Dang RV

Time to head on out down to Texas for work. After several failed starts with various things going wrong, I finally got out late in the day headed to south Texas on the I-10 via Tucson, AZ. I chose to stop there my first night because I have never been there before and the good folks at Lazy Days RV Park and service facility gave me a coupon for 2 free nights there when I was at the Quartzsite RV Show. I like free. The drive was long but uneventful. I got in late after the office closed and checked in at the gate. A helpful security guard showed me to an easy and level pull thru site. The next day I had a buffet breakfast in their café and checked out the place.

I definitely recommend Lazy Days as a great place to stay if you are ever in Tucson. With paved roads, I was able to ride my scooter all around the large complex including over to their repair facility, parts store, and the onsite Camping World. The repair facility was booked up through the end of March but they were still kind enough to send someone over to my rig to repair one of my bedroom windows at my site. There are also 2 other repair facilities nearby you can use if they can’t help and they do allow a couple of mobile RV techs into the park to make repairs. I also picked up some RV parts I needed there for some do-it-yourself stuff and hit up the Camping World which is always fun.

I was glad I saved my laundry until I got there as Lazy Days has an awesome laundromat. You can not only use the traditional quarters to activate the machines but can also use a credit/debit card! I tried it and it works! You can also call a phone number, enter your laundromat ID and machine number, then receive a text message when your washer or dryer has stopped so you don’t have to stay there. Who thought doing laundry could be so enjoyable?

I ended up paying for an extra day there to get the repair done and do some sightseeing in the area. There is a lot to see. I went to the Titan Missile Silo museum and tour nearby. Truly an awesome experience and must see. They still have a real though disarmed missile in the silo. After watching a video, they take you to both the top of the silo where they have the sliding cover open to look down inside and then down inside through the thick steel door with huge bolting locks. You notice right away that all the cables strung throughout sag and everything including the building itself is on springs. In case of attack or earthquake, things can move about without breaking. All but the crew quarters are two man zones. At no time was anyone allowed to be alone due to the vastness of the complex and potential for accidents. We got to see the control room and how it takes two keys turned by two people at the exact same time to launch. We also got to see the multiple communication antennas. Some of them raise and lower from underground to protect them.

After the tour, I drove on over to Saguaro National Park. They have a 9 mile one way drive through the park to look at all the desert plants there (especially all the cactus) and they have a picnic area that is a nice place to sit  and watch the sun set. I’m not sure I would want to take kids there with all the cactus along all the paths and even along paths to the picnic tables.

Another day, George and I drove north a bit to see the Biosphere. Note it is Biosphere not Biodome and they really hate that movie (though I love it!). The Biosphere consists of 5 biomes including rainforest, savanna, desert, ocean, and marsh. There is also an entire basement below loaded with technology to run it. A generator complex nearby provides the power for it. During the experiment back in the ’80s, it was run on gas. Solar technology was still in its infancy then, was not as productive, and was extremely expensive. They are just now experimenting with solar and switching over. The original experiment was listed as a failure. They did not achieve the main goal but they did learn an awful lot so it didn’t really fail. They shut down the second experiment due to the enormity of maintaining the Biosphere by a small crew which cut into time for experiments and the crew lost an awful lot of weight eating only what they could grow and only getting meat once a week. Now it is used continuously for water effects experiments and tourists. I was told there were items hidden in the rocks in various areas inside where crew members could get away from tourists outside who liked to knock on their windows to get their attention like they were monkeys at the zoo. Above the Biosphere is a little ecologic village they created for visiting scientists. It’s very pretty and has a great view.

I didn’t have time to visit all that Tucson offers. I would like to go back to see the Air and Space Museum, the copper mine tour, and Tombstone. I think there was a Renaissance Fair nearby as well. Be forewarned about the truly lousy roads around the outskirts of town. They provide a very bumpy ride to many of the attractions and there is lots of road work going on in town at this time.

For more pics click here.