On Saturday the 19th we drove to cousin, Patty, and her husband Braxton’s house and then went together to the Biosphere 2.
Tom and I had visited this site about 8 years ago but readily jumped at the chance to return when Patty had made the suggestion. Columbia University had taken over the Biosphere 2 when we visited before and now the University of Arizona was using the facility. Originally built to replicate the various earth environment from ocean to desert and to have humans living entirely within this environment without any involvement from outside the focus has changed to conducting experiments within the various regions. It is no longer closed off from the outside. Our tour guide was a very enthusiastic lady that seemed to be very knowledgeable about the Biosphere 2.
At the end of the tour we had a session with an engineer working at the facility who talked about some things being addressed such as solar energy.
A very interesting visit. Afterwards we stopped for lunch and then we drove around through some interesting housing developments and to a golf course that next week will host the PGA.
Sunday morning Tom and I left the Tucson area and travelled west to Yuma. We were scheduled to attend a Passport America Rally at the Yuma County Fairgrounds. About 4 1/2 hours after leaving Tucson we got to our destination and set-up for the next several days of rally camping. We were parked in a large open shed with water and 20 amp electric. Opening ceremony was held in the evening with a Southwestern rice and chicken dinner.
Monday the rally day started with a continental breakfast of fruit and doughnuts. The vendor area was opened and seminars started. This is a rather small rally- about 12 vendors and 2 seminars at one time going on. We attended a couple seminars and as usual a few new tips were picked up. For dinner we had a beef brisket dinner and then entertainment by “The Mike and T Band”, good country/western entertainment. Tom played Texas Hold’em and I returned to the motorhome to catch up on some reading.
Tuesday started with a breakfast of a biscuit, slice of American cheese, a small piece of sausage and fruit cocktail. Afterwards we attended a seminar on travelling through Mexico. We went out for lunch, found a Mexican restaurant that had a full parking lot and decided to try it (Mi Rancho) and was not disappointed. For dinner the rally had huge hamburgers on the grill and onion rings. The evening entertainment was “Slick Nickel” a country band. The entertainment is held outside but the problem is that the temperature drops to an uncomfortable level before the entertainment is finished and many of us leave early to the comfort of our RV’s.
