We have had quite the week. We arrived in Tubac Arizona on Wednesday. We found a funky little RV park, the only one in this small town actually. There was nowhere in the area to boondock, so that was what we had. It was OK, the people were friendly, and we were able to walk to the art show in Tubac. Which was a huge bonus. The art show was pretty big, and went all through the tourist area that is pretty much the whole town of Tubac. We were disappointed in the town itself. We were hoping for a cute little art community. Not so much. It’s nothing more than a bunch of tourist shops selling everything from art, to stuff from Mexico. We did all that on Thursday, then Friday we drove to Nogales. Nogales is a true border town. Half the town is in the US, the other half in Mexico. There is a giant fence running right through it all. We wandered a bit, had lunch, bought almond tequila, then headed back to the US.

On our way back home we stopped at the Tumacacori state park. It’s an old Franciscan mission that they have preserved and set aside as a state park.

Such an interesting place. We had to kind of rush through, because by now the dogs had been alone for a few hours and we needed to get back. But the architecture, and the history are just so fascinating. The church that is there was built around 1800. More exact info can be found on the link.

This is the inside of the church. You can see how it use to be very ornate.

Al was quite taken with the old buildings and is planning a painting or two around them.

He even went back the next morning to take more reference photos.

We left Tubac on Saturday and headed for Tucson. On the map, I had seen another old mission that looked like a must see place for sure. The Mission San Xavier del Bac is on the Tohono O’Odham reservation and is used as a church for regular services.

In fact there was a wedding the day we visited. Thankfully, we arrived before the wedding was scheduled so I got the chance to take photos of the interior.

The construction of the church was started 300 years ago. Building on the church stopped in 1797. The church fell into disuse, and disrepair over the years.  We watched a video about the restoration of the church that started in the late 80’s. They brought art restoration specialists over from Italy to restore the paintings, and the statuary in the church. What an amazing job they did. It’s funny, because 300 years to Europeans is nothing, but 300 years in America is really old.

The art, the history, and just the story of the place is fantastic.

 

The exterior architecture is beautiful and amazingly detailed.

We were very glad we stopped, well worth the detour.

Now we are outside of Tucson about 2 miles from the Sonoran desert museum, and the Saguaro national park. Last night we drove some of the Saguaro park, and today we are going to visit the museum. We are in a campground that is really close to the museum so we can come back and check on the dogs, then go spend more time at the museum. I am super excited to see the museum.

And finally, this weeks special is just perfect for Valentines day. My heart rock collection is one of my favorite things. We always look for heart rocks, and my collection gets bigger all the time. This is a photo of my collection.

Have a great start to your week.