February 2018 – Southern Arizona & Astronomy
- Victoria to Tucson – flights from Victoria, BC, Canada to Tucson, Arizona, USA
- Tucson to Dragoon Mountain Ranch – pick up my Tesla rental, check out the old part of Tucson and drive to my friend’s ranch
- Dragoon Mountain Ranch – wildfires, observing and imaging the night sky, wonderful meals, and poor weather!
- Council Rock at the Conchise Stronghold – an Apache stronghold in the nearby hills
- Sonora Desert Museum – flora and fauna of the desert
- Bisbee – an historic mining town, and the wild west
- Dragoon Mountain Ranch – more astronomy!
- Dragoon Ranch to Tucson – hotels, airport deliveries, and car rentals
- Tucson – four days
- Museum of Optics & Mineral Collection – University of Arizona
- Kitt Peak – driving up the mountain in a Tesla Model S
- Pima Air & Space Museum – lots of aircraft on display
- Tucson to Victoria – the flights home to Canada don’t quite go according to plan
February/March 2017 – Southern Arizona & Astronomy
- Victoria to Seattle by Victoria Clipper fast ferry
- Seattle to Los Angeles by train – Amtrak’s Coast Starlight
- Los Angeles to Tucson by train – Amtrak’s Sunset Limited
- Tucson to Dragoon Mountain Ranch – my arrival by train in Tucson and driving to my friend’s ranch
- Tombstone – gunfights and other wild west history
- Pima Air & Space Museum – lots of aircraft on display and observing and imaging the night sky
- Imaging the night sky – a ‘down day’ and later observing and imaging the night sky
- Kitt Peak – lots of observatories!
- U of A Mirror Lab – where mirrors for the big telescopes are made and later observing the night skies
- Kartchner Caverns – big caves and later observing the night skies
- Tucson – my five days
- Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum – flora and fauna of the desert
- Aircraft Bone Yard – lots of aircraft in the desert awaiting their fate
- Sabino Canyon – a desert canyon in the Catalina Mountains
- Catalina State Park – another side of the Catalina Mountains
- Biosphere 2 – climate and water experiments under glass
- Tucson to Los Angeles by train – Amtrak’s Sunset Limited
- California coast by train from LA – Amtrak’s Coast Starlight
- Northern California & Oregon to Seattle by train – Amtrak’s Coast Starlight
- Seattle to Victoria by Victoria Clipper fast ferry