March 12, 2020 - Tumacacori & Coronado

The Tumacacori National Historic Park was a very short drive away from Tucson.  I started getting a little bit of rain along the way, but it was light and I wasn't too concerned.  Passed the sign for the Minute Man Museum and pulled off to check it out.  It was closed and it was early.  I debated on hanging out for a couple of hours to wait for them to open, but decided against it an moved on.  The National Monument was outside and I didn't know how the weather would change, best to do it while the rain was manageable.

The Tumacacori National Historic Park was an old mission built in the early 1800's.  The Mission passed between the Spanish, French and Mexican hands before ending up as part of America.  The park provides a museum and you can walk the grounds and buildings.  The educational film is a little outdated and rides the edge of barely acceptable in terms of offensiveness.  But while wandering through the museum, it appears that they have updated there exhibits to be more modern and cultural sensitive.  There were a lot of wildflowers in the lawn and in some areas there were landscaped flower gardens.  There is a cemetary behind the church and a few other historical structures.  It was a nice morning.

Onto Coronado National Monument.  The weather had held off while I was at Tumacacori but I was starting get little patches of light rain on the drive to Coronado.  It was roughly two hours and I was making mental notes of things to do along the way.  The towns were small and I had some concerns about places to crash that night, but I found enough acceptable places that I started to relax.  Found an odd church on a hill that stood out.  Thought I'd check that out later.  Passed an old movie theater, might be a nice way to spend the evening.  Surely these small towns had libraries, that was another option.

About 5 minutes away from Coronado National Monument the sky opens up and the rain came down in sheets.  I slowly made it to the Visitors Center and luckily parking was very open so I could park close and not get soaked.  The visitors center had a nice museum, I spent lots of time here.  It had a wildlife viewing area, which was really nice, but I asked the PR how often wildlife is spotted from this section and they admitted it was rare.  Too close to the road and people.  I asked what all the park had to offer.  There were no historical structures, there were no educational exhibits outside of the museum.  It had a beautiful drive up the mountain and some hiking.  A few caves that were more advanced than I wanted to do.

So I drove up the mountain.  I got a couple of nice deer shots.  I got some nice flowers and landscape shots.  I had concerns about all the blind spots on a narrow road in the rain, and I'd have to do a return trip once I made it to the top.  It was still raining at the top, but I jumped out of my car and rain to a picnic shelter so I could stand in comfort while I got a few shots.  The roof of the picnic shelter was made of uneven planks of wood and did virtually nothing to stop the rain.  I took my shots anyway and headed back down the mountain.

It was still daylight and I had a lot of time to waste.  Headed back down the road to a small movie theater that I'd seen.  I got there just in time.  There were two movies per day and I got there about 10 minutes before the first show.  I wouldn't have to wait.  Disney's Onward was showing and the theater served kelbasa and alcohol.  Prices were excellent.  I love old theaters.

Movie was good.  I sobbed like an idiot.  Stupid Disney.

Back on the road, missed a turn and ended up in Sierra Vista, a fairly good size city.  I was oddly surprised as I'd been driving for hours earlier and hadn't run into a Walmart or Holiday Inn all day.  Turns out that at one point I was only a couple miles away from a city center.  I headed to the library and stayed until they closed.  Found a nice place to park for the night and watched Criminal Minds until I fell asleep.

On a side note, Disneyland Anaheim & Disney World & Disneyland Paris announced they were closing until the end of the month today.  Universal Studios in Hollywood and Orlando followed.  Trying to stop the spread of the coronavirus.  Now I'm starting to get nervous.  Concerts are being rescheduled.  Trump banned travel from 26 Schengen countries.  Americans traveling over seas have been asked to return and self quarantine for 14 days.  Large crowd events have been canceled such as pro-sporting events.  The final numbers on March 12 was 1323 cases and 38 deaths.  Still not that much, but the rate of spreading is disturbing.  But living in my car and doing National Parks probably makes me safer that the average joe.  I'm having little contact with people outside cashiers and park rangers.  I'm touching a few doors and public toilets.  But I don't have work or church or Broadway tickets.  I figure I'm ok.  For now.