Arizona

Like the rest of the country, Arizona is getting its share of some crazy weather. We were thinking about heading north of Phoenix but the area is getting dumped with snow. So far, the weather hasn’t stopped us from engaging in all kinds of activities, but this snow – in an area that isn’t equipped to handle it – is a different story. Even in Phoenix, with all the rain, we were turned away from our tour of Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert laboratory now a school of architecture. We hope to make it there on Saturday when the sun should reappear.

A few days ago we woke up to a glorious pink moon just above the horizon in the Catalina mountains that tower over Tucson. The rock formations reminded us of the Italian Dolomites just not as impressively high. The peaks were covered in icy white as it had rained during the frosty night. But at the base, the desert was outfitted in flowers and red sand. We began our hike needing to rock hop across the river a few times and then ascended amongst the saguaro cactus and stone gardens. We were hoping to see some big horn sheep but weren’t that lucky.

After our hike we visited the University of Arizona Art Museum where we viewed an exhibit of scientists and artists working together with the goal of presenting an artistic and informational message. Combining arts with science the exhibit hopes to tap into viewers’ appreciation of our earth and hopefully stir a desire to do more to keep from destroying it further.

The following morning we took a tour of Biosphere 2, now owned by the University of Arizona and operating as a large-scale experimental apparatus where all kinds of experiments are conducted. University students take part, as well as scientists form all over the world, and elementary and high schools students are constantly visiting with the intent of raising their interest in earth science. There are seven different ecosystems including a desert, rain forest, and ocean environment and it’s quite remarkable to walk through each and to view the two lungs and the vast network of tanks in the basement that keep it all going. You can also view the living quarters of the past inhabitants and wonder about what it was like for the eight people who lived within this small world for two years.

It is now Friday morning February 22nd – I have to take note because at this point in our trip we are losing track of the days. We are staying just north of Phoenix at a campsite overlooking Lake Pleasant – and yes, it’s quite pleasant. And for all you ornithology-want-to-be-experts, we have now added to our list the mountain bluebirds (we have also seen the western bluebird much like the eastern one) which are the most cerulean blue I have ever seen, and the vermilion flycatcher dressed up in a brilliant scarlet red coat. At the lake, what we thought were ducks we discovered were American Coots, and what we thought were swallows skimming across the water catching insects turned out to be white-throated swifts. Just goes to show we have a lot to learn and that we need to get out today and look at all these shore birds we have been writing off as just another seagull.

We have now planned out our next week. We hope to stay here another night, get back to Taliesin West, then head to the coast and stay just north of San Diego, and then on to Death Valley where we are hoping for some spectacular wildflowers!