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Thread: DOWN THE ROAD - Ladyfisher - November 15, 2010

  1. #1
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    Default DOWN THE ROAD - Ladyfisher - November 15, 2010

    DOWN THE ROAD

    I know some people had their laugh for the day when they heard my husband and I were driving to Arizona for the winter, it gets funnier (is that a word?) when you throw four (4) cats and one small yellow canary into the mix.

  2. #2
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    Default I Still Remember Tucson From My Army Days!

    When I returned home, after my tour in Vietnam, I was posted to Fort Huachuca AZ.

    When I got the order while still in Vietnam, nobody in my unit had ever heard of Fort Huachuca, and nobody knew where it was located. I was thinking that it must be something like Area 51.

    I found out later once I arrived by in the States, I got my hands on a Rand McNally, and located Fort Huachuca AZ.

    When I got home to Minnesota, the first thing I did after unpacking my gear in my old bedroom, was go out and buy me a car with the money I had saved up while in Vietnam. I bought a 1969 Mercury Monterey Convertible, that I drove to Fort Huachuca AZ when I had to report for duty after my military leave at home (1801 mile trip).

    When at Fort Huachuca AZ, we would sometimes to into Sierra Vista, AZ that was outside the main gate to the base, and other times we drove to Tombstone AZ. that was only 37 miles east of the base, across the San Pedro Valley.

    When I had a weekend pass, I would drive to Tucson (85 miles) with Chris (my Army Friend) to Hamanda's Hide Away. For some quiet time away from the military base, and behave like normal folks. The owner was a retired Senior Chief Petty Officer, and he ran a nice quiet establishment, where folks could just chill out and enjoy each other company and conversation. In the spring sometimes he would close early and we all would go see some of the Major Leauge Baseball Teams down there for Spring Training, when they were playing another baseball team.

    Sometimes Chris and I would travel down to Nogales Mexico (65 miles) , leaving my car on the U.S. side of the boarder parked in the U.S. Border Patrol Parking Lot, they were nice enough to allow us to do so. Then we walked across the border, what a difference a border makes, two completely different worlds separated by a line on a map.

    Other times we would go see the old movie studio lot (Old Tucson) where so many of the western movies and television TV westerns were filmed. Sometimes there would be a movie or TV show being shot while we were there!

    Other time we might drive up to Flagstaff and then to see the Grand Canyon (415 miles). We would take turns driving with six soldiers in the car (back then there was plenty of room for everyone in the car), and get to the Grand Canyon in the early morning hours before sunrise. Then sit on the edge of the Grand Canyon as the sun started to rise in the early morning sky. It took a couple of hours before the sun was high enough in the sky, before you could see the bottom of the canyon. The colors of the landscape keep changing by the minute over that period and the higher the sun rose in the sky, the bigger our eyes got with how humongous the Grand Canyon really is. Without a reference point, anyone who goes to the Grand Canyon has no depth perception of the Grand Scale of this National Treasue....

    Then other times we would drive to Las Vegas NV (508 miles), I alway made sure that I had everyone's share of the gas money for the trip there and return to the base, before leaving Ft. Huachuca.

    At Christmas, Chris and I drove up to Purgatory CO (732 miles) north of Durango CO on a dead end highway, for a week of winter skiing. Stopping on the way to see the Petrified Forest, and stayiing in Santa Fe for a day or two on the way back. taking the long way back back (716 miles) to Ft. Huachuca AZ .

    I also remember seeing the desert come alive with beautiful cactus blossoms after a long period of spring rain.

    I have not thought of any of these memories for a long long time now, but Deanna's article has brought them all back. Been after 45 years, since I last was there, and now the memories make it seem like it way just yesterday when I was much younger!

    All I can think to express my graditude is to say, "THANK YOU!" ~Parnelli
    Last edited by Steven McGarthwaite; 11-15-2010 at 05:49 AM.

  3. #3
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    Default

    Looks like a great place to winter over. The feline situation is always a complicated bit of politics and negotiation, in my experience anyway.

    Hope you guys can get in some AZ fly fishing this winter.

  4. #4

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    Arizona is my home period. and my grandparents lived in Green Valley outside of tucson for a looong bit. I love it down here and wouldn't change anything save for how little I can fish. WElcome to my neck of it all ( well actually I'm in phoenix) and have fun, don' forget to fish it all!
    My mom says it's all physics. I say that's my problem.. Just look at my old report cards....

  5. #5
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    Default

    Ladyfisher; Congratulations on finally discovering Arizona. Having spent almost my entire life east of the Mississippi River, I had no idea of what to expect when I was told that my next active duty station would be at Fort Huachuca, AZ. I had visions of something straight out of "Beau Geste" -- rolling sand dunes, rattlesnakes, gila monsters, cacti, and tarantulas -- and was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was.

    If you get the chance, get the two of you into a car and drive southwest to Sierra Vista. On the south side of town, there is a winding road that will take you up into Ramsay Canyon -- there's a Nature Conservancy preserve there that has more species of hummingbirds in one location than anywhere else in North America. And you will fall in love with winter in the desert.

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