ZR-1 Corvette Road Trip to the Southwest and San Diego

[QB93Z]

We drove from Balboa Park where the Zoo is, to the far side of the San Diego area. We went to Point Loma to see the Pacific Ocean. We stopped at Cabrillo National Monument:







Lyndi got a picture of the Purple Z with the Cabrillo Lighthouse in the background:







From Point Loma, there is a very nice view of all of San Diego Harbor. In 1990 I was stationed at a Navy training facility at Pt Loma on the left of this photo:







If you look closely you can see the sail and periscope of a US Navy nuclear fast attack submarine (a lot newer than the subs I served on) in this picture:





We went down the point to the shoreline and watched the Pacific Ocean waves on the rocks:







Lyndi got some nice photos of these birds flying in formation along the coast:





to be continued....

[QB93Z]

We returned to San Diego Harbor and visited the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The museum has a collection of ships, boats and submarines. My primary interest was a Cold War era Soviet Foxtrot class diesel submarine, the B39.





At the end of the Cold War, the Russian Navy was faced with the daunting task of disposing of many out of date submarines. The B39 was offered to organizations in the US and the Maritime Museum of San Diego agreed to accept and display the sub.



The Forward Torpedo Room:





During my time in the US Submarine Force, The Soviet Foxtrot subs were not considered front line subs, but the Soviet Navy had a lot of them and they were deployed around the world.





The periscope on the B39 was primitive compared to US subs of the era:




The Engine Room:






Jim

[QB93Z]

While we were in San Diego, we had the great pleasure to meet Tony (tnova) for a beer. Tony served in the US Navy at the same time frame that I di so we had lots of sea stories to swap as well as ZR-1 stories.







Thanks Tony for a good time.




Jim

[tnova]

Jim & Lyndi, The pleasure was all mine meeting you. Glad to introduce you to one of over 100 micro breweries in San Diego. Tony

[QB93Z]

Day 23 & Day 24: We left San Diego and drove to Tucson, Arizona. We drove on I-8 across California most of the way. The terrain alternated mountains/hills and desert plains:





Some of the flat land was in agricultural use:





We made a stop for reprovisioning, sodas, beer, bug repellent, bananas, and chips:





We stopped in the hilly area to wash the windshield. Lyndi takes a lot of pictures "through the glass" so Windex is my friend:







The major attraction for us in Tucson was Saguaro National Park. The Park is divided in two districts, one on the west side and the larger portion on the east side of Tucson. Saguaro National Park was created to protect and preserve the Saguaro Cactus and the ecosystem of the desert.








to be continued....

[QB93Z]

We were very fortunate to be in Saguaro National Park during the blooming season for several of the plants:










We drove around the scenic loop in each portion of the park. On the west side the loop is a unpaved road, but it was in excellent condition and was fine for the ZR-1:








In the western section of the park there is a hiking trail to a small hill of rocks that has rock markings believed to date from 700 to 1000 years ago:








to be continued.....

[QB93Z]

On Thursday we drove south of Tucson to visit the Mission San Xavier del Bac, a Catholic Mission that was founded in 1692. Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797:











On the way to the mission we found an airplane boneyard managed by the US Air Force. We didn't have time to tour the facility so we took a picture over the fence:





Jim

[Jmu1]

Howdy y'all, I see your not far from El Paso, Tx. I'm not sure when you will be here or if you were going to just drive through but if the schedule works out it would be nice to meet you folks. - Joseph

[diamond zr1]

if your trip leads thru San Antonio,give us a call/had fun on the Lexington with you both/sounds like you met Tony on the left coast

[QB93Z]

Day 25 We left Tucson and drove east on I-10. Not far out of Tucson, we saw some Union Pacific diesel locomotives on a side track near the highway. As we drove past them we saw more than 50 locomotives. All of them looked well used. It must have been a UP bone yard:










We drove about 35 miles south of I-10 to visit Chiricahua National Monument. There was no traffic on the road to the Park:








Chiricahua National Monument is a relatively small region of the Chiricahua Mountains that has been set aside and protected to preserve the unique rock formations and the surrounding habitats. There is a nice Visitor Center and one road that leads up the mountain to allow access to the pillars and pinnacles. There are numerous hiking trails to many other areas of the park.





The pillar formations were created by a combination of up-lift, cracking, and erosion.


The shape of the rocks and the early morning sun create interesting shadows. But maybe this image is an alien scanning the region:







to be continued......