Ruins

Mission Tumacácori

Today, the National Park Service turned 97! In honor of their birthday, all national park entrance fees were waived. We took this opportunity to visit the Tumacacori National Historical Park down south near Tubac.

Now known as Mission San José de Tumacácori, it was established in January of 1691 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, an Italian nobleman turned Jesuit priest. Mission Tumacácori is the oldest mission site in Arizona. It was originally located on the east side of the Santa Cruz River but after a Pima rebellion in 1751, the mission moved to its present site.

In 1767, King Charles III of Spain, for political reasons, banished the Jesuits from his realms, and placed Franciscans in their stead.
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Desert View: Mary Colter Watchtower

In the early 1900′s, Mary Colter worked as one of the few women architects in a then male-dominated field. She is now often referred to as the architect of the southwest. She is responsible for several structures in the Grand Canyon, but her signature piece is the Watchtower at Desert View.
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Cobá Mayan Ruins

(This entry is part 6 of 6 from our vacation in the Western Caribbean & Florida.
View the other entries here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)

This year, the Maya calendar goes into it’s 14th cycle (b’ak’tun) on December 21st. It’s also the day Doomsday theorists are trying to cash in on…. So we thought it’d be pertinent to visit the ruins of Cobá while we had the opportunity.

Nohoch Mul, Cobá Mayan ruins pyramid in Quintana Roo, Mexico
In front of Nohoch Mul [View enlarged image]

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Fort Bowie & the Butterfield Trail

After figuring out what exactly The Thing is, we continued towards our original destination: Fort Bowie. Fort Bowie was an Army outpost built in 1864 only to be abandoned 30 years later.

A 3-mile round trip hike is the only access to the ruins. It should have been an easy hike. But just when we were starting to think that we’ve gotten used to Arizona weather, we do something like hike those 3 miles in 93°F (34°C) heat. I don’t think we’ll ever get used to the heat here! And it’s not even the hottest month yet!

Fort Bowie ruins, Chiricahua, Wilcox, AZ
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