From the Ridiculous to the Sublime

March 25, 2017 - Tucson, Arizona

From the Ridiculous

Yesterday we visited the Spring 4th Street Food and Craft Festival.  I got a chance to the see the World's Biggest Grill, up close and personal!

Courtesy of Johnsonville Brats.

Now, on to the sublime.

Today!  Connie and I participated in an Open House at the Watershed Management Group facility
1157 N. Dodge Blvd., Tucson, AZ this morning, to learn about Rainwater management!

https://watershedmg.org/

Did you know that the 11 inches of rain that occurs in the Tucson basin each year is more than enough to supply the water needs of it's inhabitants AND re-charge their aquifer?  Just need to do it right.

We learned a good deal, in the short amount of time we spent there, on capturing and using rainwater, and graywater systems as well.  Cool stuff, and NOT just applicable in the desert, but transferrable across many climates.

Sample 400 gal, tank cistern and catchment/filter system.

10,000 gal. concrete cistern providing for all of the facilities water needs, 16 employees, 3 buildings, 0.2 acre lot.  Captures roof rainwater, screen filter, then down to 2 micron filter

Tippy Tap system, use your foot to tilt the gal. jug and wash your hands after using the composting toilet!

Just cool beans.

Sonoran Desert Flowers coming alive!

March 4, 2017 - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - Southern Arizona

About 10 days ago, this area of the Sonoran Desert experienced 3 inches of rain over a 3 day period and it has really started to kick-off the wild flowers.

Blue Dicks Lily

Creosote Bush

Ocotillo

Arizona Desert Poppy

Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

February 12, 2017 - Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia, AZ

Thought I'd share some pics from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. This is one of the biggest events in town and attracts ~55,000 international visitors and vendors over a two week period Jan-Feb each year.

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!

Minnesota Meets Arizona - Tom arrives for Christmas and brings snow to the Mountains

December 27, 2016 - Tucson, AZ

Tom arrived for 10 days visit during Christmas break from Gustavus.  We're happy to have him, and he is getting us out and about seeing the Tucson sites and other stuff.  The RPod has suddenly got smaller though!

Our official host duties began last week, but we get plenty of free days off.

The RPod is suddenly smaller.

Tom made us take him to the movies to see Moana.

And, he gets to have some of the food he misses from home, like Spam Musubi!

Or out to the local Brewpub.

But he also brought snow to the surrounding mountain tops, like Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalinas.

Now off to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.