We left Benson around 11am. That’s about the time that the frost outside has thawed out and makes everything really wet. It got down to the upper 20’s last night. By mid-day, it warms up nicely to the upper 60’s with clear blue skies. We had found a place in Benson to fill our propane tank. Our tank was about half empty and I wanted to make sure we had plenty of propane for the next month. Fourteen gallons and 40 dollars later, we got on I-10 west for Tucson. Propane is our backup furnace heat. When we have electrical hook-up, we can use the two heat pumps on the roof, if we are dry camping or the temperature outside is too low for the heat pumps to work, we use the furnace.
It was about an hours drive to Catalina State Park which is located just north of Tucson. It is a perfect location on the edge of the Catalina Mountains that has great views and still close to all the attractions. We are parked far enough from the highway that it is quite and yet right across from the entrance is all the major big name stores for shopping. Denise spotted a Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and a Total Wine. There are also many hiking and biking trails right in our front yard. So far, this is the best RV stay.
At the entrance ranger station, we purchased a Tucson Attractions Passport for $20. This passport provides 2-for-1 passes. We pay for one person and the second person gets a free ride. There are 68 pages of local attractions that we got passes for. It’s a great deal!
Biosphere 2
To give a little bio about the Biosphere 2, it was built in the mid 1980’s. It is so named Biosphere 2 because earth ‘as-is’ is Biosphere 1. It’s a 3 acre totally glass enclosed to research self-sustaining conditions. It has a rain forest, ocean, desert and farm. A human mission for a two year study was conducted in the early 1990’s, living in a totally isolated environment. The air, water and food was self contained. This experiment basis was for the study of space colonization. The facility is ran by the University of Arizona Earth Science department. It is still an active research facility with strong emphasis on providing an eco-environment for a Mars mission.
We took the 2 hour guided tour and we were in ‘information overload’. The tour is the only way to see the inside of the Biosphere. There are air locks going in and going out. Denise really enjoyed the eco learning opportunity and I enjoyed the engineering marvel.
Pima Air & Space Museum
For many years, I have heard about a museum in Arizona that has these really cool old mothball aircrafts. I didn’t realize that it is right here in Tucson. We spent the afternoon walking the boneyard and viewing over 300 different aircrafts. We viewed planes, helicopters, space crafts and anything else that moved through air and space. It would have been a more interesting day if we were able to get into any of these aircrafts. I just wanted a peek!
Other Going On’s
There are some really good mountain biking trails in the park for the easy rider person like me.
Also, I had to take this picture for Erika….
Dan says, “Dead end?! That’s just the beginning!”
Erika says, “where can I apply to work for Dinosaur City PD?!” Awesome patch!!
We love reading about the trip! Still looks awesome 🙂 It’s a crisp 30 degrees here! Love you two!