Serene Wandering

After a month in an RV Resort, we’ve spent the last few days back in the desert at White Tank Mountain Regional Park.  Randy has told me several times a day that he really likes this park!   This is our third stay at a Maricopa Country Regional Park and they have each been very nice. We have three more to explore in coming years.

We have been fortunate to be here at just the right time to enjoy the desert wildflowers. They are everywhere!

As always, we enjoy the saguaro and the many shapes they exhibit!

I learned from an Arizona Highways article this week that plural cactus can be called cacti or cactuses.  Webster’s and Oxford dictionaries list both forms but show cactuses as preferred. Although I’m not sure I can change my ways after years and years of referring to more than one cactus as cacti, I am glad to have learned this.

We also learned the White Tank Mountains were named for depressions scoured into the white granite from water runoff after torrential rains. There hasn’t been any rain during the past week, so we were surprised to see water on the Waterfall Trail.  There was even a small stream of water in the waterfall.The walk was long and hot for our boy Elko so at least he was rewarded with a stroll in the white tank!

On the way to the waterfall we passed through the “Petroglyph Plaza.” These are the most petroglyphs in one place that we have ever seen – and we didn’t even wander off trail. The Hohokam lived here from 500 AD to 1100 AD and, in addition to extensive petroglyphs, there are seven village archeological sites.

Nowadays the park is “home” to extensive trails for hiking and mountain-biking. Randy has done both and enjoyed it thoroughly. His hikes have ranged from 8-13 miles in length. Mine were much more modest!

My favorite cactus – that isn’t really a cactus- is ocotillo. Ocotillo are only in the White Tank Mountain area at the highest elevations. Randy saw some on one of his hikes – almost ready to bloom – so he emailed me a picture.  If they were blooming, I might have had to go see!

We did venture out of the park one day to meet our friends, Gerry and Kathy, for a Mariners game and dinner. We met them in Tucson last year and met up in Phoenix this year – the way of RVers!
Segura on second, Cano on first, Cruz in the batter’s box, and Seager on deck.  We got the big boys for our spring training game!

We’ll see the Mariners again next week when we move 11 miles east to Sunflower RV Resort.   It is probably our shortest move ever – and shorter than Randy’s hike today!

We started our month with a Night Glow Balloon Festival and finished with a Night Glow Golf Tournament! Randy played the Palm Creek Golf Course earlier in the week so as to be familiar with it, but it didn’t matter. It was dark enough out there that you couldn’t see anything anyway!

Randy with the glow balls for his team. They stay lit for five minutes after striking.

Glow sticks were placed at the back of the green and others were mounted on the pin so you had an idea of where to hit to. There was a glow rope in the cup that was visible when you got close enough. It was a unique, fun, experience for him to play and me to walk along.

Randy’s team got an even-par for the five hole scramble tournament and tied for first place. Each player got six (regular) golf balls and a free round of golf.

So, even though it was overcast and windy, he played again yesterday.

We saw an egret hunting for lunch in the creek that runs through the back nine.

Randy loves, loves, loves his new watch. It does a jillion things including identifying yardages on golf courses. That feature was especially helpful in the Night Glow Tournament.

We’ve enjoyed our month at Palm Creek and were glad to make some new friends! Iris and Ron are from California and we’ll likely see them again as we traverse north and south.

Iris told people she met from Elko, Nevada about our Elko, so they came by to meet him.

Rick and Diana (and Buddy) are from Iowa and were gracious “across the street” neighbors. We enjoyed afternoon chats and dinner out with them. The Iowa sticker is missing on our map so, hopefully, we’ll see them again too!

Elko and Buddy snuggle up for an afternoon snooze.

Rick and Diana, like many others, have been coming to Palm Creek for years and years. It is their winter home away from home. We certainly understand the appeal of this beautiful park.

Palm Creek has tons of activities and brings in terrific entertainment. At a very modest cost, we have enjoyed one or two shows weekly.

Most permanent and seasonal people have golf carts and some are decorated in fun ways.

Of course, living in a traveling home means there is always some work to do or have done. Randy arranged for Jim’s Mobile RV to flush out our black and gray tanks.

Randy paid for the service, but then, of course, he helped!

As part of Randy’s cell booster project we acquired a new ladder mount flag pole. I was originally going to dispose of the ground level flag pole – but decided to keep it and get a Mariner’s flag instead! Flags tend to be conversation starters with people who walk by.

We are nearly done with our month in Casa Grande. Randy and I see a “winter home” like this in our future – just not anytime soon. (A Florida winter and a Texas winter need to happen first!) And as nice as it is, our eventual winter home isn’t likely to be Palm Creek because Casa Grande just didn’t do it for us. We did like, however, that Casa Grande was only 45 minutes from Randy’s brother Tim and Yvette’s house in Chandler! It is always fun to spend time with them.

A brief digression: We wondered about how to say the name of this town? We say Casa Grande the Spanish way (but omitting the rolled “r”) – “cossa gronday”. We’ve heard others say “cassa grand” and also several combinations of the two. A little research shows that there isn’t a “correct” way – even among locals.

So Casa Grande isn’t our answer but Arizona probably is. We like the southwest flavor, the mostly nice winter weather and the lack of bugs and humidity! Tucson still has Randy’s heart, and may be our answer, but we agree that the park we’ve stayed in the last two years is not. There are other parks in Tucson to try. Mesa, never on our radar before, is now there because I liked it so well when we were there in December. Time will tell.

Tomorrow, we move back into a more natural desert setting traveling to a Maricopa County Regional Park northwest of Phoenix. We have stayed in two Maricopa parks previously that were very nice and we are looking forward to visiting a new one.  More from there next time!

The main route between Phoenix and Tucson is 115 miles of  busy Interstate 10. A few dozen miles east of I-10 is the alternative – the slower, two lane, scenic Highway 79. The historic town of Florence we visited last week is along Highway 79.

While there we learned about Tom Mix, a silent movie star who was the iconic western actor of his generation. He appeared in more than 300 western films. He was “King of the Cowboys” before Roy Rogers was. His blazed face partner was Tony, the first horse to be a real movie star.

Along Highway 79, about 50 miles north of Tucson, is a roadside memorial to Tom Mix.

Mix crashed and died here after traveling too fast and missing a detour.  He survived the initial accident but was killed when his large baggage trunk toppled over on top of him, breaking his neck.

Further north we found memorials and monuments of a different sort.

A bit east of Highway 79 is St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery. Several people had suggested we visit the monastery but Randy was reluctant because he didn’t want to put on long pants, shoes and socks, and long sleeves. He has this thing about wearing shorts in the Arizona sunshine!

I wore the required long skirt, shoes and stockings, and long sleeved blouse but my blouse was apparently not modest enough as I was given another to wear over it along with a head scarf.

The monastery is an active community of monks living, working and worshipping on the grounds. They allow visitors in some areas.  St Anthony’s was established in the Arizona desert by six monks in the summer of 1995. They were sent from Holy Mountain of Athos in Greece which maintains a direct link from early Christianity. Holy Mountain consists of a few thousand monks in 20 independent monasteries and numerous hermitages around the world.

St. Anthony the Great lived from 251-356 and was the “father of monasticism.” The main church is dedicated to him. Other churches and chapels on the grounds are dedicated to other saints.

Currently about 40 monks and novices follow a schedule of prayer and work on the monastery grounds. Works include tending the gardens, vineyards, and orchards, woodworking, construction and food preparation. Other tasks are related to hospitality as Orthodox men and women from around the world are able to spend a few days at the monastery for spiritual growth.

The traditional Orthodox cross, also called the Russian cross, has three horizontal bars.

The top bar has the inscription “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.” The second is for Jesus’ hands. The third, and lowest bar, was his foot-rest. The third bar is sometimes shown slanted because the thief crucified on Jesus’ right repented and was saved – thus that side points toward Heaven. The thief to Jesus’ left did not and he went down to Hell.

Even with the dress code requirements, those who had encouraged us to visit the monastery were correct. It was well worth the drive and inconvenience!  St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery is a beautiful and interesting place.

 

We finally ventured out of the RV Resort and went east 30 miles to Florence. We knew there was some interesting history there but didn’t realize just how much there was to discover.

We began at McFarlane State Historic Park. This building is the longest standing courthouse in the state of Arizona. It was replaced as the courthouse in 1891 and subsequently served as a county hospital, public health office and county historical society office.

The building is named for Ernest McFarland who is the only known American to serve their state in all three branches of government. He was a United States Senator, Governor and Arizona Supreme Court Justice. As Senate Majority Leader he led the effort to intern United States citizens of Japanese ancestry. He is also considered to be the “Father of the GI Bill.” Surely, he has a mixed legacy.

We learned about the Florence Prisoner of War Camp which held Italian and German prisoners during World War II. Camp Florence was Arizona’s largest prison camp holding 13,000 men over its 4 year operation. It was one of 666 prison camps around the country.

Many prisoners were placed in temporary agriculture camps in rural America creating a “work force” to replace the one that was depleted because most able-bodied men joined the war effort.

The second Pinal County Courthouse was built in 1891 with a belief that there was future prosperity in mining and agriculture. Over the years there were four additions to the original building and a multi-phase renovation project from 2003-2011.

This courthouse was the site of trials or hearings for three notorious Arizona women, Pearl Heart, Eva Dugan and Winnie Ruth Judd.  Pearl Heart was charged with committing one of the last recorded stage coach robberies in the US in 1899.    Pearl  was initially acquitted but an angry judge ordered a second trial and she was then convicted.

Eva Dugan was convicted of murder in the 1930s and sentenced to be hanged. Her hanging resulted in her decapitation and influenced the State of Arizona to replace hanging with the gas chamber.

Medical secretary Winnie Ruth Judd was found guilty of murdering and dismembering two of her friends believing they were interested in her lover. She traveled with their body parts in trunks and luggage from Phoenix to Los Angeles.   The crime was notoriously named the “Trunk Murders.”

Florence has a long and interesting history of crime and justice.  It is also the site of the Arizona State Prison which  replaced the Yuma Territorial Prison in 1908.

At the Pinal County Historical Museum we saw more exhibits about prisoners and executions. The Florence prison was, and still is, the site for executions in Arizona.

Pictures of prisoners are surrounded by the very ropes that were used for their hangings.

The Hernandez brothers sat in these chairs and died in the gas chamber in 1934. They were the first to die using the gas chamber in Arizona.

There is even a display showing those executed and their last meal choices.   There were 141 people (140 men and 1 woman) executed in Arizona from 1865 to present.  I don’t know if all were represented in this display but there were pictures for most, if not all.

Fortunately there is much more to this museum than death and morbidity!  There are a huge variety of displays that could take days to fully peruse! I’d be happy to spend more time there on another day.

Above is a display of furniture made using saguaro and chollo cactus in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It is now illegal to remove or damage cactus on public lands but there once was a thriving furniture business!

We enjoyed our day out of the resort and hope to do another excursion soon. There is even more to see in Florence if we head back that way!

We found the sun in Casa Grande, Arizona! Our site has no natural shade in the afternoon so we put up our 10 x 10 picnic canopy. A resort ranger came by a couple days later and said it was not allowed so we ordered shade in a box, a screen that attaches to our awning, from Amazon Prime.

Our friends Mark and Teri, met at Farragut but last seen in Montana, came through Casa Grande on their way north and we enjoyed spending two fun days with them.

We are at the nicest RV Resort we have ever been to. We had heard from other RVers that Palm Creek was a “10” and they were right. About 3800 people call Palm Creek home in the winter and only 350 call it home year round.

The grounds are well cared for with a huge array of “active lifestyle” amenities. We have walked for miles and miles around and through the park (about 2.5 miles around), line danced, hot-tubbed, and been to a few shows.  We have barely scratched the surface.

We’ve seen a few musical acts including The Arizona Trio. All have been good!

There was a Night Glow Balloon Festival as part of the park’s Cancer Awareness Weekend.

Our new experience has been learning to lawn bowl!  It has similarities to Bocci Ball but the bowls (balls) have a built in bias so you calculate the left or right roll in addition to the distance.  And calculating correctly doesn’t mean you throw it well!  We have had fun with it but have no idea when we’ll ever play again once we leave here!

There is a lovely 18 hole golf course that Randy hasn’t even played yet! He plans to and is signed up for a Glow Ball Night Tournament later in the month.

Randy has had a multi-day project trying to diagnose and find a solution for our poor Verizon cell and data service.   He purchased a cell booster and  three antennae for various circumstances.  It took the directional antenna, pointed directly at the cell tower, to show much improvement.  Mostly there are just too many people here at this time of year for the cell towers to be able to accommodate everyone. People who live here, or come for the whole season, get a cable-modem installed.

We understand why people choose to live here.  Palm Creek is a very nice, and very pricey, park – and probably worth it given all the amenities. We came in on a first timer’s half price rate and it was still $650 for the month.

There is so much to do here that we’ve barely left the park.   Randy and Mark played the local disc golf course and yesterday Randy, Elko and I went back and played it again.

Hopefully we’ll get out of the park a bit more in the next two weeks!

We have been hanging out at Patagonia Lake State Park and Sonoita Creek Natural Area (near the border in southern Arizona) for the last few days and have seen so many cows!!

When we asked about them we learned that a rancher pays $1500 a year to graze 40 head of cattle on Arizona Trust Lands that surround the park acreage. Trust Lands are Arizona’s equivalent of federal BLM land.

For the privilege of grazing on public lands, the rancher is to identify and limit his herd to 40 head (his chosen designation is an ear tag), keep others off the range,  and maintain a fence to keep the cows off state park property. We are not exaggerating when we say that an average of only one in twenty cows had an ear tag. There are likely hundreds of cows out here and they are not staying off park lands.

When we asked about the rancher’s obvious violations, we learned he had been sent a letter asking for compliance but that no one enforces the contract. It was discouraging to see such blatant disregard and abuse of public lands.

So back to our question, since these cows are here illegally, would it be a illegal to steal one? Most don’t have ear tags and some don’t have brands. Anyone need a cow?

People don’t come here in the winter to look at the cows, they come for the birds!  The area is a bird mecca!  We went on our first official “bird walk” and Randy liked it. He’s got a new app to identify birds and walks around with binoculars. I liked the long, slow walk but was fairly ambivalent about the birds. But regardless, Randy may have a new hobby!

 

There were so many people for the bird walk, they divided us into three groups. Our leader, on the left in the picture, did a great job of pointing out birds, and what features we beginners should look for.  Here are a couple of the pretty birds we saw.

Most of the people come here looking for the Elegant Trogon (below left) and the Green Kingfisher (below right). The pictures below were taken by our guide when he saw them last week.  These birds were on everyone’s birding wish list.

My wishlist for Arizona this winter was first, to not see any snakes and second, to see javelina in the wild. So far so good with the snakes…. and today we saw javelinas!

We went on a hike in the Sonoita Creek State Natural Area.

After about an hour Randy noticed a group of about six javalinas moving through the trees. I glimpsed the movement as well but it didn’t really feel like I’d seen them. We followed a bit and I had a good look at two of them moving up the hill. No time for a picture though…

Randy figured out how we could cross the creek and we spent the next hour climbing through rocks and brush following a game trail in hopes of seeing them again. We got close enough once that Randy could smell them but we never did see them.  It was exciting!  More exciting than the birds or the cows, at least for me!

These are pictures of pictures of javelina from the visitor center.

We enjoyed a cruise on Patagonia Lake. We learned the lake was man made (by damming Sonoita Creek) in the 1960s by developers who were trying to sell lake front properties.

This high bridge is for sailboats coming in and out of the still functioning marina.

The business venture failed but the lake is still here and now Arizona State Park property. The lake, out here where it doesn’t belong, is the attractant for all the birds, and birders.

The park has two distinct personalities, birders in the winter and water recreation enthusiasts during the summer months.   Patagonia Lake is the largest body of water in southern Arizona.

It has been nice to have this respite in nature for the last few days. Tomorrow we move back to a snowbird park, this time in Casa Grande. I am not expecting to see cows or javelinas there!  Hopefully no snakes either!

When my mom writes a blog, she looks for a theme.  This one was hard for her so she gave it to me.  I’m Elko.

Let me get my gripe out of the way first. My mom took me to Pet Smart for a Paw-dicure. Embarrassing!  They clipped my nails and cleaned my ears and my mom tried to make me feel better with a new toy. I waited two days to play with my new monkey. I may be more cooperative with my dad next time.

We have been to this place before but I don’t know why my friend Jack isn’t here this year –  at least we’ve seen our friend Beth lots of times.

One day my mom and Beth went to Mexico to have their teeth cleaned.  For $35 my mom got an exam, X-Rays and cleaning.

Another day they went for a walk downtown.   My mom has been sad for a while and it made her feel better to walk with 15,000 women, men and children who had been sad too.

When she found out that millions of other sad people in every state, other countries and  every continent had taken walks on the same day, she felt even better. My dad wishes he had gone too.

We go on walks every day.  I like it best when both my people take me to the Santa Cruz wash. Some days we see a coyote.

Some days we drive places.  We went into the desert and it was bumpy.

 

We drove to the Ironwood Forest National Monument.

We found some old  buildings and learned they were the ghost town Sasco.

These were the Rockland Hotel.

Another day we drove to Madera Canyon. Most people go there to see birds.

Dad likes birds, I like smells, and mom likes scenery.

She took this picture to show we have snow near Tucson too.

We don’t need to drive places to see hummingbirds. We have a feeder and they are always zipping around when my dad and I sit outside.

My dad and I sit outside a lot. I know how to get him to, even when it is cold.

Mom goes to  Zumba, line dancing and Apple class.  Dad goes for long walks and Mom and I don’t go because we aren’t fast enough. Dad mostly stays with me because he fell the first time he played pickle ball and thought he cracked some ribs. The doctor said they weren’t cracked, he just had a bruise inside. Dad hasn’t played pickle ball or golf the whole time we’ve been here. That makes him sad but I am happy to have my dad around.

We do boy things. Mom said the pantry drawer didn’t work right and that was a two hour project. Dad found a pepper mill we had lost (and replaced) a year ago.

I helped dad replace the dryer vent for the washer/dryer combo.  I supervised because my hair is part of the problem.  Dad thought the vent never worked as well as it should, but just like everything, my dad fixed it and it works much better now.

Every now and then I have to stay home while my mom and dad go somewhere without me.

One day they went to a presentation by the US border patrol. They learned the border patrol’s responsibility is the big backyard between entry points. They try to stop the illegal entry of people and drugs.

Border patrol agents must learn Spanish but not all people who come across the border speak Spanish.  Tucson zone agents have caught people from 144 countries around the world.  They are finding Chinese people lately.

Some people pay their money to have help getting here but are stranded by the “coyotes.” The border patrol rescues people who would die out in the desert. There are rescue beacons in the desert so people can get help if they need it.

In 2008,  the border patrol got lots of new technologies. They have drones, mobile ground radar, night vision and infrared from the US Armed Forces and tunnel technology from the Israeli government.

Every person the Border Patrol finds is processed using fingerprints and eye biometrics.  All are charged with a misdemeanor (unless they find some reason to make felony charges) and cannot file for legal entry for five years. If they try again and again, they spend increasingly more time in jail up to six months.  Then they are charged with a felony, spend even more time in jail, and can never apply for legal entry.

This worker didn’t want to get political about “the wall” but said he likes fences because then they can see what is happening on the other side.

There are dogs working for the border patrol that are really smart. They smell drugs and people and can even do math. They alert their border patrol partners if they smell six people, but only see four.  Very impressive!   I’m proud of my dog cousins!

Well, it’s been fun. I don’t know when my mom will have me write another blog but maybe sometime.   If you want to read the first blog I wrote, it is here: Guest blogger: Elko

Love, Elko

When we travel to a city, we often look for a “food tour.” We have enjoyed several tours over the years as we sample local restaurant specialties and learn town lore at the same time. There is a “Taste of Tucson” but we haven’t made it to the official tour yet.  We did, however, have a few interesting food related experiences.

We are always glad to spend time with our friend Beth, this time meeting in Tucson. We didn’t stay at the same park but managed to get together several times.

Our first outing was to Cafe Desta to experience Ethiopian Food. We didn’t know what to expect but figured it would be an adventure and it was delicious. It was different from what we are familiar with to eat from a communal plate.  Beneath the food is injera, a tortilla like pancake made of grain.  We had other injera to tear and use as a scoop.

Randy and I went to Mi Nidito – one of Tucson’s iconic Mexican restaurants. Opened in 1952, the entrance highlights photographs of celebrities who have visited the restaurant.

There are many, many celebrity pictures including Madeline Albright and Julio Iglesias.

They seem most partial to Bill Clinton who visited in 1999.

The booth where his party sat is commemorated (but still used) and the combination plate he ordered is highlighted on the menu.

Randy and I went on a Tucson history tour that took us up to A Mountain (think University of Arizona). From there we could see the Mission Gardens growing heritage crops on one of the oldest continuously farmed plots in North America.

We learned that Tucson was named a UNESCO World City of Gastronomy, the only city holding that designation in the United States. Tucson’s agricultural history, extending back more than 4000 years, is longer than any other city in North America.

Tucson was also noted for innovating ideas for growing food in a hotter, drier environments and community staples such as seed banks, community gardens, farmer’s markets, and food heritage preservation.

We journeyed an hour south to Tubac to the Santa Cruz Spice Shop where they produce and sell a huge variety of spices.

Beth and I did some sampling and everything was hot!

Still in Tubac, we fulfilled an area bucket list item and went to Wisdom’s Cafe. At Wisdom’s you are encouraged to “order dessert first.” Not that you eat it first, just order it, so your fruit burrito ala-mode will be ready when you are done with your lunch. The three of us shared a peach burrito but we dug right in and I forgot to get a picture. It was yummy.

Of course some of our favorite things to eat in Tucson are fresh tortillas. Grocery store varieties available in the north barely resemble the real thing.

Picture from the Food City website – I don’t usually take the camera  to the grocery store.

In Food City, a grocery chain stocking foods for the Hispanic clientele (and for those of us who love Mexican foods), you can watch tortillas being made and get them right off the griddle.   Fresh tortillas are even better than the peach burrito ala-mode!

Tumacacori National Historical Park, south of Tucson,  was our nation’s third national park – after Yellowstone and Yosemite.  It was designated in 1908,  four years before Arizona became the 48th state.

The Tumacacori site preserves one of many missions begun by Father Kino who served the area between 1687 and 1711. His mission work for Spain concentrated in what is now northern Sonora, Mexico and southern Arizona.

The Tumacacori Mission  persevered between 1691 and 1848. Inhabitants suffered disease, Apache attacks and the Spanish King’s removal of Jesuits in favor of Franciscans. After Mexican independence, Spanish born priests were expelled leaving a shortage of priests. The site was abandoned in 1848 and became part of the United States with the Gadsden Purchase of 1853.

Spain’s Jesuit, and later Franciscan missionaries, were tasked with spreading Spain’s language, religion and rule of law to native peoples. In retrospect, this effort was successful in two aspects given that peoples in Mexico and Central and South America speak primarily Spanish with Catholicism as the dominant religion.

We also went on a tour to see two missions available for viewing only with a ranger, and conducted just twice a month.

We traveled by van to the remains of Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi, also begun by Father Kino in 1691. He encountered the natives, celebrated mass, left gifts of livestock and winter wheat seed and promised a permanent missionary. The first resident missionary helped  build a small church that was completed in 1701. It was a difficult locale so Jesuit missionaries came and went.

In the 1740s Guevavi Mission took on a more permanent role and a bigger church and compound was completed in 1751.

Guevavi was impacted by an O’odham (native peoples) uprising and the repeal of all Jesuit missionaries by the King of Spain. As the Franciscan priests arrived, the decision was made to move the area mission headquarters to Tumacacori.  Guevavi was abandoned by 1775.

To preserve what remains of the mission site, the park service limits access and covers the remaining adobe walls with mud.

An archeology study was done a few years ago and an extensive record was found.

The remains of a building were found in this area with lower walls still intact under the sediment.

Only wild game are allowed in the Guevavi unit without escort. We didn’t see any, but we saw the camera that sees them!

A dozen miles away we were shown San Cayetano de Calabazas. The naming of this mission is a mystery as most missions took on the name of a neighboring village. Calabazas means gourds or squash. It is not known when this mission actually began but the first reference to it in the written record was in 1756.The side doorways were a later modification.

This indenture near the floor would have been at or above eye level during the mission church’s active years. A statue of a saint would have been displayed there. Several feet of sediment now cover the floor.

This area was under constant threat of Apache attack and by 1780s, most of the people of Calabazas had assimilated into Tumacacori.  The grounds of Calabazas were converted into a stock ranch to support the Tumacacori mission.

Over the years, the ranch had several owners but was generally occupied. After Mexican independence, the abandoned ranch was purchased in 1844 for $500. The old church became a ranch house.

This view is from what was the sacristy where the priest could look out towards the worshippers. The doorways and interior walls were added when the church was used as a ranch house.

When the lands became US territory, the mission was used by squatters until it became Camp Moore during the Civil War.

The Apache continued to be a problem for Calabazas until Geronimo was curtailed in 1886. Eventually it was left to ruin until the park service came into stewardship.  Strategy for preservation at Calabazas is to cover the remains and limit access.

I hope you enjoyed the return to a History blog.  Channeling Donnie and Marie:  “I’m a little bit History,   He’s a little bit Science and Space.”

“An Angel Worked in a Synagogue to Help the Vatican” was the quip provided by our tour guide Jon at the University of Arizona Mirror Lab.

Jon told us about Dr. Angel, an astronomy professor at U of A, who was approached by folks at the Vatican Observatory to make new mirrors for the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope in southern Arizona.  Dr. Angel had a theory for a new process and used a vacant synagogue as his work space.

 

Eventually, Dr. Angel and his new process moved under the home grandstand at the University of Arizona football stadium. The geologically sound land base, chosen to support the stands, provides a good foundation for the delicate work of creating telescope mirrors.

The large triangle “floats” so that mirror calibration and measuring can go on, even when the stands are rocking.

Although the Mirror Lab, and its 20 engineers, have completed many jobs and have more  in the queue, the current assignment is to create the mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The GMT is being funded by a consortium of international foundations from Australia, Korea, Brazil, Chile and the United States. U.S. entities include The Smithsonian, Carnegie Institute of Science, Harvard, University of Texas, Texas A&M, University of Arizona and University of Chicago. Each group’s time on the telescope will be proportionate to their investment.

The GMT will be placed in the Andes Mountains in Chile and will be the largest telescope in the world. It’s resolution will be 10 times greater than the Hubble Telescope, even though it is land based.

 

Production of GMT began in 2015 and it should be complete in 2024. The seven 28 feet diameter mirrors, the largest in the world, are being created under the football stadium at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The production of each mirror takes six years from start to finish and costs $26 million.

The mirrors begin as optical glass,  processed in Japan by the Ohara corporation. They use a special sand found in Japan and a few other places around the world. It takes 20-26 tons of glass for each main mirror.

The glass is brought to Tucson, placed manually and then heated at 2150 degrees for three days.  The “oven” is a spinning heater which evenly distributes the glass.  This saves most of the grinding required with other mirror processes.

It takes the large mirror three months to cool.

It takes months to grind and calibrate,  grind and calibrate and grind and calibrate the mirrors.

Approximately five hundred actuators are installed on the reverse side of each mirror so it can be moved and flexed to stay focused while in use. There are over 4000 actuators  in all of the mirrors combined.

Finished mirrors weigh 24 tons and will be shipped individually by truck to a port city and then by ship to South America.  Trucks will again be used to take the mirror up to the telescope site.  A final aluminum coating will be applied at the Chile observatory.

The Giant Magellan Telescope will be functional when three of the outside mirrors and the center mirror are in place.  Currently one of the outside mirrors is finished and two others are in their final processes in Tucson.  Most of the current work is on the center piece.

As an aside, a European Consortium is also building a telescope in this size range. They are using the different tact of a multitude of smaller mirrors working together rather than seven very large ones. Only time will tell if one approach is better than the other and in what ways.

Telescopes can certainly see some interesting and beautiful sites. But, after we came home from the Mirror Lab we got to see a beautiful sight right in our RV park, right here on Earth!  Check out the sunset!