Day 7 116 miles traveled
Started off the day with a very nice breakfast at the Best western. Staff was very friendly. Left for the Kartchner Caverns. BTW, no cell phones, cameras, bags, etc were allowed in the caverns. I guess part of the reasoning is to reduce the amount of contamination and to sell photos n the gift shop.
We had a 1200 hour tour appointment booked, but when we got there around 1000 and checked in for our tickets. we had been told there was a cancellation for the 1040 tour. So we jumped on the opportunity to tour the cavern 80 minutes sooner. The change in time put us on the road to Tumacacori National Historic site at about 1200.
Here is a link to information about the caverns. https://azstateparks.com/Kartchner
The above link is not the same as the link in 2014. The previous link had more about the science of the cavern than about the park itself.
From Kartcher we drove on Arizona 82 to Nogales. It was very interesting to see Border patrol cars parked off the road in several places as we drove the 50 miles (very desolate) to Nogalas. We made one stop along the way in Patagonia to photograph the murals on the public restroom in the city park. Parts of this two lane highway appear to be very similar to US 89 which we followed as closely as possible to the Canadian Border. Parts of the road reminded me of the Green Valley Falls area of the Cuyamaca Mountain area of San Diego County.
Once we got onto IH-19 we noticed the mileage markers were in Km and not miles. IH-19 starts at the Mexican border. We entered the highway at mile marker 6 km and and once again we had to go through a Border Patrol stop during the 22 mile drive to Tumacacori.
Tumacacori is a fascinating historical site. We spent about two hours exploring the area. To learn more
about this historical site here is a National Parks Service link. https://www.nps.gov/tuma/index.htm
Tumacacori slides (19): Click here
Tomorrow (Day 8 since leaving Florida), we traveled to San Xavier Mission in Tucson, the Sagura National Park (national park #1), Ron Mix Memorial (a very famous silent movie era cowboy star. Then into the Phoenix area for a view days to visit family.
US_89 from the Mexican to Canadian Borders: Part 5 Tumacacori- – Nogales
Part 3: Benson to Tombstone, AZ
Part 2: Canyon Lake, TX
Part 1: Preparations