Mountains, Mines and Minerals - learning about the Geography and Geology of the Helvetia mining area

January 30, 2017- Near Sahuarita, AZ

Yesterday, Connie and I took a one-day class with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and got an introduction to Arizona minerals, including learning some identification techniques: Color, Streak, Luster, Cleavage (my favorite), Specific Gravity, Hardness and other properties.

Then we had a field trip to an old mining site, reaching it's peak with several hundred small mines in the early 1900's it hasn't been mined since 1954.  We ended up finding quite a few mineral samples; including, garnets, Chrysocolla (blue green and common in this region), Bornite, Calcite, Hematite, Malachite, Pyrolucite, Quartz and Magnetite!

Class viewing the Helvetia mine site

Come of the blue-green "color" of Chrysocolla amd Malachite

Dave the rockhound

Crumbling adobe wall from old mine building

Rock samples (not ours)

Ben visits a cold Tucson

January 30, 2017 - Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson, AZ

We said goodbye to Benjamin on Friday, he had a chance to get a week off from work and came to visit here in Tucson.  Unlucky for him, it was cold, rainy and windy for most of his stay.  Of course we had to clean up the area prior to his visit.

Dave with a County Truck doing road duty cleanup.

But we took plenty of time off to show Ben around and try out the dining scene.

Ben, hiking Signal Hill at Saguaro National Park

At D&D Pinball

Didn't even fall off while horseback riding at Old Tucson Studios

Let me ask you this, is gambling at the Casino fun?

Enjoying the dining and brew at BJ's Brewpub

And at Street Taco and Beer

Or just hunkering down in the R-Pod during a rain storm.

Hope you enjoyed the week Ben!

Doing the Tucson Tourist Thing

January 1, 2017 - Tucson, Arizona

Tom heads home tomorrow.  We've had a great time exploring the city and surroundings with him for the past week.  Going out to dinner (3 Mexican venues!).

Enchiladas, Chicken Mole, and Chile Relleno Banderas

And we visited the Biosphere 2, opened in 1990, a private venture by oil billionaire Bass, $150 million investment.  Started with a team going into a closed environment for 2 years, and then a second team going it for 1 year.  Now it has been gifted to the Univ. of Arizona and is a more "open systems" with various experiments, some related to space exploration, and others focusing on climate change issues.

The ocean environment

And while having a quick and easy mexican meal at Street Taco and Beer in downtown Tucson we started seeing all these strange people wearing Hockey jerseys.  Come to find out, the AHL Tucson Roadrunners were about to drop the puck vs. the San Antonio Rampage just down the street.  Who knew?

But now, its back to work for the dynamic American Gothic duo!