Moving West (Part 2)

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Next stop - visiting our friends Glenn and Karin in Tucson. We always enjoy our visits with them. Tom was a little sick (cold), so the activities were limited the first couple of days. Just visiting with our friends and with Cooper, the dog, who thinks we are part of his pack.

Tom felt better on Sunday, so we all went to the Biosphere 2. In the early 1990's, a grand experiment was started. Years of preparation and expense financed by private citizens, created the worlds largest greenhouse.

 In the greenhouse, five sections were dedicated to different environments. Desert, ocean coral reef, rainforest, savanna grassland, and mangrove wetland in a closed, air locked building. The crew of ten had to tend to their own food (and cook for each other.) They cared for each of the systems, including the maintenance on the air flow. The facility was built in the desert north of Tucson, which meant that heating and cooling were essential and expensive. The plants placed in the building were designed to help the air flow system.

These ten people lived in a tight quarters for 2 years. Each had to work about 10 hours a day 7 days a week. The outside contact was by email and phone. No one entered and no one left. The experiment was endangered after a year and a half. The concrete had not been cured enough or sealed. The curing process drew oxygen out of the air, so the controllers had to pump in oxygen to finish the 2-year experiment.

An experiment is a process to prove or disprove a theory. The enclosed environment did not end with all the desired success, but they learned about how the world works. Another human experiment was planned for six months and was a success at proving the enclosed environment can work.

When we arrived on Friday, Karin was cooking and we knew were in for a treat. They cooked Chicago deep dish pizza and a beef stew that would knock your socks off. (It did Tom's, he was pretty useless after each meal.) Our offering was smoked salmon (from Dawson Creek, BC) made into a cream cheese dip. 

This year the desert was really green - unusual and very beautiful. It was early in the season and already beautiful - I imagine it is gorgeous by now! Our friends mentioned a Picacho state park where we should be able to see the first Arizona poppies of the season - and it was right off the highway on our way north.

The yellow patches in the first picture are the Arizona poppies. They're lovely up close as well.

This year we bypassed Phoenix and headed towards Gila Bend to meet up with another couple we met in Maine in 2006. We dry camped at the Elks Club. Fun times!

The next day, we passed through a Quartzite Arizona, which is packed with RVers in January and February. Many of them "boondock" (camp without water or electricity connections). It was much emptier when we passed through. Some day we'll be back in the high season just to see what it's like.

After lunch in one of the BLM camping areas, we headed north across the desert. In many places we were in sight of the Colorado River - this RV resort may be "out in the boondocks", but it sure isn't "boondocking".

In the afternoon, we stopped at Lake Havasu City AZ to see the London Bridge. A wealthy real estate developer bought the crumbling bridge from the City of London in the 1970's.

They marked each stone as the disassembled it and reassembled it as a bridge to an island in Lake Havasu.

Next day was St Patrick's Day. We both wore green, but didn't find an Irish pub and no beer ( and no racing at Las Vegas). We did have corned beef and cabbage at a casino in Mesquite NV which was pretty good.

The next stop is quite interesting, but we will make you wait a few days before that post. See you in future and thanks for reading!