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"Old Tucson" Tour - 2/6/10

"Old Tucson" Tour

February 6th, 2010

Gather ye all at the Love's truck stop at 56th Street and Sundust Rd. at 08:15 and will depart at 08:30. (I can feel the Love already) To get to Sundust Rd., you will want to exit I-10 at Exit 162 (which is also the exit for Firebird Lake and Wild Horse Pass) Turn left (East) to get onto Sundust. The truck stop will be on your right (South) side about a ¼ mile from the interchange.

We have one gas stop planned for about, a 320 mile trip. If everyone starts with a full tank, we should be fine. Est. range of a Z-3 is about 225 miles per tank. However, get on the radio if your bladder is not cooperating with the plan.

170 miles approx.: 3 hrs. 55 minutes

Exit the truck stop heading West on Sundust, which will become Wild Horse Pass Rd. Just as we pass Firebird Lake, the road will turn left and become Maricopa Rd. (Hwy 347), heading South. Roughly 30 miles later, we will come to the Junction with Hwy. 84. Turn left (East) onto Hwy 84 (Gila Bend Hwy) for about 17 miles. This is a pretty heavily traveled farm road, so take your time and admire the dairy's along the way. Now you know where your milk comes from. Luckily, the milk does not smell much like it's creators. We will be stopping at the Shell Station at 861 Gila Bend Hwy on the outskirts of Casa Grande for a restroom break, and gas if you need it. Leave the Shell headed West (back the way we came) for about ¼ mile and turn left (South) onto Thornton Rd. In about 7 miles, we will be turning left (East) onto Hanna Rd. In another ¾ of a mile you will come to Hwy 15 (Chuichu Rd.), turn right to go South. This is the prettiest part of the drive. Two lane but not much traffic. We are on the Reservation now. We call the Deutch, German, and the Francis are called French, but don't be calling these people Pima Indians. No longer "PC", you know. 38 miles later we will come to a junction with Hwy 86. Turn left, (East) towards Sells and Tucson. This road will be a little narrower, but straight for long periods of time. We have about 22 miles from the junction to Sells, AZ. You will notice an increase in the activity of the Border Patrol in this popular international transit area. The mountains you see off to the right are in Mexico. There is a Shell station on the right as you come into Sells where we can take a break. There is some construction going on in this area, so tread carefully. We will depart Sells on Hwy 86 (East again) headed toward Tucson. There is usually a Border Patrol checkpoint not to far from Sells. Be prepared to stop so that any hitchhikers you picked up have an opportunity to make a run for the desert. Remember, "you did not know what was in the backpack they left behind". In 51 miles (before we actually get to Tucson), we will come to Kinney Rd. (There is a McDonald's on the North East corner of the intersection) It has a traffic light which we will use to turn left (North) on to Kinney. This is a busy intersection and we will probably only get a couple of cars at a time through the left turn light. But it is only 5 miles up Kinney to get to the "Old Tucson Studios" entrance on your right. We will wait for you in the parking lot. There is a fee to get into the site. Lunch, shopping, and sight seeing commence. There is a nice museum, with information on the many Western movies and TV shows that have been filmed here, starting clear back in 1939. We are scheduled for lunch at Big Jake's BBQ at 12:30 MST. There is an ice cream shop on the property should you need to top off that BBQ with something sweet & cool. We will plan on departing at 2 pm.

The return Route

176 miles approx.: 3 hrs. 30 minutes

At 1:45 pm, hit the restrooms and we will head back to Phoenix. The route back is going to be pretty much the same as our route down here. Except! When we go North on Hwy 15, we will go straight through to Interstate 8. (bypassing the potty stop in Casa Grande & the farm traffic) Go West on I-8 (about 22 miles) to exit 151, which will put you on Hwy 84 North headed back to Maricopa. In only 6 miles, turn left onto Hwy 347 for the last leg of the trip. There are lots of places to pull over for a potty stop after the first 13 miles of Hwy 347, if you should get uncomfortable. Just shout out on the radio, or blink the heck out of your high beams!

 

Paul Ebeyer, President

2010 Old Tucson Tour
From Direction via to miles route time
I-10 & Sundust Rd. West Sundust Rd. Maricopa Rd. 1mi. 2 min.
Exit 162 of I-10
S. Maricopa Rd. South Hwy 347 Hwy 84 E 28 mi. 34 min.
Hwy 347 Gila Bend Hwy
Hwy 84 E East Hwy 84 E Shell Station 17 mi. 23 min.
Gila Bend Hwy 861 W. Gila Bend
Shell Station West Hwy 84 E Thornton Rd. 1/4 mi. 1 min.
Gila Bend Hwy
Thornton Rd. South Thornton Rd. Hanna Rd. 7 mi. 10 min.
Hanna Rd. East Hanna Rd. Chuichu Rd. 3/4 mi 2 min.
Hwy 15
Chuichu Rd. South Hwy 15 Hwy 86 38 mi. 35 min.
Hwy 15
Hwy 86 S.E. Hwy 86 Sells 22 mi. 18 min.
Potty break???
Sells N.E. Hwy 86 McKinney Rd. 51 mi. 61 min.
McKinney Rd. N.W. McKinney Rd. Old Tucson 3 mi. 5 min.
Return Route
From Direction via to miles route time
Old Tucson S.E. Kinney Rd. Hwy 86 3 mi. 5 min.
Hwy 86 S.W. Hwy 86 Sells 51 mi. 60 min.
 
Sells N.W. Hwy 86 Jct. Hwy 15 22 mi. 18 min.
Jct. Hwy 15 N Hwy 15 I-8 40 mi. 32 min.
I-8 W I-8 Hwy 84 22 mi. 17 min.
Exit 151
Hwy 84 N.E. Hwy 84 Hwy 347 6 mi. 6 min.
Hwy 347 N Hwy 347 I-10 32 mi. 35 min.


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