I am writing this Blog entry from our “Casino Camping” location in southern California. We stopped just across the California border from Yuma, AZ and are only 2 miles from Mexico. Many Americans come here to access cheap dental care and prescription drugs in Mexico. I may go over on Monday to have my teeth cleaned but I'll say more about that later in my next Blog.
We departed Gold Canyon on January 2nd and headed for our next stop, Oro Valley, AZ which is just a few miles north of Tucson. We wanted to visit several friends who live in this area and we also wanted to add Sagauro National Park to our growing list of National Parks visited. On this short 80 mile trip we drove by the Tom Mix Monument. For those of you too young to remember, Tom Mix was "the King of Cowboys" when Ronald Regan and John Wayne were youngsters and he was the top cowboy of American silent films. Mix also had a famous steed, Tony the Wonder Horse. Tom remembers watching Tom Mix cowboy movies as a kid when TV just came out! Mix's movie career wound down in the 1930s, after silent films were replaced by talkies, but at his peak he made $2500 per week which was a lot of money for that time! He was killed in a one-car auto accident in 1940 on the same road we were now traveling. Driving at 80 MPH in his Cord single seat sportscar he came upon construction barriers and his car swerved and rolled into a gully, pinning his body beneath. A large suitcase containing a large sum of money and jewels flew forward and struck Mix in the back of the head, shattering his skull and breaking his neck. The 60-year-old actor was killed almost instantly. I did not get a photo of this monument but if you really want to see it check out Tom Mix on Wikipedia!
We arrived at Catalina State Park, our home for the next week and were pleasantly surprised! This is a beautiful state park situated right at the base of the Santa Catilina Mountains. The sites are beautiful (and level!) and have water & electric hookups for only $25.00 per night. Once again we had a beautiful mountain view right from our living room!
We also noticed this as we walked the dogs around the campground. I guess it helps to keep your sense of humor!
Our first sightseeing trip was to the Saguaro National Park. It first was made a national monument in 1933 and then in 1961, President Kennedy signed a bill expanding the monument to include Tucson Mountain Park. Finally in 1994, Saguaro National Park was established. We spent the day hiking through the desert and checking out the Visitor Center. This 91,446 acre park is home to over 50 types of cacti, a variety of desert trees and shrubs and numerous animals. The main attraction however is its namesake, the saguaro cactus.
The saguaro has been described as the monarch of the Sonoran Desert, as a prickly horror, as the supreme symbol of the American Southwest, and as a plant with personality. It is renowned for the variety of odd, all too human shapes it assumes, shapes that inspire wild and fanciful imaginings. Giant saguaro cacti, unique to the Sonoran Desert, sometimes reach a height of 50 feet in this cactus forest.
A saguaro's growth is extremely slow. By the end of a year, the saguaro seedling may measure only 1/4 inch. After 15 years, the saguaro may be barely a foot tall. By 50 years, the saguaro may be as tall as 7 feet. After about 75 years, it may sprout its first branches or "arms." The branches begin as prickly balls, then extend out and upward. By 100 years the saguaro may have reached 25 feet. Saguaros that live 150 years or more attain the grandest size, towering as much as 50 feet and weighing 8 tons, sometimes more, dwarfing every other living thing in the desert.
We never really thought of a desert as being “beautiful” but we have now changed our opinion and we did not even visit when most of the cacti were in bloom.
Our next adventure was a visit to Biosphere 2. Although we had heard about this project years ago we did not really have it on our “Bucket List”. It just happened to be right down the road from Catalina Park so we decided to check it out. As you drive through the entrance you begin to see what looks like a community in outer-space. The buildings look some sort of "mother ship”.
Planet Earth is Biosphere 1, so calling this giant planetary laboratory 'Biosphere 2' seemed like a logical idea.
Covering an area of 3 acres it is one of the largest living laboratories of the world. The glass and metal outer shell constructed between 1987 and 1991at a cost of $200 million contains seven different climatic regions and was designed to explore the complex web of interactions within life systems. It was designed as an experiment in self-sufficiency for a potential manned mission to Mars. There were two huge rooms with membrane ceilings which functioned as the “Lungs” to circulate and clean the air. The most interesting part of the tour was the fact that 4 men and 4 women were locked in and lived in this big dome in the middle of the desert for two years! They ate what they grew and at times, that wasn't very much. It was interesting but unfortunately the tour was a little dry (desert humor?) It would have been more interesting to hear stories about how 8 people survived with each other! So far Tom & I are doing very well living in our 40 foot. RV!
Our last big adventure was to the Kit Peak National Observatory. At an elevation of 6,875 feet Kitt Peak has the largest collection of optical research telescopes anywhere in the world !
This turned out to be a 10 hour expedition including a 2 hour trip to get there, a 5 hour evening star gazing program and the return trip home. ( If your doing the math, we arrived an hour before the tour just to walk around and see the place.) The last 12 miles of the drive is up a winding moutain road offering spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and valleys below.
The weather forcast was for “mostly cloudy skies” but we had made reservations and this was our only chance to get there on this trip. After viewing a beautiful sunset the clouds seemed to disperse and we had an excellent night to see the stars! We also just happened to pick a night when there was just a sliver of a new moon so it was really dark at the top of the mountain. The city of Tucson has special light ordinances so the city lights do not interfere with the telescopes.
The program included instruction on how to use binoculars and planispheres to identify constellations, stars, and many other interesting night-time sky objects. We also had the chance to gather under one of the huge telescope domes to view planets, multiple star systems, star clusters and distant galaxies The telescope we used was using the 22 inch Ritchey-Chrétien telescope. We had a spectacular view of Jupiter and 3 of its moons!
After the program ended, the adventure was not over! In keeping with the light restrictions on the mountain we had to drive the first mile down the mountain road with no headlights! It made for interesting driving. This is definitely going to rank high on our list of places we’ve visited. The 2 astronomers who presented the program were excellent.
Our 6 day visit to this Oro Valley area also included a chance to have dinner with several of our friends who live here and catch up on news of friends and family. It is a beautiful area and we would definitely travel this way again.
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