There was rain in the forecast but this morning that was for later in the day. Good timing to go to El Presidio San Agustin del Tucson, one of the earliest Spanish settlements in the area. The Presidios were forts that New Spain built on their northern frontier. Like most, this museum is a fraction of the original 12 acres but ti does feature a good piece of original walls and buildings. After spending most of the morning there we went back to the truck for lunch but got a good whiff of the aroma of an adjacent restaurant. But the line went out the door and down the street. Obviously a good place. We ate our sandwiches and went for a long walk on the streets of downtown Tucson along the Turquoise path, a painted line on the sidewalk that took you along some historic, or at least older historic part of town. That led to the rail road and the old train station with a steam engine out front. We spent over an hour there. We were the only ones there with 2 docents who loved to talk about their railroads. The first one was Randy who had worked for Union Pacific on the diesel trains. He explained how to run a diesel electric engine on a functional display. Pretty cool. Then inside the cab of the steam engine with Larry who spent most of an hour explaining every aspect of running a steam locomotive. He had run steam trains long ago and had run the engine now parked at Old Tucson Studio. You can see a photo of me in that engine if you look back to a blog post from 3 years ago. There really are not that many guys around now who have actually operated the steam locomotives. We had a great time with them.
It rained most of the way back to the truck. When we got there it was after 3 and there was no line at El Charro, so we had an early supper. Chili Relleno for me and an enchilada for Carlene. Excellent!
We enjoyed a fine last day (for now) in Tucson. We've decided to head down to the Empire Ranch for some boondocking for a few days. So fair warning, I can't say for sure how the cell connection will be. We might not be able to post every night, and even then the photos may not be practical. We'll post when we go out to a more populated place anyway.
Inside the Presidio:
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| Soldado (Soldier) quarters |
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| A rather fuzzy beaver hat |
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| Pima County Courthouse |
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| Randy and Larry, our train experts |
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| Mural in El Charro |
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Mural on the street |
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