🚗 Tucson Day Trip from Phoenix – Full Itinerary 🚗

11:00 AM – Pima Air & Space Museum 🛩️ No need to book ahead – tickets available at entrance. 📍 Finished around 12:45 PM. Lots of historic aircraft (many never flown in service). 🚋 Tram tour available ($10, 45-min guided ride) – skipped it since you can’t get off for photos. 1:00 PM – In-N-Out Burger 🍔 Drive-through recommended! Ate in the car — quick & convenient. 1:45 PM – Titan Missile Museum ⚠️ Book in advance — tours sell out fast! 🎫 Joined the 2:00 PM tour (45 mins). The famous missile photo op is in the garden after the tour. 📸 Note: You can’t explore on your own — guided tour only. 3:00 PM – San Xavier del Bac Mission ⛪ A stunning historic mission… though some find it eerily beautiful 😅 3:45 PM – Quick gas stop ⛽ 4:20 PM – Saguaro National Park (East) 🏜️ Stopped at Rincon Mountain Visitor Center for passport stamp 🖊️ 🌅 Entered park at 4:45 PM — perfect golden hour light! 🚗 Drove the 9-mile one-way Cactus Forest Loop. 📸 Turn left at the first picnic area for great cactus photo ops! 🌵 Watch out — those tiny spines hurt and are hard to remove! 5:45 PM – Trail Dust Town 🤠 Took a 3-min stroll + rode the mini train. 🔫 Watched the 7:00 PM Pistolero Gun Stunt Show — fun and budget-friendly! 💡 Sit under a lamp — it’s an outdoor show and gets dark. 8:00 PM – Dinner at Jun Dynasty 🥢 Good Chinese food, fair prices. 👩‍🍳 Shoutout to the sweet server in her 30s/40s — super kind! 8:45 PM – Drive Back to Phoenix 🚦 Drove 85 mph (followed a “big brother” car 😅) — made it home by 10:20 PM. ✅ Perfect day trip full of planes, missiles, missions, cacti, cowboys, and Chinese food! 👏 Tucson delivered big time. #Tucson #DayTrip #Arizona #TravelGuide #SaguaroNationalPark #MissileMuseum #WildWest #FoodieAdventure 🏜️✈️🌮