Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is about an hour and forty-five minute drive from Scottsdale. 

Tucson is a very sprawling city covering more than 226 square miles. We stayed on the hillside in a split house. One of the odd things we noticed is that most of the houses had flat roofs. So we looked it up on the internet and found out that the roofs are flat because it’s cheaper, faster installation, and more square footage to use.

The Church of San Xavier Del Bac

Since it was Sunday we went to church, at mission San Xavier Del Bac.

The church was built in 1797 and is the oldest European building in Arizona. The plaster that they used for the walls was combined with Prickly Pear Cactus juice in order to make it stronger. This beautiful building has survived an earthquake in 1887, a lightning strike in 1939, and flooding in 1978.

It underwent renovation in 1999; one of the ways they kept the paint from peeling more than it already had was by injecting some sort of glue just under the paint layer of the wall. 

Just outside the church are vendors, mainly selling fry bread. We bought a cinnamon and sugar one and tried it (no it was not gluten free). It tastes a bit like funnel cake, except it is lighter.

Titan Missile Museum

Then we drove to the Titan Missile Museum where we went on a tour of the facility. During the tour I got to turn the key in the simulation of launching the missile.

We also learned a lot about the missile. The missile itself was dismantled in 1982. The response time to launch the missile was 58 seconds! When the missile hit the ground, all wood within 17 miles would be destroyed, within 20 miles fires would start. If you were within 25 miles you would get a third degree burn. If you were within 30 miles, you would get a second degree burn. If the missile was exploded before it hit the ground, it would destroy everything within 900 square miles.

Saguaro National Park

We also went to our first national park while on this trip, the west side of the Saguaro National Park. There were, of course, tons of Saguaros and other cactuses. We went to the visitor center and watched a short video on the Park. Then we drove a little ways to the Signal Hill Trail where we saw Petroglyphs (rock carvings) and beautiful views. Sedona, Brooks, Aspen, and I also took a selfie with four different cameras 😉

We then went to the Desert Museum and walked around their trails and caves seeing all sorts of animals including fish (at their aquarium), wolves, mountain lion, lizards, spiders, frogs, snakes, and hummingbirds.

On our last night there my mom, my dad, and I went for a run, there was a beautiful sunset.