Day 18- Hanging out in Tucson, Sentinel Mountain Park, dead people, and a TPMS

Bette got up early to head over to the hospital.  I did Lander stuff until about 10 or so. 

Bette got back, and there seems to be a good report on Jerry's surgery, along with the need for further work which isn't life threatening- so it's a good thing. 

I ran over to the Wal Mart corner grocery for a few necessities, then stopped by Verizon to determine that basically they totally misrepresented our new purchase and program to us, then went to a cemetery, then over to The "Big A" mountain in town. 

Then I stopped by Camping World and picked up our new tire monitoring system, well, 2/3rds of it since they were out of the 2 pack of sensors I need for a full 6 tire system. 


Sentinel Mountain Park is right across from downtown Tucson, and is a traditional visiting spot for U of A students, since there is a big Red,White and Blue A on the top of it-  You get to drive right to the top, and see some beautiful vistas of the city and the valley. 



The City to the south, we are out there somewhere at Lazy Days right off of I-10.



The City to the North- Downtown, or what there is of it, is just to the right center-  Only about 5 tall buildings in the entire city. 

Here's what it looks like from I-10. 

This is the Big A, from the bottom of it, you'll have to go with me on this one. 

This is what the monitor looks like for the tire monitor system we got-  Tells me the tire pressures, temperatures, and alarm if running hot, or if there is a blowout.  Glad to have it, and thanks TC for the suggestion. 


I see dead people again- This time Joey "Joey Banannas" Bonanno - a real life gangster



At the Holy Hope Cemetery, He's second from the right, and his wife is also there. 



He immigrated to the United States in his 20s and began to work as a muscleman for the large New York gangs of era, most under Joseph (Joe the Boss) Masseria, and Salvatore Maranzano. When both were murdered in 1931, Bonanno was appointed as boss of the Brooklyn-based Bonnano Family, which he exerted control over until his 1968 retirement. Bonanno expanded into countless rackets, many spread out across the entire U.S. and Canada. Despite his later claims of having bossed an honorable, drug-free criminal organization, he was known as one of the largest Mafia narcotics traffickers in the nation. The Mafia leaders who were bothered by Bonanno's direction were part of the NYC Commission, and they objected to Joe planting "flags" all over so-called open-cities such as Florida and Arizona. After long tensions with the other bosses, Joseph decided to put his son, Bill, in charge and to run the family from his home in Tuscon, Arizona. The Commission found this in poor taste and banished both Bonanno and his son from New York, aswell as stripping them of their power in Brooklyn. Joe & Bill Bonanno avoided further tangles with the law until 1979, when the FBI raided their home and convicted Joe of obstruction of justice for trying to compromise his son's Fraud indictment. Both went off to prison for short terms, but were essentially free by the mid-1980s, when Joseph got himself in trouble again. In 1983, he penned his autobiography, "Joe Bonanno: A Man of Honor," which described the inner-workings of the Commission aswell as his own Mafia family. He was last released from prison in 1986 after serving 14 months on a contempt charge.



Burial:Holy Hope Cemetery & Mausoleum Tucson


Plot: Altar of St. Thomas, section 7

Liz, our service writer said this morning that she feels pretty confident that the parts are in the air to us and should get here tomorrow, and if all holds well, the repairs should start on Wed, be through in one day, or into Thursday as a cushion- Which is fine, since we are planning to leave on Friday anyway-  fingers crossed.   64 and sunny as I type this at 3:16 pm today.