The AMAZING Desert Museum - Tucson's BEST attraction

We heard the Desert Museum is the best in the west, which makes you curious; but experiencing it makes you want to bring the world here... especially kids!  Clearly any child would learn beyond measure, without even knowing it amidst their fun.  It's a huge adventure with garden after garden, a zoo with natural habitats, and many inviting interactive exhibits.  You can dig for fossils, go underground to see how critters live there, or go underwater to visit beaver, otters and fish. 

I couldn't get myself out of the Earth Science section, with minerals that had me drooling and mystified by their local history. It's the first time I saw big chunks of minerals displayed as they might have looked when discovered in the country rock.  Pictured are Wulfenite and Mimetite (the yellow crystals) and Vanadanite (reddish).

The blue of course is Malachite (found near Bisbee, Arizona).  The Vanadinite was found in the  Superstition Mountains.  It's part of one of the finest collections of regional minerals and gemstones found anywhere!  But the limestone cave trumped them all with its running water, pools full of crayfish, and inviting exhibits that explain the formation of caves and the earth itself.  They made the speleothems out of a foam base, and then carved and painted it.  Most people think they are in a real cave with real decorations when they enter.  Fun.

I was excited to see how many of the cacti I could now name in the cactus garden (after my fine walk with Ed the Naturalist).  I was just admiring the displays when sure enough... despite my precautions, a cactus got me again!  By now I had even more tricks for dealing with the pointy hitchhikers (click here).  People who harvest cacti or hike around cactus plants are bound to get stung from time to time, but I still felt pricked on.

It was time to look at safer exhibits, like the giant ram that kept eyeing me.

The exhibits re-create the natural landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region so realistically you find yourself eye-to-eye with mountain lions, prairie dogs, Gila monsters, and rattle snakes. Within the Museum grounds, you get to see more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds of plants. There are almost 2 miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautifully alive desert.  I lost Bob in the maze.  Maybe the mountain lions got him!  The video clip shows just how vicious this pair of cougars could be.

My guess is this is a Guilded Flicker, or maybe the state bird...a cactus wren...not a woodpecker.  But then the only bird I actually know is the robin.  I need more lessons from Naturalist Ed.

If you visit this fine museum give yourself some hours to take it in and you'll be rewarded with some insight into the abundant, complex, and varied life in the area.  A careful exploration helps put this special and rich environment in a much better context... beyond consumption tourism. Photo ops are tremendous.

Read more: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/Arizona/Tucson-750502/Things_To_Do-Tucson-Arizona_Sonora_Desert_Museum-BR-1.html#ixzz1kR8oxTL6

You gotta know when to hold 'em...know when to fold 'em...

Know when to walk away, and know when to run!  That's our RV in the photo, parked right by the covered hot tub we just enjoyed.  The latest information on our Colossal job [from an employee of the park]:  The maintenance manager is supposedly an alcoholic, along with his wife and brother, who are also on the payroll.  There is not a penny for improvement, due to mismanagement, it would seem, but we were told the manager has been tucking money into his own pocket.  Were any of these allegations true?  [Stay tuned.]  Martie kept saying there was no money, but we'd seen all kinds of people taking the cave tour and buying things in the park.  We believe Martie.  She is a kind, gracious, noble person...completely dedicated to the park.  So why is there no money for maintenance?

We needed to get away.  A week had gone by and our host site was still not accessible, so we needed to go somewhere to empty our tanks and fill up with water.   We decided to explore Benson, Arizona.  We checked out our competition, Kartchner Caverns State Park.  Then we checked out RV parks, thinking we might need to live in one if we didn't have a hosting job.  These pictures are of Chochise Terrace RV Resort from our site, #256.  We parked next to the camp host.  They usually make the best neighbors.  Below is our host, and his dutiful dog.

Business had seriously dropped off.  Competition is huge among the parks,  We paid $33.41 for the night...but there were less expensive places down the road.  But this is the only park far enough away from the railroad tracks to sleep undisturbed.

We thoroughly checked out a co-op with very individualized lots, like the one above (which is for sale).  We heard hosts complaining in this park--that either the management liked you or not.  If not, it was a tough haul. 

The co-op is considered boondocking because it's only $5 to dry camp on the above section.  It's like a Walmart parking lot...except you can join in on the planned activities.  Check this place out at SKP Saguaro.  You do have to join Escapees to get this price, though... we discovered after parking and starting to enjoy the park.   Ah, well.  We found out some fellow RVers settled in at Benson on 5 fenced acres with a like-new 2,000+ sf home with a wrap-around porch and a garage complete with workshop....for...get ready.... $111,000. 

No S&Bs, please.... I just want to be FREE....to run like a wild horse.     Thank you.

Our Job at Colossal Cave Mountain Park

We are still excited about our new job, even though they aren't ready for us...after a month??  So we were left waiting...and adrift.   Justin and Li (the doctor friends) fed us a delightful dinner, including the most flavorful and varied salad I'd ever had.  Since I think of a vegetable salad as dessert...it was the best treat possible for me.  They had about 5 acres that came with their gorgeous mountaintop home, and they invited us to park there overnight.

Their home is next to a preserve, and protective zoning has changed, so they will remain the only home at the top.  There were javelina and deer tracks among the cacti, so I hoped for visitors.

This is the sunrise the next morning.  Do Arizona skies behave like this often?

The Schmidt's home is steel frame with hay bale insulation--brilliant considering the climate... with no heating or air conditioning required.  The side of the home facing Tucson has a glass-walled family room with a grand piano and large, peaceful spaces that invite meditation.  The "official" family portrait is shown below...a fascinating holographic image.  It's the actual family that anyone would find ultimately fascinating...and gracious.  Tucson is so fortunate to have them!

Justin and Li told us the story of how they met in China and eventually married (in Tucson).  It was clear they should write a book.  We were so spellbound we missed church!

Can you tell we love Li and Justin?  We could stay forever, but on Monday we had an appointment with Martie and the park maintenance manager to figure out just what our duties would be.  This pic of the host site can be enlarged to see the nature of the road.  This is the only good section.  We learned in our meeting there were 3 maintenance people, but no work had been done.  The person who was to bring a grader in was "busy" and he'd need Martie to buy him a new blade, anyway  ???  Why would you have to buy a blade before renting equipment??

We had to wait some more, so I decided to unwrap this great gift of nature.  The canyon we were parked in led up to a wild campground called La Selvilla.  The road to it had been washed out, but instead of fixing it, they had posted signs directing you to drive up the dry river bed.  I picked up trash as I walked and threw bigger rocks out of the "road" just to feel useful.  I discovered the Arizona Trail crossing the campground and followed it for a while, delighting in the rock formations and plants it led me to. 

The next day we found La Posta Quemade Ranch, which is run separately, but Martie gets a percentage.  We saw two full wagons departing the ranch in the rain with the happiest passengers you'd could imagine.  They were all older, but as giddy as little kids getting a pony for a birthday.

I think I'm giddy, too, having always been horse crazy.  Living in a park with a real, working ranch was going to be great!  But what about getting busy with camp hosting?  There's signs posted (BIG ones) saying you can only camp one night.  Martie was not aware of that.  The bathrooms needed cleaning, but one of the maintenance people, Skip, said the boss told him there wasn't any money for cleaner.  ??

What me worry?  No, we just went on a tour of this dry maze cave they call Colossal.  I had already read so much about the cave that I'm sure I could have given the tour myself.  In fact I was so enamored by the Indian and robber history of the area as well as the flora and fauna that I was consuming information wholesale.

Meanwhile...no likelihood of the roads being fixed...and Bill, an arachnid researcher working in the cave, informed us of many things that were less than satisfactory in the operation of the cave...including a maintenance team "that did nothing".  I said I'd start working on the road if I could get a shovel and a wheel barrow, as I'd found a pile of road base...but that just brought chuckles.  We may be dry camping for quite a while, just dreaming of FHUs on those cold Arizona desert nights. 

P.S.  Dr. Bill Savary is not only the wild cave tour guide, but a good friend of Justin Schmidt (Bob's friend).  As a herpetologist, he has been allowed to go into the park's pristine caves and has discovered new species of critters.  These caves are so delicate they are even closed to researchers now.  You may contact Bill through tucsonherpsociety.org or if you'd like to know more about reptiles, email him at:  bsavary@mindspring.com

Tucson Mountain Park lures you in...YES!

The trails of the Sonoran Desert lure you in, hold you captive, and make you grateful that you came.  Nothing is more tempting to me than a clear view of a trail.  Where does it go?  What will I experience?  But I was distracted by the litter at the beginning of this trail.  True to my Mom's training, I have my own grabber (blue) to aid my compulsion to pick up garbage, especially cigarette butts and anything plastic.  Bob takes this as odd behavior, and he took the following pictures...to prove I'm wacky.  Does anyone else do this?

Ewwww... more butts.  Notice that by now the trail is forgotten...and I deposit the trash in our RV's basura.

Every mountain has Saguaro growing to its top!  The fuzzy cacti are Buckhorn Cholla, and I already had spine wounds and fine needles still paining my hands from a fall 2 days ago.  I didn't know these tricks for removal (click here) and threw away the needle-infested gloves I'd been wearing when I fell, and I wished I could throw away the pierced flesh of my hands as well.  But it's incredibly beautiful in the park.  We were excited now to find Gilbert Ray Campground.  Click here to see an excellent description (with photos) of this premium camp.  Volunteer jobs are for 3 month stints, but there were no openings...in case you were looking. 

The campground has one trail, so I happily followed it to Rattlesnake Trail, which I decided to cross because I saw Old Tucson Studios in the distance.  I knew John Wayne movies had been filmed here, so I let myself get curious.  The bright paint and kiddie rides betrayed my expectations, but it's still a fun, fun place.

On the way back to camp I got to celebrate the beauty of the area by raising my own arms with so many others in praising God's creation.  What an evocative area for the imagination and the spirit!  It certainly resonated with my eternal nature.

I found an ad posted in the bathroom of the educational group site for a walk on the Brown Mountain Trail.  I watched a film on YouTube of a crazed biker riding down this mountain trail, with hairpin turns and huge sharp shards or rock flipping up as the bike bounced over them.  But the crazy part to me would be the risk of falling into that cacti and being injected with the tiny, fine spines called glochidia. The glochidia are the most difficult cactus needles to see and remove, and will cause dermatitis if left in the skin.  (I should know.)  I took a chance the 9 o'clock walk was on and rode my bike to the trailhead in the chill of the desert morning.

Parks and Recreation Volunteer Naturalists Ed Bartlett and John Scheuring were prepared and ready to take a mob into the desert for a fabulous learning experience.  We waited together as exactly not one other person showed up.  I was not surprised, and let my new friends know they could cancel the walk...but I had a few questions about the crazy cacti I'd met on my own walk.  Ed graciously said he'd take me on the walk.  Later he said I had so many questions that the walk had taken twice as long as it usually did....but, boy, did I learn a lot!  Again my theory was verified...you learn so much more and retain it much better if you experience your learning.  Nevertheless, I was presented a gorgeous book at the conclusion of the walk to help me retain the excellent instruction I had just received.  Ed deserves the Volunteer of the Year Award!

Buckhorn Cholla standing in a Row with Rhyolite Peaks in the background.

Every Saguaro has its Story

Why grow arms at all?  So many seem tortured by the elements.  More arms equals more surface area for photosynthesis plus more places to grow flowers.  Each fruit may have 2,000 seeds!  If the Saguaro cannot reproduce itself (at least once) in its lifetime, it has failed...and that may be after putting out 40 million seeds!  Saguaro babies can grow to be as tall as I am in 35 years...if conditions are ideal.  Usually it takes 47 to 67 years to reach my height.  Adult weights are in the tons. 

 

Read more: How to Remove Cactus Prickles | eHow.com

The SECRETS of Colossal Cave's JOB Offer

Got a whale of a tale to tell you lads....  This one HURT.  With wandering awe we finished our trip from Orlando to Vale, Arizona, and met Colossal Cave Mountain Park.  The spirit of this cactus-covered land was pure peace and inspiration.  The pictures are of our temporary parking spot at the first camp site.   Even though we'd been offered the camp host position a month ago, the existing 5th wheel on the site had not been moved and the road had not been graded (anywhere in the campground) so we couldn't drive up to the host site anyway.

Then we met our boss...the wonderful Martie Maierhauser, who had been overseeing the park for 50 years.  She lost her husband, Joe, in 2008... but he still had a strong presence and even a desk in the main office.  Martie explained the rare beauty and biological diversity of the park, and its fascinating history.  But we soon found we had a problem:  There was no vehicle to help us do our job.  The sizable distances between the 3 camping areas, the ranch, and the cave (high up on the side of a cliff) made it out of the question to manage the area on foot.  And the RV could not travel the washed out, rocky roads.  We decided to visit Tucson while Martie saw what she could do about preparing the host site.  We started with the Pima Air and Space Museum.  They were having a marvelous educational event centered on a paper airplane competition.

All of the kids had a cool shirt that said, "I folded, I flew, I made history".  But I was looking for my favorite:  the SR-71. 

So...I couldn't get even half of this stealth machine in the picture frame...so I tried making a movie.

I found out all of Arizona is in the middle of a SciTech Festival.  I just adore the "doing" of science.  There's even an Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” Symposium next month at this museum.

We walked through the 5 giant hangers with our mouths open.  The interactive displays were phenomenal with excellent histories, photos of the planes in action and actual period artifacts.

This NASA Aero Spacelines 377-SG Super Guppy was my favorite.   It was built big to move segments of rockets, including much of the Saturn rocket that powered the Apollo Program.

We walked our legs off and then went back in the main hangar to check out how the paper airplane races were going.

We had walked ourselves numb, so Bob took a nap out in the RV.  He suddenly woke up and said, "Let's go see my childhood friend, Justin Schmidt."  I had no idea who that might be, but we headed across Tucson to find him.

 

It turned out he's Dr. Justin O. Schmidt, a research entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson.  He studies apiculture- the science of beekeeping- with an emphasis on bee nutrition, chemical communication, physiology, ecology and behavior of bees.  And his wife, Li, is a very talented doctor, a Family Practice Physician with 14 years business, and about to open her own practice.  They are both fascinating to listen to.   Justin has ongoing experiments right in his backyard.  They are both celebrities in their fields and in our eyes, certainly.  They are generous, very kind people. Their two sons are extremely bright and original...and well loved.  Click here to read an article by Scientific American Frontiers about Justin.