Desert Landscapes
Friday, August 10
Start: Tucson, AZ
Finish: Albuquerque, NM
Distance: 500 miles
Time: 14.5 hours
There's a very romantic scene in "Can't But Me Love" in which Patrick Dempsey's character takes his for-hire girlfriend to an airplane graveyard in the desert outside of Tucson. In the movie, they sneak in at night and walk in between rows and rows of out-of-service military aircraft that are being stored for parts. Well, that graveyard actually exists and you can take a bus tour of it. It's called "the Boneyard" and it's right next to the PIMA Air & Space Museum. Sitting in an air conditioned bus is nice, of course, but it's nothing like what I imagine walking amongst rows of old planes at night is like.
At the PIMA Air & Space Museum itself there are a bunch of restored military aircraft sitting outside in the desert sun, as well as a bunch of historically-organized hangars. In a WWII hangar dedicated to the Flying Fortress, I couldn't help but be amused by this unintentionally-sexually-ambiguous mannequin they were using to sell their hats and t-shirts. He/she reminds me of the neighbor on "King of the Hill".
For lunch in Tucson, we went to the El Charro Cafe, which is listed in Jane and Michael Stern's "Roadfood Goodfood". I don't recommend it. Not because it was horrible, but because it was boring. Just a generic after-work TexMex place.
After lunch, we drove to Silver City, New Mexico, which was a very cute small town that had somehow managed to keep businesses--including restaurants with actual customers--in its old downtown.
Then we drove through the Gila National Forest, which was strikingly beautiful: rolling mountains covered with rocks, bushes, and pine trees.
For dinner we went to the "El Camino", which was pretty bad. The interior was in great condition, however, and there was a lounge attached that was full of red leather booths.
Start: Tucson, AZ
Finish: Albuquerque, NM
Distance: 500 miles
Time: 14.5 hours
There's a very romantic scene in "Can't But Me Love" in which Patrick Dempsey's character takes his for-hire girlfriend to an airplane graveyard in the desert outside of Tucson. In the movie, they sneak in at night and walk in between rows and rows of out-of-service military aircraft that are being stored for parts. Well, that graveyard actually exists and you can take a bus tour of it. It's called "the Boneyard" and it's right next to the PIMA Air & Space Museum. Sitting in an air conditioned bus is nice, of course, but it's nothing like what I imagine walking amongst rows of old planes at night is like.
At the PIMA Air & Space Museum itself there are a bunch of restored military aircraft sitting outside in the desert sun, as well as a bunch of historically-organized hangars. In a WWII hangar dedicated to the Flying Fortress, I couldn't help but be amused by this unintentionally-sexually-ambiguous mannequin they were using to sell their hats and t-shirts. He/she reminds me of the neighbor on "King of the Hill".
For lunch in Tucson, we went to the El Charro Cafe, which is listed in Jane and Michael Stern's "Roadfood Goodfood". I don't recommend it. Not because it was horrible, but because it was boring. Just a generic after-work TexMex place.
After lunch, we drove to Silver City, New Mexico, which was a very cute small town that had somehow managed to keep businesses--including restaurants with actual customers--in its old downtown.
Then we drove through the Gila National Forest, which was strikingly beautiful: rolling mountains covered with rocks, bushes, and pine trees.
For dinner we went to the "El Camino", which was pretty bad. The interior was in great condition, however, and there was a lounge attached that was full of red leather booths.
posted by Charles P. Everitt at 11:51 PM
2 Comments:
My intense desire to visit the airplane boneyard is somewhat reduced by the idea that you only get to view it from a bus.
Well, you do get to walk around the planes at the Air & Space Museum itself. You'd still love it.
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