Touring Tucson

Tucson is a very interesting and beautiful city! Even though we have spent six days exploring, we could easily have stayed another couple weeks, and still not have run out of things to do. After spending a quiet day on Friday just hanging out at the campground, we spent our day on Saturday at a very unique Earth Day celebration. Biosphere 2 was built in the early 1990’s as a privately funded experiment with the goal of increasing our understanding of how human interaction impacts various ecosystems. The original Biosperians were seven multi-disciplinary scientists who lived together within Biosphere 2 for just over two years. After the initial experiment was completed, Biosphere 2 became a research institution affiliated with Arizona State University. Although you likely need to actually see it for yourself to understand the complexities, Biosphere 2 is essentially a series of gigantic research laboratories where they have been able to recreate a desert, a rainforest, and an ocean environment. The researchers can then manipulate the temperature, the precipitation, the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels etc. to learn more about how the plants and animals react to these changes. While we were there, the entire complex was ‘doors open’ and we were able to wander through and look at some experiments in progress. In addition, there were a wide variety of displays about how we can all reduce our impact on the earth. It was a great reminder to all of us about the need to make earth-friendly choices and a perfect place to spend Earth Day!

On Sunday, the boys and I had an amazing time horseback riding just up the road from the State Park. Since neither of them has ever ridden before, we decided to sign-up for a 1.5 hour trail ride. Leading up to our ride, I was wishing that we could have taken one of the more adventurous rides, but riding beautiful horses through Catalina State Park at sunset was a wonderful experience. The boys had gentle horses that encouraged their confidence and after a brief lesson were quickly mounted and comfortably reigning and riding. To add to our adventure, all along our route, nature decided to put on a show! From the bright pink blossoms on the low lying cactuses, to the backdrop of snow-capped mountains, there was something spectacular everywhere we looked. We all particularly enjoyed the two jack-rabbits that we saw boxing at the crest of the hill and the teeny tiny cottontail bunnies that were running all over through the grass. To top off an amazing ride, just before we returned to the ranch, two full grown coyotes trotted out from behind some bushes not more than 40 feet from our horses and stopped on the path to check us out. Although we had heard the pack howling in the distance about 45 minutes before, I could barely believe what I was seeing and stared awestruck until they quietly disappeared back into the brush. It was a moment I will never forget!

On Monday, we spent the day at the Pima Air Museum. This unique museum was highly recommended by my dad, but was also touted as a “must-see” by at least 5-6 others when we said we would be visiting Tucson and after touring the site, we certainly agree. Pima is essentially a living and growing display of the history of flight from the Wright Brothers through to present day. We started our visit by joining a guided tour group and visiting the four main hangars. Our tour guide, a volunteer who had previously been a military flier and instructor, articulately explained to us how the technology developed from the early 1900’s through today and pointed out the many advancements as we moved from plane to plane. Since most of the planes were very accessible, we were able to walk around, under and even look up into them. The boys were particularly interested in several of the WWII bombers and were stunned by the positions that many of the crew had to wedge themselves into to successfully carry out their missions. As an ad-on to our visit, we also decided to take the bus tour across the street into the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to check out the thousands of active duty aircraft that are stored there. It was amazing to see so many military planes in one place and interesting to get a close up view!

We have not had Internet access for about a week, but today are headed to California where we should be able to be online more consistently. We look forward to catching up with everyone!

Tammy

PS. A big thank you to those of you who have been commenting on our blog. It is nice to hear from you! For those of you who are reading quietly, it’d be great to know you are there – please drop us a quick note!