Spent 12 days in the southern part of Arizona in one of our membership parks, St. David’s Western Horizon, located about 45 miles south of Tucson. First we went to see Biosphere 2 Center which is north of Tucson. Built in the late 1980s with $150 million in funding from Texas oil magnate Edward Bass, Biosphere 2 was designed as an airtight replica of Earth's environment (Biosphere 1). This 7,200,000-cubic-foot sealed glass and space-frame structure contains 5 biomes, including a 900,000-gallon ocean, a rain forest, a desert, agricultural areas and a human habitat. The first crew (4 women and 4 men) entered Biosphere 2 on September 26, 1991. The crew members remained inside for two years despite various problems, including limited agricultural productivity, and emerged on September 26, 1993. After a 6-month transition period, a second crew of 7 (5 men and 2 women) entered Biosphere 2. Unfortunately, after a number of physical and social problems developed, the project soon suffered scientific disdain and public ridicule before these experiments were suspended in 1994. Since then, there have been no resident crews living inside Biosphere 2, and no future human habitation is planned. It was extremely interesting to walk thru the various areas and try to imagine how one would live in this atmosphere.
Next we toured the Big Room of Kartchner Caverns, with plans to tour the Rotunda/Throne Room next year. (Wish we could include pictures but no cameras were allowed). In November 1974 two young cavers, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts, were exploring the limestone hills at the base of the Whetstone Mountains. In the bottom of a sinkhole they found a narrow crack leading into the hillside. Warm, moist air flowed out, signaling the existence of a cave. After several hours of crawling, they entered a pristine cavern. It wasn't until February 1978 that Tenen and Tufts told the property owners, James and Lois Kartchner, about their amazing discovery.
During the four years of secret exploration, the discoverers realized that the cave's extraordinary variety of colors and formations must be preserved. The cave's existence became public knowledge in 1988 when its purchase was approved as an Arizona State Park. Extraordinary precautions have been taken during its development to conserve the cave's near-pristine condition.
At the end of April each year, the female bats return to the Big Room to have their babies. Therefore the Big Room is closed to the public from April 15 – mid September to become a nursery for the bats.
Tombstone was not our favorite as it has become a commercialized western town with stagecoach rides, gun fight shows and various tourist shops. However we did hear about and went to see Gammons Gulch which is the work of Jay Gammons who loved the old west so much he built his own Old Western town by hand. His father was John Wayne’s body guard and Jay was the kid in the movie Rio Bravo. It is definitely a place to see – a western town that is not commercialized. He tells many interesting tales about where he got things, the story behind them and how he built the town.
Tucson Air Museum was fascinating as you walked around the miles of old planes. We did get to walk thru Air Force One for President Johnson and Kennedy. Can only imagine what Air Force One is like today. Several planes have been mothballed and set aside while others are being striped so they can be recycled. We had a special attraction as the Blue Angels were practicing for air show the following weekend.
Bisbee is a neat mining town which reminded me the area where my parents were raised in Ohio. We toured the mine which was very interesting and cold. The Old Town was most interesting with the old buildings, houses built on the hillside in all colors and shapes like the 70s and you did see old VW vans as you drove around. We also went in several antique stores and ate at a neat restaurant Bisbee Café that had the neatest ceiling fans. The fans were copper with one fan on each side that rotated around. Could definitely visit that town again.
After many days of exploring this area, we traveled back to Victoria, TX.
