Greetings!
When we last Buzzed you, we were in Tucson beginning a nice
long stay in a favorite RV park on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. That sojourn
is now coming to an end, but we have reminded ourselves why we keep coming back
to Tucson. During this visit, business and pleasure have taken us to all four
compass points: from the serene eastern cactus lands at the base of the Rincon
Mountains to the small but real range called the Tucson Mountains in the west,
and from the very feet of the towering, jagged Santa Catalina Mountains in the
north to the flat land in the south where Davis-Monthan Landing Field was
established in 1925. Counting on our fingers, we concluded that this was our 10
th
year coming to this city in the Sonoran Desert, and if the March luck of the
Irish (and Welsh) is with us, there will be more trips in the future to this
winter temptress called Tucson, Arizona.
Wish You Were Here
The only thing better than visiting a first class nature
park like the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum is going as the guest of a kind and
knowledgeable Museum Member. Such was our good fortune when our friend Linda
Wert took us on a field trip to a place described in its brochure as “a
world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place.”
Armed with sunscreen, hats, snacks and a camera, we joined the many others
museum visitors who decided it was the perfect day for an outdoor adventure. As
we made our way from the rapidly filling parking lot to the entrance beneath
the wide museum sign, we were met by a staff member with a huge barn owl
perched on his arm. Folks asked lots of questions about the owl, but the owl,
of course, only had one – “Who? Who?”
Under blue sky and hot sun, we strolled
along meandering paths both paved and gravel to enjoy sweeping desert vistas,
cactus varieties ranging from tall and majestic to short and pudgy, newly
blossomed flowers of gold, purple, orange, white, pink and magenta, and special
habitat areas displaying bear, wolf, javalina, puma, prairie dog and deer. The
critters tended to be napping in shady nooks but we got glimpses of most of
them.
One of the highlights was the Raptor Free Flight show where several
museum birds are flown out in the open, sometimes high and distant, sometimes
diving and brushing the heads of thrilled onlookers. The Chihuahuan Ravens,
Grey Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Prairie Falcon, and Ferruginous Hawk all returned
to their gloved handlers on cue for tasty quail tidbits, but the Red-Tailed
Hawk had other plans, riding the desert thermals up and up until he was nearly
out of sight. The young staff in their earth-toned khaki clothing did not seem
too concerned. The birds are too smart to give up the free room, board and
water provided by the museum.
The hawk was still soaring when we left to see
the limestone cave, mineral display and a special hummingbird enclosure with
tiny birds sitting on their marshmallow-sized nests. According to Linda, the
eggs in those nests are the size of those miniature breath mints called Tic
Tacs – just one of the many things we learned during our terrific excursion to
the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum.
Life on the Road
As more and more of our contemporaries approach retirement,
we note an increasing curiosity about undertaking (no, not “undertakers” - well,
maybe that, too) travel adventures similar to ours. There are many
considerations to weigh when comparing the various methods of seeing the United
States: Car or RV vs motorcycle or bicycle, tent camping or trailer vs hotel or
motel, restaurants or room service vs picnics or travel cooking. Keeping in
mind the obvious practicalities regarding your pocketbook and the contents
therein, it all boils down to what makes you most satisfied, physically and
mentally. If you operate best with daily showers, lavish meals and a perfect
bed, you might have to sacrifice the smell of bacon and wood smoke on a cool,
campfire morning. If you desire the spontaneity of going wherever you want
whenever you want, you might avoid getting the biggest, most deluxe RV. Many magnificent
wonders of nature offer nearby motels, but not all. A road trip by
fuel-efficient car is cheaper than driving an RV, but you’ll need a place to
spend the night. So many considerations! Our own choice with the VW bus then
the small RV is for adventure over comfort, flexibility over certainty, and
long term, low-budget travel instead of
brief, expensive vacations. Our advice to you? Know yourself and understand
what really makes you happy, take a trial run before changing your lifestyle,
and if you only pack one thing, make it your sense of humor! Good luck.
Coffee Chat
We found ourselves pondering a comment heard on the TV show
“The Mentalist” regarding wealthy and influential people versus the meek and
humble: “At the end of the game, the king and the pawn go back into the same
box.”
Did you know…
We picked up a pocket UV (“black”) light to see what the
local minerals would reveal in the dark. During a nighttime investigation, not
only did some seemingly boring white rocks shine pink or orange under our
purple beam, we also got a glowing reaction from many things in our RV –
toothpaste, sneaker soles, plastic water bottle, engine additive, upholstery
buttons, and ukulele fret markers. Yup, lots of things shine in black light,
but there was one object we were glad not to find. Apparently scorpions glow in
the dark under UV light. Meeting these particular arachnids is something we are
happy to leave out of our desert experience.
Sonoran Spring
