Tucson Gates Pass~Letterboxing

After John graduated from college, he worked in Television/Movies for a while, even doing filming here in the Tucson area at Tucson Old West Studios. So yesterday we decided to take a drive over Gates Pass to have a look at the Old West Studios and take a walk down memory lane.

Of course, there was a letterbox to find along the way, too. Inside the box was a terrific hand carved stamp of the Tucson skyline. And a great view from the location, too. (Click on the photo to see a larger view!) Notice the beautiful green-barked Palo Verde tree beside the Saguaro.
The sun was setting as we drove through Gates Pass, so the photos aren't too great, but the views were spectacular to the west. And all around us in the mountains were hundreds of Saguaro cactus. (Click on these pictures for a terrific larger view of all those amazing saguaros!)
We also learned how Gates Pass was created, by a man named Gates, who wanted a quicker route through the mountains, so he could reach his carbonate mines in the west. So, he paid $1000,00 for a team to manually dig through this pass. Amazing feat when you look around as you drive through this steep and rugged pass!
We drove into the Old Tucson Studios and John was pretty excited to see everything and talk about his time spent working here in the 80's. We will make plans to come back one day to do some of the tours, and see some of the filming and shows here.