2/27/2026 - Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area - Mission Gardens

 

This is the second time going to Mission Gardens, but we didn't stay long.  We were pretty going for the new stamp they just put out there for Santa Cruz Valley NHA.

We will go back another time to look around again.

Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area (U.S. National Park Service)

2/27/2026 - Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area - The Postal History Foundation

 

2/27/2026 - My mom and me went to a new museum that we have never even heard of before.  It's located at 920 N. 1st Ave near the University of Arizona campus, and it is also a small mail center.  The place is called Postal History Foundation.  They have an exhibit of some things that the post office and carriers would uses in the late 1800's to the 1960's.

The first Post Office in Naco, Arizona was near the Mexico border.  They used different kind of tools that the mail employees used.  They used train, horses, mules, donkey in the earlier years and they did by walk or car.

Here is a wall that have stories from mail employees and artifacts that they used.

These were stamp vending machines that you bought with a few cents and get one stamp.  There were different kinds to choose from.

This was a Paymaster that was used in the Post Office.  This was for money orders.

Here are some of the badges that the mail employees wore for work.

Here is the outside of the building.  It's open Mon to Friday 8:30-2:30.  They have volunteers there looking through old stamps that have been used and collected over the years.

The other reason we went there is you can get the Santa Cruz Valley NHA stamp for your National Park Passport.  This stamp is only located in Southern Arizona.

Here are some websites for you to look at to get more information.

Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area (U.S. National Park Service)

Postal History Foundation – Connecting people to postal history, philately, & the world of stamps to inspire curiosity & encourage life-long learning

Go check it out.  It was cool to see and learn.

6/15/1992 - Yellowstone National Park (The World's First National Park)

On March 1, 1872, Yellowstone became the first national park for all to enjoy the unique hydrothermal and geologic features. Within Yellowstone's 2.2 million acres, visitors have unparalleled opportunities to observe wildlife in an intact ecosystem, explore geothermal areas that contain about half the world's active geysers, and view geologic wonders like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.

The park is located in three states, ID, MT and WY.  We visited the Wyoming part.  I went with my dad Bob, stepmom Cathy and Boozer the dog.  We were there for two days.

The above picture is my dad and I in front of the sign.

We saw a lot of different wildlife.

We saw Old Faithful Geyser, other geysers and water holes.

There were a lot of boardwalks along the areas of the geysers so you could see them closer.  You could feel the heat coming from the boiling water.

There was sun, then it turned to rain and around the afternoon it started to snow.  I have never seen snow in the summertime.  It was different but fun. There was a couple of places to stay in the park and at one of them we got the last room for the night.

 

Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

10/5/2025 - Motel Sierra Vista (Route 66) in Flagstaff, Arizona

This is a block away from Route 66.  This used to be Motel Sierra Vista.  Salvador Esparza was a carpenter who used sandstone and fieldstone to construct his Motel Sierra Vista, which opened on May 19, 1948, at 9 East Phoenix Avenue.  There were 21 units decorated in Spanish Colonial style.  The large neon sign a top Sierra Vista remained in place until new roof was added around 2007-2008.
 

10/5/2025 - Saga Motel (Route 66) in Flagstaff, Arizona

 

When my dad and I were going out to dinner this was a motel that we passed by on Route 66.

The Saga Motel, at 820 West Highway 66 opened in August of 1961 and was operated by Barabara and Ray Larkey.  The 29-unit motel was later owned by Edward J. Canepa, a Flagstaff civic leader who died in 1973.  It is now the Saga Budge Host Inn, and the beautiful blinking blue neon name on the facade remains.

10/5/2025 - Downtowner Motel (Route 66) in Flagstaff, Arizona

 Wow, it has been a while since I have been on here.  In October 2025, my dad and I took a week trip up to the north of Arizona to see some cool things.

On our first day we drove up to Flagstaff and looked at some more Route 66 places.  The sign that I saw was Downtowner Motel located on the southwest corner of Phoenix and San Francisco.  It was originally the home of K.J. Nackard, who owned a store nearby. He converted his home into a motel on Route 66 in mid 1920's, in 1933 added a bunkhouse and in the 1935 the wing that closed the court.

4/7/2024 - Take it Easy by The Eagles (Winslow)

 

These statues are located on W. 2nd Street and N. Kinsley Ave.  Take it Easy is a song from The Eagles.

Song lyric: Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.