Touring America's Parks with Shayne

Mission Garden is located on the site the O'odham people call Cuk Son.  It is Tucson's birthplace, where archaeologists have documented 4,100 years of continuous cultivation.  Today, the Garden contains several distinct agricultural plots representing the diverse ethnic groups that have farmed in Tucson Basin over time. There are 12 Timeline Gardens: - Z's Garden of Native Plants - Early Agriculture - Hohokam Garden - O'odham Garden Before European Contact - O'odham Garden After European Contact - Spanish Orchard & Vegetable Garden - Africa in the Americas Garden - Mexican Garden - Chinese Garden - Yoeme (Yaqui) Garden - Statehood Garden - Tomorrow's Garden  16 Special Features and 8 Shade Ramadas. We walked around to the different gardens and seeing people working on them. Also, while we were there, they had a food tasting of some of the crops.  There was a bean soup and wheat bread.  Both very good. You also get a nice view of A mountain. Mission Garden

 When we went up to Oracle to visit my Aunt Karen.  She told us about this little garden that had a train set on the grounds.  They are open November - March, Sunday afternoons 1 pm to 4 pm.  North of Mt. Lemmon Hwy & John Adams. While we were there the owner of the grounds let us look around.  My dad was so excited to see the model trains. There are also garden beds around with different things like plants, vegetables, and fruit.

 I really don't remember that much about this building my dad and I went into.  All I remember my dad told me that it was Old Post Office Tower.  We went to the top and saw the bell and the views from the tower.  It is located 12th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. Scrapbook page

 Cool Springs cabins, tasty foods and gas station was a popular spot along the way of Route 66. The gas station was built in the 1920’s and then abandoned in the 1960’s. During the 1960’s there was a fire that destroyed the building. In the 1991, the building was partly rebuilt to be blown up in a movie called Universal Soldier. In the early 2000’s Ed Leuchtner bought the property and resurrected the landmark to what it is today. Scrapbook page:

This is Durlin Motel that was opened in 1902 but later it came Oatman Hotel. Now there is a restaurant, bar, ice cream and shop there. For the restaurant it is you have to find a table when it is open. Very good food and they also had music there too. This hotel survived a fire in 1921. On March 29, 1939 – Clark Gable and his wife Carole Lombard stayed here on their honeymoon night after getting married in Kingman, AZ.  

 Oatman was chosen in honor of Olive Oatman, who was captured and enslaved by indians. Oatman is a little gold mining town on route 66. When the minors left town, they left burros behind. Alot of them hang around town. They are taken care of by the town. There is a certain food you can feed them. You have to buy the food there. There are all these small buildings to look at and shop in. Here is a hotel that survived the fire in 1921. Along route 66 you see places with dollar bills on the wall. The burros all over town. Town Hotel Inside the hotel

Here is one of the signs you see along the Route 66 road.  We saw this sign after we stopped at Topock Resort.  

  There is use be a town called Topock, AZ. This was where the last stop from Arizona on route 66 to go into California and first stop to go into Arizona on route 66. Topock was developed in 1883, as construction began on a wooden railroad bridge over the Colorado River. There is nothing left of this town. Now what is here is a hotel and resort called Topock. You can ride your boat to this place and party at the bar, go swimming and there is a restaurant with great food. I read that is place is a popular hangout for spring break.