recognizable airplanes ever made. constructed in 1962, it was able to regularly reach Mach 3 (2,193 mph). Also - it starred (as the X-Jet) in X-Men 2, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: First Class, and turns into the character Jetfire in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

The 'Boneyard', about a mile down the road for the museum, is an area containing over 4400 aircraft and spare parts. The one hour tour listed every plane we passed in exacting detail - however neither one of us were taking notes. Lots of planes - lots of spare parts. Here's a list - go wild!

Lots of helicopters. Note the rear fin of the Memphis aircraft - I'm sure there was something unique about it. There were 3 complete Titan Missiles also, but I sensed that the tour guide was a little anti-upper-stratosphere (is that a real word?). He did explain, however, that any sensitive aircraft parts (I told you he was an aircraft-lover) are covered in three layers of a kind of spray film - two black and one white (that's GladWrap to the Kiwi's, Saran wrap to the Americans, and plain old cling film to any English folks).

Arizona is an almost perfect environment for storing machinery - extremely low moisture, almost no rainfall, and a natural stone basin (which reduces the need for tarmac). This photo is of hundred of jet-engines awaiting re-conditioning.

After the aeronautic discipline of Pima, we headed south-west of Tucson to the Mission San Xavier del Bac (the 'White Dove of the Desert'). It is a working church, so tourists have to make way for services, communions, masses and funerals (there was one while we were there).

The altar of San Xavier. To the left of the altar is an open coffin, housing a wooden effigy of San Xavier, where pilgrims rub a small cloth over the brow for blessings, and pin small offerings or milagros in return for miracles attributed to San Xavier - it is said that only the faithful are able to lift the saint's head.

This is the mortuary chapel on the west side of the mission. Hundreds of burning candles increased the already high temperature of the desert sun, and a sign warns that candles should not be placed near to the statues, to prevent fires. The garden leading to the chapel was a very peaceful and pure example of desert landscaping.

So it was off to our Phoenix hotel. On the way to our carefully selected restaurant (which wasn't open, so we had to make do with take-out Vietnamese), we could see the busy I-17, forcing its way through the heart of the metropolis - an unexpected beauty in the barren desert.

Working our way back to the hotel, Camelback Road made a wonderful sight - the varied car sales yards, McDonalds and Family Dollar signs in the background not withstanding.

Much like Hotel California (the Eagles music we had been listening to on our drive), Phoenix certainly seemed like an Arizona oasis - however, the lack of internet, a hot-dog at the bottom of the jacuzzi and the floating plastic glove in the swimming pool did break the spell somewhat. To paraphrase the Eagles; we could check out - but we could never leave...