Our First Stops in Arizona

Its Christmas Eve and we are enjoying desert views and much appreciated sunshine. While we miss being with family, we are able to enjoy the holidays, especially being able to spend it in such a beautiful place. Today I felt privileged to be able to attend morning Mass in one of the most beautiful missions I have seen.

We are staying at Mission View RV Resort, located in the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Reservation. The San Xavier del Bac Mission is just a short drive down the road and I have to say you just get a chill when you see the white structure glistening in the sunshine ahead of you in the desert.

The San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797. The Mission is now a National Historic Monument and is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona. Since it is the closest Catholic Church to us, we are attending Sunday Mass there. I am looking forward to Christmas morning Mass and celebrating the birth of Christ. What a wonderful way to spend Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, we did a little decorating in the RV. I don't bring a lot of decorations with us but enough to put up a small tree with a very tiny village under it and of course my nativity set. It was a little difficult to find a place to set it up in the new RV. Our fifth wheel had a shelf above the TV that was perfect for the nativity set and I used the dinette for the tree. This one only has the dinette and the kitchen counter. No shelves anywhere. Tim had a great idea to use the bed above the cab and it worked out perfectly.

Since we are spending 2 months here, we haven’t rushed to tour the area. For the most part, we have spent time at the RV park, gotten caught up on laundry, bought groceries and explored the local area. Last weekend, the park had a golf cart Christmas parade, followed by a turkey noodle soup dinner which was fun. There definitely seems to be quite a bit to see in the area so I am sure we will have much to write about over the next 2 months.

golf cart parade at mission view rv resort

our site and home for 2 months; we backup to the desert so have a great view behind us.

We did a little bit of touring in Arizona before we got to this park. On our way here, we stopped for a 3 day weekend in Benson, AZ. We mainly stopped there so we could visit Tombstone, “The Town Too Tough to Die. This old west town is famous for the Gunfight at the OK Corral and the Boothill Graveyard. We enjoyed our visit to Tombstone although it is quite a tourist trap.

The cowboys advertising the gunfight show

I expect to pay one price to enter the historic district and then be able to tour the various buildings and watch gunfights in the street. The historic district itself is free but pretty much every building except the shops and restaurants charged a fee. You could spend quite a bit of money there unless you pick and choose what to visit. We decided to see the reenactment of the gunfight at the OK corral and the price included visiting 2 other buildings so it seemed worth it. We enjoyed the show as well as touring the building and the theater next door.

scenes from the gunfight at the ok corral show

We also decided to take a stagecoach ride and while it could have been good, our driver had issues with his microphone. We didn’t hear much of what he said but got to see the town so I guess we shouldn’t complain. After that, we had a good lunch at Crystal Palace Saloon, then we walked through the town and visited a few of the stores. We ended the day with a stop in Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. There was entertainment and no charge to enter! We found seats at the bar and had fun looking at the decor as well as listening to the music. Lots of fun!

entertainment at Big Nose Kate’s saloon - lots to look at in here

the bar at big nose kate’s saloon; you could spend alot of time looking at all the pictures and reading the signs

After our stay in Benson, we headed to Tucson and initially stayed 4 nights at Voyager RV Resort that is part of our Thousand Trails membership. Voyager is a huge park and has more activities than I have seen at any park. They had separate buildings for various crafts and hobbies as well as a pool, hot tub, tennis courts, bocci courts, and pickleball courts. There are definitely activities there for everyone. We were given a site right across the road from the restaurant, bar, and pool area so it was a perfect location. While we were at the park, we took advantage of some of the activities and really appreciated the restaurant and daily happy hour. This was definitely a spot to be “on vacation”. We can’t do that all the time, but it is nice every once in a while to treat yourself.

we attended the barbershop christmas concert while at voyager. It was a fun evening with lots of christmas spirit.

Saguaro National Park East wasn’t too far from Voyager so we decided to visit the park while we were in the area. When we had been in Tucson years ago, we went to the West Saguaro National Park but had never seen the East park. I love that we get to visit National Parks on our travels. We learn so much about area, get to enjoy nature and ride through some of the best scenery you will ever see. This park did not disappoint. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive through the Sonoran Desert and seeing the large saguaro cacti. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

i know i am short but i don’t even come up to the arms on this saguaro!

Since I love sunsets, I will end this post with a few sunsets from our site here at Mission View. This is our view every evening from our site. It is wonderful to enjoy at the end of each day.

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