Arizona Sonora Desert Museum – Not!

Today we were going to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum – supposedly one of the best things to do in Tucson. On our way there to meet up with a nice family we had met at the Grand Canyon, we got a call from them saying the museum was temporarily closed because some wild javalinas were in the museum park, and it would be closed until they caught them! I had to laugh, but was disappointed not to see the museum.

Here are some of the saguaro cactus we saw on the way to the museum. They are fabulous plants. I watched some birds flying into holes they made – turning the cacti into giant, prickly birdhouses. 

We ended up spending a relaxing and pleasant day at the home of our new friends. The kids played, and I had some nice adult company. I helped Jill set up her own blog (see link above). Then in the afternoon we all went to Colossal Cave Mountain Park. It was a batty, balmy 70 degrees in the cave, compared to the 100 degree weather outside.

I am amazed at the desert.  It is such an extreme environment – with sun, dust, dryness, heat, cacti, scorpions, rattlesnakes and monsoons. It is taking me a while to understand it because it is so utterly foreign to my life at this time. People here really love it and respect it and see so much beauty in it. I think I could become a convert, but I love the NW too much to want to leave it.

 

We are now (not far) in New Mexico. Here are a couple of transition areas between Arizona and New Mexico. I kept looking to the south (into Mexico) as we were driving. 

I kept thinking of the people who risk so much crossing the border illegally to come and try to find a better life. It is yet another situation with no simple answers even though we sometime act like it has simple answers. Any answer has large ripple effects…

June 27 Southern Arizona

We recovered from the monsoon of Thursday night before headed out to the Biosphere 2 outside of Oracle, AZ.

It is a very interesting place. I am kind of fascinated with the whole story there, and will be looking up information on it to find out more.

Friday night we were fortunate to meet a man who was a professional peer of my father. I was happy to pay my respects to their relationship.  He and his wife have lived in Tucson for more than 20 years, on a piece of land that was originally more than 60 acres and is now whittled down to 12 acres. The property was used in some of the old Gunsmoke television shows. Both of these people are a delight. They were in the middle of many preparations for driving their RV up to Vermont, but took the time to make us dinner and visit. This man has accumulated 50 years worth of literature on aerospace medicine, aviation medicine, crash injuries, crashworthiness in automobiles, and falls. He has more that 200 file cabinets full of articles, and thousands of volumes of books, all categorized.  The scope of work and information he has is mind boggling. I am in awe of him  and some of the people of his generation. They teach me in many ways about the value of experience and deep knowledge in field of study. I am much more of a generalist in my thinking – broad, but not as deep.

 

Theo talks about Biosphere2

It had very, very advanced equipment to help people live there. It seemed like there were at least 6 ecosystems there (an ecosystem is a different landscape). It was beautiful. Especially the rainforest part (there was mist, so it felt good). It wasn’t sealed so people couldn’t get out like the first Biosphere2.

This is the ocean ecosystem.

Right now we are in New Mexico. We just left Tucson. That is enough for today. Bye!

We Have Hit Our Traveling Stride

Tonight we are in Casa Grande, AZ – north of Tucson. We stopped when we encountered a monsoon. The tour guide on the train told us about the monsoons.  Apparently, Arizona gets these somewhat fierce and quick storms with rain, lightning, hail and some impressively strong winds. We were going to stop north of Tucson anyway, but I did not like driving in those conditions. It turns out that this town is where we turn off to go to the Biosphere 2. We will go see it tomorrow. Then on Saturday morning we will go to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. We will be joined by a nice family we met at the campground in Williams who live outside of Tucson. Theo and their daughter really enjoyed playing together, so it will be fun to see them and have their company at the museum.

On our way down from Williams we went through Sedona. It is indeed a beautiful area with more gorgeous red rock formations. I did not get overwhelmed with spiritual insight or even strong energy. Although I have been known to be a bit woo-woo I was not pulled to this place the way some are. Perhaps I have been spoiled by living in some incredible places like Boulder, CO, Key Biscayne, FL and Nantucket, MA. It seemed like yet another beautiful place that is made nice (and also crowded) by the wealth there. Am I just jaded? I am sure that if we had spent more time there the real beauty of the place would become prominent to me. 

Now we are in the land of cacti. Prickly pears grow by the roadside and huge barrel cactus dot the hillsides. I am looking forward to learning more about them at the Desert Museum. The 100-degree-and- up weather is truly intense, but nothing some well placed air-conditioning and a lot of water can’t help manage.

Theo and I are getting our traveling routine together. We are both becoming more relaxed as we go. He is a good traveler and a good sport. He is willing to be flexible as long as I pry him with jolly ranchers and bubble gum and some time on his DS. We will see if I can get him to report on how I am as a traveler.

Theo’s Adventures on The Cowboy Train…

The train we went on was very, very fun. There were these fake robbers that robbed the train. Then the sheriff came on and caught them at the end of the train. Then they give all the stuff back. It was very nice because we got to go to the Grand Canyon and back. Our train car’s PSA (Passenger Service Attendant) told us a lot of information about the Grand Canyon and the mountains and roads next to us. Luckily we were in the air-conditioned train car. They passed out complimentary sodas (complimentary stands for free), which was nice. That was the second canyon rim I saw, but this time the train took us there. I can’t wait to go rafting in the Colorado River! Someday, hopefully. Bye!

 

June 25, 2008 Grand Canyon – South Rim

Theo and I got up early to catch the Grand Canyon Railroad up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. (Thanks for the tip, Kelly!) It is an old restored steam train, complete with a wild west show before you leave, cowboy singers on the train and a staged train robbery. The trip up was a lot of fun and a nice break from driving. We hung out, read and played Mad Libs.

 

After we arrived at the Canyon and had a bit of a rough start (Theo and I both appear to have some unfortunate Hyde genes that cause some pretty serious unreasonableness if we get too hungry) the rest of the trip and day were great.

The south Rim of the Grand Canyon has truly panoramic vistas (not that the North Rim is shabby).

 

It is also heavily traveled, and has many visitor services and hotels. Part of the Hermit trail is under road construction, so we only got as far out as Hopi point, where we saw some great westward vistas.

 

Upon our return, Theo got to play mini golf, ride a bike and meet up with a friend he had met the night before. He was overdue for some good playing with a buddy his age. Tonight we are all happy. 

Tomorrow we’ll get a leisurely start, head out through Sedona and move toward Phoenix.

June 24, 2008 Grand Canyon, North Rim

Theo and I headed out of Panguitch, Utah with the intent of reaching Williams, Arizona by the end of today.

I have to say that even with reading map and calculating distances, I am often wrong in calculating when we will end up where. This time it worked in my favor, as we drove through some (more) gorgeous country in southern Utah and northern Arizona. We reached the turn off to the north rim of the Grand Canyon by about 10 am. Now mind you, it is a 45 mile drive in  - and another 45 back out – but the highway sign said we only had another 160 miles beyond that before we got to Flagstaff (and Williams shortly thereafter). So I asked Theo  - how about it, would you be willing to go for a long day and see the north rim of the Grand Canyon? He was a good sport and said sure and I felt almost giddy. This giddiness harkens back to high school (and not many things from high school make me feel giddy) when I had a fabulous geology teacher and we studied the Grand Canyon as one way of learning about physical geology. In fact, we studied the north rim. This was no ordinary side trip. This was a delayed Mecca.

The Bright Angel Point was worth the drive. You walk out about a three-quarters of a mile on this thin peninsula of rock – and there you are standing out IN the Canyon. It was almost as good as flying.

My fear of heights kicked in just a little as we walked out to the observation point. Especially as Theo blithely walked near the edge of the trail that dropped off almost a mile just a few inches from his feet. Luckily, my getting sweaty palms was the only negative outcome.

After we left the North Rim of the Canyon, we continued on scenic Route 89. It was yet another incredible drive – with the Vermillion Cliffs, and an ever-changing series of red adobe ridges. As we got close to Flagstaff we encountered muted colors in the cliffs, and odd volcanic forms.

Northern Arizona is a place I would like to return and see more of. The red soil is quite different from the orange soil in Utah. In Arizona the red hues make the world feel warmer and somehow more alive. We got within 25 miles of Lake Powell and I think a return trip to Lake Powell, the Escalante, and some surrounding Indian Reservations in northern AZ would be terrific.

Theo’s adventure in Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon is so big, I can’t imagine how big the Grand Canyon will be! I went hiking a little on the trail. The reason it was funny is that the air is thinner and it is harder to catch your breath.

June 23, 2008 Bryce Canyon, UT

There is not much to say about Bryce Canyon because words are inadequate for the task. We will let the pictures talk for us.

 

 

 

We have been staying about 15 miles from Bryce canyon, just outside Red Canyon. The walls in Red Canyon are the color of cooked yams. Don’t believe me? Look for yourself.

 

 

And last, but not least, here is a picture of Theo in the back of the car, along with his walking stick he purchased at Bryce.

The weather has been a beautiful mid 80’s during the day and about 45-50 at night. The dry air is a treat, but sucks all moisture out of my skin. We are headed next for Williams, Arizona. From Williams we will take the Grand Canyon train up to the big hole in the ground 

June 22, 2008 Theo’s post

We are very close to Bryce Canyon. The tall tale says that Paul Bunyon’s son made it. We are also close to the painted desert. The reason it seems “painted” is because all the colored layers. It is very beautiful here. There are mostly mountains here. Luckily, there aren’t many bugs.

I’ll be posting more over the trip. Bye!