160 Mile Shakedown Cruise with "Big Wild"

[RockyUSA]

Had a great trip in the Interceptor to Kartchner Caverns... Fast cruising on great AZ roads.

The Fun Italian Automobiles of Tucson had a great day on Sunday 21 May 2017 taking a run to Kartchner Caverns in southern Arizona. Chuck gave his Pantera a break by running his '72 Jensen Interceptor while Dave ran his '82 Fiat Spider.

Note that I am authorized to run around with the Italian Cars due to the Carizzoza Touring / Vignale connection of the body design...

This was another test of the new 4L60E transmission setup. It ran flawlessly. It's a great update.

We started off with a breakfast meet-up at Hacienda del Lago in Vail. After breakfast overlooking the golf course we took the long way around to our destination via AZ83 south to Sonoita and then AZ82 east to Huachuca City ending with a jaunt north up AZ90 to Kartchner Caverns State Park. The roads were wide open with only a moderate bunch-up on AZ83 near the overlook to the future Rosemont mine site.

"Boss Hogg" has been Intercepted!

20170521_122218_Richtone(HDR)_Boss_Hogg.jpg (300.7 KiB) Viewed 1071 times

At the caverns we found ample parking. We took in some of the displays in the Discovery Center while we waited for the tour to begin. The Discovery Center gives you a preview of what you will see underground. We toured the Rotunda and Throne Room. The Big Room tour is closed for the season as it is a nursery for bats - it reopens in October. The underground temperature was a steady 72 degrees Fahrenheit with 98% humidity. Outside it was reaching the upper 90s!

After the emerging from the tour and drying out we headed to Benson stopping at the Horseshoe Cafe for a bite of lunch. After lunch we headed back to Tucson where we made it back to air conditioned homes by around 2:00PM.

Here's a link to the pictures.

https://goo.gl/photos/KiNuX1cQCMAE3z1t8