Tombstone & Tucson

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We went to Biosphere 2 just a little way out of Tucson. Many of you will remember this failed science experiment from the 1990s, where 8 people were housed in a huge structure completely cut off from earth. The goal was to make them completely self sufficient inside a ‘biosphere’ that mimicked earth (for example they had their own ‘ocean’ and ‘desert’). It was to be a step closer to life in space. To cut a long scientific story short the project failed - twice, it has been a research centre and is now a tourist spot. It was fascinating to hear about all the work that went into it. While in Tucson we also went to a little Mexican restaurant called Mi Nidito which President Clinton had visited. They proudly displayed photos of him and other famous guests all over the walls. The chicken enchiladas were great! We hung out at a 55+ park for a little while enjoying the mini golf, fitness centre and swimming pools. We went to BJs microbrewery to watch the world cup final. This was a pretty good compromise - Nick got to watch the sport and I got the best brownie ever!!

Tombstone was a great day trip! Right down by Mexican border this little town holds tightly to its ‘wild west’ history. The main street still looks like a wild west town would back in the day with saloons, horse drawn carriages and lots of guys in cowboy hats. We walked the main street looking at the shops and eventually picked Big Nose Kates Saloon for lunch. This was a great pick, with waitresses dressed in period costume, good food and a guy playing western tunes on his guitar. (Big Nose Kate was Doc Holiday’s girlfriends nickname). We then went to the OK Corral the site for a famous shootout between Doc Holiday and his rivals. We enjoyed the museum with its old horse drawn carriage and other exhibits and then watched a dramatization of the actual shooting! All the actors were in period costume despite the oppressive heat. After that we continued roaming the shops and saw a place you can get your photo taken in period costume. We jumped at the opportunity! You can check out the result when we get back.

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Photos

The Town Too Tough To Die
Tombstone

Biosphere
Outside Biosphere 2 ( Biosphere 1 is the Earth in case you wanted to know). Hey cambo more blue shirts!! FYI Nick only had 2 shirts (both blue!)

Inside Biosphere
This is the Ocean part of Biosphere 2, one of the reasons they thought Biosphere 2 failed was the lack of Ocean to obsorb CO2

Sunset at our RV Park
We had some amazing sunsets and thunderstorms here.

Big Nose Kates
Hanging out with the waitress. Unfortunately this doesn't show her costume very well.

Comments

[Ian Maynard]

Thanks for the frequent updates. Did you manage to get your photos on the wall next to Bil Clinton @ Mi Nidito?