The Bone Yard

As we drove to Tucson, Rose my trusty co pilot found an RV park for us to stay at. This time however there was added pressure, it had to suit both us and Andy and Jackie's 38 foot motorhome. Mission accomplished we pulled in and we were met by the most lively lady who was only too pleased to have us stay.

We drove to our sites and as usual surveyed them before actually pulling in. As we were "companion camping" we decided to site ourselves with our front doors facing each other. Simple concept but results in all the hook ups being on the wrong side. Also the standard electric and water fittings were too short to reach the hook ups. We had an extra water hose but no 50 amp extension. Andy came to the rescue producing he an extension lead out of his very well stocked 'basement' - problem solved. Awnings out, a beer in hand and a beautifully warm 33 degrees - perfect!

Doesn't get any better than this


A little bit of Australia - Yes a Gum tree!



The Tucson area in Arizona is famous for the Saguaro cactus plant, the ones they are in all the western movies. These cacti are protected, ie it is illegal to remove, cut or destroy them - and they do not grow their 'arms' until they are at least 75 years old. Not sure why they grow so prolifically in the Tucson area and not other desert areas but the hills were covered in them.

They can grow to 60 feet, granted Rose and Jackie are short but this cactus is huge!



As we have been on the road for four months now, and most of that time we have been in colder areas, it was great to actually be able to sit outside in shorts. As the weather has been gradually improving we have started to stay longer at some of our destinations. We are often surprised where the time goes, as crazy as it sounds we are always busy doing something, some days we just sit and talk or do a bit of shopping, but the days do seem to go fast.

The main reason for the Tucson stop was to visit the military aircraft bone yard. Tours of the 'bone yard' are conducted through the Pima Air Museum. As the planes are on a military air base security is tight and providing a government issued ID is essential. We arrived at the museum two hours early so we could get on the 1pm tour - we had our passports but Jackie had left her bag at home not realising that ID was required. No amount of talking would persuade them to sell her a ticket without her ID so it was back to the truck and the 25 min drive back to the RV park.

Take 2 - we arrived back to the museum to learn that the 1pm tour was booked out! Fortunately there was one at 3 pm so we booked that - we were envisaging that we were going to have to book another night s accommodation - we weren't leaving Tucson until we had seen the bone yard!

The museum comprises of a number of buildings and air craft hangers and also an outside area filled with every type of plane imaginable. To actually see a B52 bomber up close was amazing. The show piece in my mind was the Stealth Plane which the US government denied its existence for decades - to be able to see and touch it was incredible.

The Stealth Plane



The B52 Bomber, how did this even get off the ground?


Rows upon rows of planes which can be put back in service if need be


Of all shapes and sizes


Enough to modernise the Australian Air Force ten times over!



The bone yard is located in Tucson because of the low humidity and the make up of the soil in this region. The soil is so dense it can take the weight of the planes with little or no preparation.

Bone yard tour completed - another thing ticked off the list.




Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Tucson Arizona