Dragoon Ranch to Tucson

Posted on February 19, 2018 by JoeTourist

February 19, 2018 Monday – Dragoon Mountain Ranch to Tucson, Arizona, USA

2018 Southern Arizona and Astronomy

My friends and I leave the ranch this morning, bound for Tucson. With all the rain we’ve had over the last few days, I’m concerned about the washes on Sybil road being in rough shape, so I take the main ranch road to St. David and then take the state highway through Benson and join I-10 there. I meet my friends at their car rental agency in downtown Tucson and give them a ride to the airport.

I then head north to the Oro Valley and check in to the Red Lion Inn around 1:30PM. I ask them about using an external plug to charge my Tesla, but they say they have none. I look later, and sure enough there are zero plugs on the outside walls! My Tesla Model S is currently covered in mud from driving the ranch roads all week. I want to have a clean car to drive for my last few days in Tucson and when I return it, so I go to the nearby Mister Car Wash (4941 N Oracle Rd). I pay them US$45 for a hand wash and “Hog Wash” (power wash the mud off) and clean the interior. The crew also give the car a light detail and do a terrific job (see above banner image), so I give them a generous tip. My rental Tesla Model S now looks better than when I took delivery of it!

Since I skipped lunch today, I decide to treat myself to a nice dinner at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. I walk the block up the main drag from the hotel to the restaurant, arriving at about 5PM. Their Happy Hour is 4-6PM, so I order a Classic Martini, which only ends up costing $4.46, which I find is very nicely made! They also have a three course dinner special, so I have a lovely minestrone soup to start, Spiedino di Mare (grilled scallops and shrimp with broccoli) for the main, and mini cannoli for dessert. The food costs $18.99, so the total bill with tax and tip is US$28.97 which I consider a bargain for the good service and excellent drinks and food. I bring the cannoli back to my hotel to eat later.

After researching the Level 2 charge points near the hotel, I realize that once my existing charge is depleted, not being able to charge overnight is going to be a serious inconvenience. This issue is going to limit the distance I can take my rental Model S each day, so I decide to cut my stay short at this hotel and move to a hotel that has Tesla Destination Chargers. The Baymont Inn Tucson Airport has seven Tesla destination chargers (and 7 additional generic J1772 chargers), so overnight charging becomes a reality again. I book the next three nights at that hotel and go downstairs to cancel three nights off my stay with the Red Lion Inn. I will change hotels tomorrow. I should have done more research and booked the Baymont for my whole stay, since it is also a bit cheaper than the Red Lion.

Dragoon Mountain Ranch – more astronomy!

Posted on February 18, 2018 by JoeTourist

February 17, 2018 Friday – Dragoon Mountain Ranch – astronomy!

2018 Southern Arizona and Astronomy

There is fog on the ranch in the early morning and clouds but no rain today.

RASC Victoria Centre: John McDonald &emdash; Observing with the 25"

One of our group leaves us this morning to pick up her rental car in Tucson, and drive to Sedona to visit with her family. I plan to drive to Sedona tomorrow to stay two nights, so we might connect up there for a visit. I also plan to drive further north to see the Grand Canyon, but we’ll see how the weather cooperates for that adventure, because if there is too much snow, I won’t go!

By sunset, there are only clouds on the horizon – it is clear overhead! Everyone gets their gear together, we open up the observatory, and pull an all-nighter. One of our group is a dedicate visual observer, so she operates the 25” Newtonian, climbing a ladder every few minutes to observe visually, and sketching many celestial objects. I join her to enjoy the wonderful views through this massive telescope, and add many entries to my astronomy log book.

The three of us who are photographers are using the 20” Newtonian astrograph this evening. Since my images taken a few days ago on Feb 11th turned out so well, I have some time to take more photos, but after taking two good images, we soon run into problems. I decide to enjoy some visual observing instead., so my buddies use the rest of the night to take some images of objects they are interested in while I observe using a 25″ Newtonian, my binoculars, and unaided-eye visual observing. I only last about an hour in the cold before I have to pack it in and go inside where it is warm.

February 18, 2018 Saturday – Dragoon Mountain Ranch

I am the first up this morning since everyone else stayed up into the early morning hours observing and photographing the night sky.

It isn’t raining today, but there are big clouds drifting overhead constantly. I decide to shoot a time lapse video of the clouds forming and passing over the Dragoon Mountains. I rig up my Canon 6D dSLR on a tripod with an intervalometer and shoot medium-sized JPG files all afternoon until sunset when the battery dies. After dinner, I make it into a one and a half minute video and show it to my friends on the living room TV. I also show them the video I shot of the wildfire on the day we arrived.

Dragoon Mountains Afternoon from JoeTourist on Vimeo.

The rain returns this evening with a vengeance – we can hear downpours happening outside all evening. I check the forecast for Sedona, and it looks abysmal, with torrential rain, hail and winds! I go online to cancel my arrangements up there, and also for Grand Canyon. My Plan B is to stay in Tucson for the next few days, so I reserve a hotel at the last minute. Thank goodness for online booking systems!

The rest of us are all leaving tomorrow morning, so we all use the down time do some laundry, pack, and cleanup the house.

Bisbee

Posted on February 16, 2018 by JoeTourist

February 16, 2018 Thursday – Dragoon Mountain Ranch to Bisbee & the Queen Mine

2018 Southern Arizona and Astronomy

The rain has stopped, but the skies are both cloudy and sunny today. We are hopeful it will clear a bit more by this evening so we can observe the night sky for only the second time this week. By all accounts this is unseasonably poor weather for this part of southern Arizona!

We drive to Bisbee to take the Queen Mine Tour by crossing Dragoon Mountain Ranch in a southwest direction to the St. David entrance. Once we are heading south on the paved road through Tombstone, we are hit with heavy rain most of the way to Bisbee. We park at the mine tour entrance and manage to get on the noon tour – getting the last seats. We are given hardhats, vests and lights, and walk into the mine entrance to get onto a little electric train that takes us below, down the shafts. Our guide is Benny, and old miner who mainly helped build the underground railways. We see how the copper ore was blasted, the air drills and blasting that was used, and the system of shafts and railways that made it all possible. It is a complex of several mines all inside the same mountain, built on different levels, although the companies were eventually consolidated.

Playing the Fordson Major fuel tank guitar/cello

After the mine tour, we have a nice lunch at our host’s favourite cafe in the town. I get a cappuccino to take with me and then park the Tesla in the town’s public parking. We then split up to see what the town has to offer. I wander down the main street in the rain, keeping dry under my Tesla umbrella that came with the car rental.

There are lots of shops offering artwork and tacky stuff, so I decide to take a series of alleys looping back to the car, hoping to encounter more interesting sights. Sure enough I stumble upon a guy with a long grey beard playing a guitar/cello built from an old Ford F-series truck fuel tank! He is being interviewed and recorded with video as I sneak my own candid photo of him and his funky instrument. This makes this side trip so worthwhile!

We make a quick stop in Tombstone on the return trip, but decide to call it quits and return home, since it is still raining pretty hard.

Bisbee & the Queen Mine

36 photos

Sitting beside the fireplace in the mine tour office

Diane Bell and Lauri Roche in hardhats waiting for the tour to start

People boarding the passenger train cars before going down the mine

Copper Queen incline shaft down to another level

Gold and silver deposits on the walls of the gallery

Mineral deposits on the walls of the gallery

Benny talking about working with equipment in the mine

Mannequins showing how a new shaft is dug

Crew manager's office below ground — Crew manager’s office below ground

Benny describing how the ore was loaded onto the rail cars

Benny describing the bicycle car for supervisors

Benny describing how the air drills worked

Missed Holes - dynamite that didn't blow — Missed Holes – dynamite that didn’t blow

Benny describing how explosives were used

Store front display of sculls and pottery

Presidential Collection - Jefferson and Bernie Sanders — Presidential Collection – Jefferson and Bernie Sanders

Old truck "La Bomba" — Old truck “La Bomba”

Woman working on a guitar in front of a music shop

'Bug art' with extra mechanical bits — ‘Bug art’ with extra mechanical bits

Sonoran Desert Museum

Posted on February 14, 2018 by JoeTourist

February 14, 2018 Wednesday – Day trip from Dragoon Mountain Ranch to Tucson and the Sonoran Desert Museum

2018 Southern Arizona and Astronomy

I drive everyone to the Sonoran Desert Museum this morning, which is 15 miles west of Tucson. We stop to charge the Tesla for 20 minutes at the Tucson Supercharger, which is just east of the city. We then drive another half hour bypassing the city westward into the beautiful Sonoran desert.

It rains lightly while we are at the Sonoran Desert Museum, which keeps the daytime temperature down to the point we are wearing light coats for most of our time here. Since we arrive just after noon, first stop for most of us is to have a snack and drinks at the coffee shop before we walk the trails. We spot a beautiful Bobcat, nesting hummingbirds, a Peregrine falcon in flight, and lots of other birds, animals and of course all kinds of cactus. Our last stop before departing is the caves and a breathtaking mineral display.

After driving back into the city, we meet some friends for dinner at the well-rated El Charro Cafe restaurant in old town Tucson. Being Valentines Day the place is busy, however the Mexican food is terrific. The drive back to Dragoon Ranch starts out with pouring rain as we leave the city, but it thins out by the time we pull into Benson for a quick shopping stop at Safeway. I wash the ranch road mud off the Tesla outside before I park in the garage and plug it in to charge.

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum – gallery – slideshow – photos from 2017 and 2018

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

54 photos

'The Desert Ark' old Studebaker Lark at the museum entrance — ‘The Desert Ark’ old Studebaker Lark at the museum entrance

Harris' Antelope Squirrel — Harris’ Antelope Squirrel

Arizona finch perched on a feeder in the atrium

Bendire's Thrasher just outside the coffee shop — Bendire’s Thrasher just outside the coffee shop

A Costa's Hummingbird sipping some nectar from a flowering bush — A Costa’s Hummingbird sipping some nectar from a flowering bush

A Broad-billed Hummingbird perched on a branch

Council Rock at the Conchise Stronghold

Posted on February 13, 2018 by JoeTourist

February 13, 2018 Tuesday – Council Rock at the Conchise Stronghold

2018 Southern Arizona and Astronomy

It is a bright day but some high clouds are coming in at Dragoon Mountain Ranch. After breakfast, we drive 10 minutes to the nearby Conchise Stronghold and climb the Council Rock area. The series of protective ramparts of granite domes and sheer cliffs were once the refuge of the great Apache Chief, Cochise, and his people. They held out against the US government troops at this location, and were never conquered. We find a cave with ancient pictographs on the walls, and a lovely canyon to explore further into the mountains. After an initial climb through huge boulders with striking turquoise and bring green lichen on them, it is an easy walk into the canyon, where we see a woman climbing a sheer rock face.

Council Rocks

34 photos

Rock used to pound Mesquite tree berries

Lauri, Diane, John and Garry looking at petroglyphs on a boulder

John, Lauri and Garry walking through boulder formations

Grassy meadow among the boulders and hills

Green and blue lichen on a boulder with hills behind

Boulder formation with green lichen and hills

Green and blue lichen on a massive boulder

Boulder formation with a boulder balanced on top

Massive boulder formation with blue, green and yellow lichen

John, Lauri and Garry on the trail with a boulder formation ahead

Garry, Lauri, Diane and John on the trail with a boulder formation ahead

Garry, Lauri, Diane and John walking through a boulder formation

Joe, Garry, Diane, Chris, Christine & Lauri at Council Rocks

Aerial of lichen-covered rock formations

Aerial view looking out over the rock formations to Dragoon Ranch

Dragoon Ranch behind a pockmarked monolithic boulder

Dragoon Mountain Ranch Astronomy

Posted on February 12, 2018 by JoeTourist

February 11, 2018 Sunday – Dragoon Mountain Ranch

2018 Southern Arizona and Astronomy

The wild fires are mostly out, however there is still lots of smoke a couple of kilometres to the northeast, and there are still a few hotspots. The fire crews are still there, and the roadblocks are still in place. About 25 big fire trucks leave this evening at 7:45PM, so obviously they are finished mopping up.

NGC 2170 - Angel Nebula — NGC 2170 – Angel Nebula

We go grocery shopping in Benson today, since I still need some ingredients for the pasta dinner I’m making this evening, and others come along to pick up supplies. I roll the window down as we drive out and let the sheriff know we will be returning in an hour or two. He jokes with me about us having to give him the Tesla for a test drive on our return trip.

I make a double-sized turkey pasta casserole for dinner this evening – an easy meal which everyone seems to like. After dinner, we get organized to go outside to observe the night sky. We start early with observing Uranus, and move onto deep sky objects as the sky darkens. I get the opportunity to image NGC 2170 Angel Nebula this evening – a group of three beautiful emission and reflection nebulae. I obtain some good data over the next two hours, ending at 12:30AM.

February 12, 2018 Monday – Dragoon Mountain Ranch

Lauri Roche preparing Moroccan Chicken — Lauri finishing the Moroccan Chicken before serving

We all sleep in a bit this morning, since some of us didn’t get to bed until 4AM, although I was in bed by 1AM. We take the Tesla to drive down the road to see the damage of the wildfires. There are extensive burned areas, and yet all four houses in the area survived unscathed – a testament to excellent firefighting skills by the crews!

We have a wonderful Moroccan chicken dinner this evening using chicken thighs, dried fruit and nuts, olive oil, olives, onions, and various spices. It has been marinating for the last 24 hours inside a big plastic bag in the fridge before it is baked in the oven. We have salad, brown rice, and potatoes with the chicken. After dinner, the wind continues to build and cloud cover is over 50% so it is a write-off for both observing and imaging tonight, so we all have to find other entertainment!

Dragoon Mountain Ranch

60 photos

Overfly south to horse stable at SDG observatory,

Sunset lighting the Dragoon Mountains with a rainbow in front of the storm clouds

Sunset lighting the Dragoon Mountains with storm clouds

Moroccan Chicken with Kale salad and rice

Cirrocumulus clouds in the sky over the Dragoon Mountains in the early morning

Very thin waning crescent Moon over the Dragoon Mountains in the pre-dawn

Pre-dawn Sagittarius area of the Milky Way with Venus, Saturn and Jupiter over the Dragoon Mountains

The Dragoon Mountains after sunset behind Garry's place — The Dragoon Mountains after sunset behind Garry’s place

Diane installing shrouds on Garry's telescopes — Diane installing shrouds on Garry’s telescopes

Dragoon Ranch looking NW from Garry's place — Dragoon Ranch looking NW from Garry’s place

John, Lauri, Garry and Diane toasting our steak dinner

An estate in the burnt area that escaped any damage

Lauri Roche, Garry Sedun & the Dragoon Mountains

Diane Bell, Lauri Roche, John McDonald and Garry Sedun walking the fence line

Panorama of the sunrise from Garry Sedun's place — Panorama of the sunrise from Garry Sedun’s place

A successful V curve focus on the 20" Newtonian f4.4 imaging astrograph — A successful V curve focus on the 20″ Newtonian f4.4 imaging astrograph

Boots enjoying a special treat of chicken giblets

Metal art on the ouside of Garry's house — Metal art on the ouside of Garry’s house

SBIG 2000 CCD camera on the 20" Newtonian f4.4 imaging astrograph — SBIG 2000 CCD camera on the 20″ Newtonian f4.4 imaging astrograph

20" Newtonian f4.4 imaging astrograph — 20″ Newtonian f4.4 imaging astrograph

John McDonald at the controls of Garry Sedun's observatory — John McDonald at the controls of Garry Sedun’s observatory

Fisheye view of the southern night sky from Dragoon Mountains Ranch

Panoramic view of the Dragoon Ranch land

The Belt of Venus and the Dragoon Mountains

Light from the setting Sun on the Dragoon mountains

Reg presenting a two volume star atlas to Garry

RASC members outside of Garry Sedun's observatory — RASC members outside of Garry Sedun’s observatory

Cactus Wrens on the branches of an Ocotillo

Cody's house in the early morning light — Cody’s house in the early morning light

Ranch land grass and a fenceline in the early morning light

Ornate fireplace in Cody's house — Ornate fireplace in Cody’s house

Tucson to Dragoon Mountain Ranch

Posted on February 10, 2018 by JoeTourist

February 10, 2018 – Tucson to Dragoon Mountain Ranch

Joe in La Cocina's courtyard in the Presidio — Joe in La Cocina’s courtyard in the El Presidio

2018 Southern Arizona and Astronomy

My Tesla Model S rental car (Turo.com) is delivered to me mid-morning in the hotel parking lot. Both the owner of the car and I inspect it for damage, using the Turo app to document and photograph for the handover process. After the formalities are completed, I am handed the fob and the car is mine for the next two weeks. I then drive my friends to the downtown car rental location so they can pick up their rental car. We then go to the old part of Tucson to walk around the El Presidio area and have some lunch at La Cocina Restaurant & Cantina. We take a few photos in the area and we then split up. I find the Tesla Supercharger east of Tucson, since the car needs to be charged up. We buy a few things in the adjacent convenience store, and then leave for the Tucson Airport to pick up another friend arriving on a later flight.

We drive about 45 minutes from Tucson east on the I-10 freeway to Benson, where we pick up a few groceries and other supplies from Safeway. Our friend at the Dragoon Mountain Ranch calls ahead to advise us that there is a wildfire near his place, however the danger level is low since the prevailing wind is blowing the fire further away. There are road blocks into the area, but he has asked the officers to let us through. Needless to say we are all concerned since the flames and smoke from the wildfires are clearly visible in the area we are heading towards! The officers let us through the roadblocks and we arrive at our friend’s place before dark, which I’m thankful for.

Dragoon Wildfire from JoeTourist on Vimeo.

I park the Tesla Model S in my friend’s garage, so we can plug it into a 115 volt 15 amp outlet. The car starts charging slowly at 12 amps, which means about a 20 hour charge time to 90% state-of-charge. This isn’t an issue, since I don’t expect to be driving anywhere close to the maximum range of the car – about 210 miles at 90% SoC. We have some pizza and salad for dinner, and get settled in after our travels. After dinner, we all go out to see the wildfire in the distance, and then go to the observatory for a quick look through the 25” telescope. There is a beautiful sunset with an arched cloud formation in the west, but ultimately there are too many clouds for observing tonight, so we call it an early night and go to bed.

Victoria to Tucson

Posted on February 9, 2018 by JoeTourist

February 9, 2018 – Flying from Victoria, BC, Canada to Tucson, Arizona, USA

2018 Southern Arizona and Astronomy

My friend and I take a taxi to Victoria airport and get in what must be the slowest-moving check in line for our United Express flight I’ve encountered for a very long time. Once we clear security to the gates, we have plenty of time to have a nice lunch in Spinnaker’s. The aircraft for our flight to San Francisco is very late arriving. We finally take off from Victoria airport at 4:30pm – three hours late! We have our doubts we will make our connecting flight to Tucson. Our flight arrives 50 minutes before our next flight leaves, but we manage to clear customs and immigration, get through security, and find the gate with 15 minutes to spare – very stressful!

Our flight arrives in Tucson about 10 minutes ahead of time. We call for the hotel shuttle to pick us up and check in by 11PM. We will pick up our car rentals and drive to our friend’s place tomorrow.

Tucson to Los Angeles by train

Posted on March 2, 2017 by JoeTourist

March 2, 2017 Thursday – Leave Tucson, AZ aboard Amtrak’s Sunset Limited train to Los Angeles, CA, USA

2017 Southern Arizona & Astronomy

I arrive at the Amtrak station in downtown Tucson a bit after 5PM and check in at the wicket. The man tells me the train is running a bit ahead of schedule, so I will be able to board early (whatever that means). I’m glad the waiting room is air conditioned, since the Sun is pretty intense this afternoon.

JoeTourist: Tucson &emdash; Old Centralized Traffic Control Board displayed in the waiting room

Maynard’s Market is next door to the Amtrak waiting room, and they also run a restaurant that is quite popular. I can smell the food, but I’m really not hungry after my late lunch. The other end of the terminal has a couple of shops and a railway museum, including a steam engine under cover and statues of Wyatt Earp and Doc Halliday. There is an old centralized control station, which was used to control the trains in the area.

People watching in the waiting room is entertaining: a guy is wearing a zipped-up parka and talking loudly to himself; a young, gay, black guy floats into the room hugging his pillow; an intense guy stares at everyone who enters but doesn’t say a word; and an obese young woman loudly talks non-stop to her skinny friend about her life trials for all to hear. One guy approaches me wanting to know where the Greyhound station is, since he wants to get to Roanoke, Virginia by bus. After I show him where the bus station is on Google maps, he mumbles about taking a taxi since it is too far to walk, but I later see him board my train. By 6PM some regular folks finally start to show up!

Looking into my Roomette aboard the Seattle to Sacramento Coast Starlight — My Roomette

The train arrives in the station at 7:45PM and after a few people get off, I board my sleeping car and find my Roomette. My car attendant made an 8PM dinner reservation for me before I even boarded the train, which is great service and very welcome, since I really didn’t expect to have dinner onboard.

The train leaves a bit early at 8:20PM and last call for dinner ends up happening while we are still in the station. After dinner, my car attendant makes my bed so I can settle in for the night. We stop in Maricopa just after 10PM to pick up passengers, and then it is quiet time aboard my sleeping car. Despite being on the north side of the train, I see the crescent Moon from my Roomette window. I’m relaxed and ready for bed.

We are scheduled to arrive at 5:35AM Pacific Time in Los Angeles, so I set my alarm on my iPhone for 4:00AM Mountain time to give me some time to prepare to detrain in LA.

Biosphere 2

Posted on March 2, 2017 by JoeTourist

March 2, 2107 Thursday – Biosphere 2, Oracle, AZ, USA

2017 Southern Arizona & Astronomy

I pack my bags and check out from the hotel around 11:30AM, since I leave Tucson this evening aboard the Amtrak train Sunset Limited back to Los Angeles and onward to Seattle. Since I have the whole day, I head north on N Oracle Road to the Biosphere 2 located in Oracle, AZ – about a half hour drive. The admission is US$20, but I qualify for a senior discount, so it costs me $18. This includes a hour and a quarter walking tour of the Biosphere.

Biosphere 2 was built from private funding, although it is now owned and operated by the University of Arizona. The first experiment demonstrated the viability of a closed ecological system supporting and maintaining human life in outer space by shutting eight humans inside the Biosphere for two years. They have unique large-scale experimental apparatus housing seven model ecosystems with some active research by teams of multidisciplinary scientists. The tour showcases the tropical orchard, desert, ocean, and tropical rainforest. Our guide tells us the rainforest is pretty overgrown, and the desert still needs a project. The scientific focus appears to be Water and Climate. There are also lots of school kids taking special educational programs.

I have to say after listening to our tour guide and seeing the facility for myself, it strikes me as kind of an odd facility. It is a long way from being sustainable, since it uses huge amounts of energy from the electrical grid to maintain and alter the various internal climatic systems. Of course this can be enormously valuable to scientists who want to see effects of climate change, since the climate can be altered inside in a matter of hours, and can be maintained precisely for days or weeks at a time. Our guide candidly admitted that the University of Arizona is still in the process of moving the facility from the idealism it was built for to a more scientifically relevant footing.

Biosphere 2 is an engineering marvel. The ecosystems are precisely maintained inside a sealed environment – airtight doors are the only way in and out. The Lungs allow the atmosphere inside to expand and contract without caving in or exploding the enclosing glass and metal structures. Of course, those airtight doors were closed for the first two years during the original experiment involving humans!

After the tour, I stop into the B2 Cafe for some lunch before returning to the parking lot and heading south to Tucson to take my train to Los Angeles, and (eventually) home.

Biosphere 2

13 photos