Tucson, AZ road trip

We are just over halfway through this first travel nurse contract. Caleb said last night was the busiest day yet in the Emergency Room where he is working. This is after everyday is always a busy day. So yesterday was especially crazy busy. It reminds me to be thankful for those who have gone to school working and studying very hard to be the doctors, specialists, and nurses they are to help those who are hurting and really sick. Thank you to all of you who work in the medical field for getting to where you are to help others.

Tucson was the destination of our road trip two weeks ago. Before heading to Tucson, we did a 4WD dirt road adventure through an area called Kofa National Wildlife Refuge outside of Yuma. Two small lizards were the extent of wildlife we saw even though we were actively looking for rattlesnakes. Seeing a rattlesnake here is a goal of Caleb's. I hope he gets to see one, and I hope I get away as fast as possible before it can move even a smidge. Can you find the lizard we spotted in the picture below?

We always enjoy a fun drive down a dirt 4WD road.  Some spots were tight as the road narrowed and some spots were steep. One part was so steep up a rocky area I decided to get out and walk up while he tried to drive the car up it. I didn't want to be in a car that felt like it was going to flip. He rocked it! Caleb has the skills for driving our Subaru on the 4WD roads. It's fun to ride the rocky bumpy roads for miles and miles and feel like you are far away from anywhere and anyone.

The next day we headed to Tucson. It was about a 3.5 hour drive from Yuma. It looked, well, like Yuma. It was more desert, but we had fun going to some interesting places in Tucson. One day we went to the Old Tucson Studios. It is a created western town studio and theme park where parts of over 400 western movies have been filmed. We took a walking tour where a guide talked about the different buildings and locations on the property that were used in famous western movie scenes. Some of the actors or movie names I recognized were Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Little House on the Prairie, the older 3:10 to Yuma, Wild West with Will Smith.

A western can-can singing & dance show was one event at Old Tucson. At one point, the dance girls came out into the audience to pick unsuspecting guys to come be a part of the show. Well Caleb was picked by one of the girls. He was taken on stage and introduced and went backstage to get ready. He came out wearing baggy blue overalls and a washboard with a spoon to play as an instrument. It was a hoot! Caleb's a natural actor and was entertaining strumming on the old washboard.


Another show was outside where stuntmen showed us how they act to film some of the western shootouts, fights, and chase scenes. Caleb and I were both impressed with the pretty high falls each stunt guy took (obviously they fell onto padding of some kind, but the height from which they fell was impressive). The demonstration was also full of humor and had the crowd laughing pretty hard at times.


We ended our first day in Tucson driving around Saguaro National Park and going for a hike/walk in part of the park. Saguaros were growing all around as far as you could see in some places. A lot of the Saguaros are HUGE!

Prickly Pear cactus

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum was an interesting and educational place we visited in Tucson as well. Caleb captured some great photos of animals. I'll share those in another post.