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28.12.2003: Ak Chin - Tucson (Santa Catalina State Park)
We went back over to the casino for a bagel and free coffee for breakfast. Then we lost our winnings from the previous day in another slot machine! Then we tried to find the Casa Grande road to Tucson, but there were road works, a diversion, and then the road disintegrated into a dirt track! So we had to turn round and go a different way.
After stopping at a waffle place for lunch, we drove to Santa Catarina State Park and paid the camping fee for 1 night. Then we went for a walk along two of the trails - only about 2 miles total. We saw a truck covered in Anti Bush slogans parked at one of the car parks! The first time we've actually seen open dissent against his presidency even though quite a lot of Americans seem to agree with the graffiti!
It was starting to get cold as we made pasta with gorgonzola sauce and the temperature gauge inside Winnie dropped to 8°C - it was much colder outside. So we decided to warm ourselves up with some mulled wine. The extra warmth didn't last long and we went to bed in fleece hats!
29.12.2003: Tucson
When we woke up, Winnie was frozen inside! There was an icicle hanging from the tap and some of the metal inside was white with ice! It was -10°C outside last night and obviously below freezing inside aswell!!
At noon we drove the short distance to Biosphere 2. It was built between 1987 and 1991 and was designed as a closed environment to be an exact replica of Biosphere 1 - the Earth. In 1991, 7 scientists went in and lived there for 2 years, carrying out experiments and monitoring. They had to grow everything to eat inside the biosphere. They lived off mainly beans and pulses and could only grow enough coffee for one cup each every 2 weeks!
The tour was fascinating. It had cost $150 million to build, and cost $50 million per year to run. There was a rain forest area, 2 desert areas (one winter and one summer desert) and an ocean area. The idea was to try and simulate the Earths environment as closely as possible so that humans could survive inside. This would then lead to a better understanding of the Earth and its processes. They shipped in plants etc from all around the world but the soil had to be from Arizona due to some US law. Everything was put into quarantine for 6 months to avoid contamination from bacteria, chemicals and insects - anything that could upset the balance.
We had to strip off as much as possible before going into the rain forest area as the temperature was over 25°C and was very stuffy inside. The desert areas were surprisingly cooler. We went into one of the so called lungs - practical science at work. This was a dome shaped building seemingly lined with heavy rubber attached to a circular aluminium disc in the centre. The idea was to provide space for the oxygen which expands when the temperature rises. The rubber, attached to the aluminium disc would then rise up into the dome otherwise the greenhouses would explode! The amount of work done just in creating the environment was phenomenal. The things they had to think about! Science in its most practical form. Fascinating. Well worth the visit.
Biosphere 2.
We spent 4 hours there and even had a bratwurst! Its now used just as a research centre. We left at 4-45pm and after getting propane gas and doing the shopping, we were too late to get a hook up at Santa Catarina Park so we tried to find a spot at other RV parks - no space. So we ended up trying a Walmart car park, but a security lady told us we weren't allowed as the city council had put a ban on it due to all the complaints from the RV parks in the area! However, all was not lost - she told us to park up on part of the car park that wasn't owned by Walmart! So we did just that!
We went for a meal at a nearby restaurant and managed to get a nights sleep without getting moved on!
30.12.2003: Tucson
After downloading the update onto our website and organising insurance for Mexico, we drove to the visitor centre to find out about the Pow-wow for New Years Eve. Then we stopped at a AAA centre to get some maps for Mexico and drove to Saguaro National Park. By now it was almost 3pm, so we decided to drive around the 13 mile loop drive and did one of the short trails.
It was very peaceful there but the Saguaro cacti were not in very good shape! We had seen better at the Mcdowell and Catalina parks. Then we went to a library and spent an hour on the internet for free.
Afterwards, we went on the hunt for a truck stop to stay overnight on the South side of Tucson. The truck stop seemed to be a bit too loud. So we drove a bit further and found a very grotty RV park that charged $14 for the night. There was a gravel field next to it with no signs up saying we couldn't park overnight. So we decided to park up there. Kirsten actually won at cards for once!
31.12.2003: Tucson
We got woken up at 5-15am by the alleged owner of the land banging loudly on our door! He would not accept that there weren't any signs up saying we couldn't park there and wanted $14 from us. We refused to pay of course and then he told us to get off his land in 3 minutes or he would call the police!! We wished him a happy new year and left in 3 minutes!!
We drove around the corner (not a sign in sight!), went to the truck park and got back into bed. If it was noisy it certainly didn't disturb us! Once we got up, we drove to Camping World to pick up light bulbs and then drove up to Catalina State park. We got our washing bags ready to go to the laundry and then a Swiss couple, Klaus and Therese, came up to us because they had seen the Swiss flag on Winnie's registration plate and thought we were Swiss. Kirsten apologised as they had spoken in Swiss German which neither of us can understand!
They are a really nice couple, and after chatting for over an hour, they invited us over for coffee and cinnamon rolls. They are selling their RV and it is in such good condition that we seriously thought about buying it ourselves! But we already have our Winnie and we didn't want to hurt his feelings!
By now it was 4-15pm and we hadn't got much done. So we dashed for a shower, and drove to the laundry and spent a few hours on new years eve doing the practical things! In between waiting for our washing to dry we made pasta in Winnie. Once the washing had been done, we drove to the cinema and went to see Mona Lisa's smile with Julia Roberts - a really good film. Kirsten cried!! So we got a few stares from a woman sitting in front of us!
At 10-15pm we drove down to the park where the Pow-wow was to take place. But it had been cancelled due to rain - it had poured down whilst we were doing our laundry. We decided to drive back to the camp as we thought people would be out celebrating. Fat chance. At 11-15pm all the lights were out! So we did our washing up!! And hunted for a radio station that did a count down - not easy! We got a can of beer out and finally found a station that did a count down for the last 10 seconds! Not the best way to celebrate the new year but we made do!!
01.01.2004: Tucson - Organ Pipe Cactus NM
We chatted to Klaus and Therese until 1-30pm. Kirsten got photos as we offered to advertise it for sale for them on our website. It was a pity that we couldn't spend more time with them but we were now on a bit of a tight schedule as we needed to be in Mexico in 5 days. So we said fond farewells and got ready to drive off.
We set off far later than we'd planned and drove out of Tucson thinking we could find something to eat on the way. Wrong decision! There were only a few small places on the way and we didn't like the look of what was available. So we ate chocolate and crisps as we drove for 3 hours, the last part on a very rough road, to Organ Pipe National Park, in South West Arizona. The park is named after the Cacti that grow there. By the time we got there it was almost dark so we found a site and then made something proper to eat. We watched the sunset during our meal.
02.01.2004: Organ Pipe Cactus NM - San Diego
After breakfast, we did a 1.5 mile loop trail in the park. It was a nice little walk in the desert terrain. We didn't have time to drive along the loop roads which were 27 and 53 miles long. So we decided to drive towards San Diego which was 350 miles away. We didn't think we could get there in one day. We stopped off for food and petrol along the way and realised that we could probably make it to San Diego after all.
We drove for a total of 10 hours. About 60 miles East of San Diego it started raining. It poured down and we ended up driving over the hills in fog and heavy rain and the visibility was virtually nil! Kirsten said we should drive through Lakeside to get to Mission Gorge campsite where we'd stayed the last time we were in San Diego. At a red light, Kirsten told Helen to follow the car in front. The car promptly headed for the wrong side of the road, swerved to the right, nearly hit a car next to him and went over the curb with his back wheels!! Fortunately, Helen didn't follow his exact path!!
Then we got a bit lost looking for the correct road but we finally managed to find the campsite. It looked closed at first, but now its only open on Fridays and Saturdays, so we were lucky that it was open. We parked up in a spot next to where we'd stayed last time and it felt such a long time ago since we'd been here, even though its only been 3 months. Later, we phoned our friend Leslie with whom we'd travelled around South America last year and left a message to try and meet up.
03.01.2004: San Diego
We drove to the library to use the internet and got a message from Leslie to phone her tomorrow. Then we went to our mailbox and we got our Californian driving licences. Kirsten's photo looked like a mug shot! We also got the form from the AAA to apply for reimbursement of the $200 for our oil problem. We filled it out, photocopied it and posted it off.
After a coffee at Starbucks, we went for a tour of San Diego - last time we were here we never got chance to see much. We walked along the harbour and went for fish and chips. Then we drove over the bridge to Coronado Island and drove into the famous Coronado Hotel - where the film "Some like it hot" with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon was filmed. We were actually looking for somewhere to park but ended up driving Winnie through the very posh hotel grounds and back out right in front of the hotel entrance! Winnie amongst all that glitz!
We found a parking space around the corner and walked along the beach to the hotel. A couple were getting married on the beach right in front of the hotel - in front of all the tourists who were taking photos. Typical America! Then we walked into the hotel even though we weren't exactly dressed for the occasion!
After doing our shopping and stocking up for Mexico we drove back to Mission Gorge for the night.
04.01.2004: San Diego
After filling up our water tanks and emptying our others, we bought 5 gallons of drinking water and then went to the visitor centre at Mission Gorge park. We saw the photos of the fire that started on October 26th and destroyed half the park. The fire stopped on the other side of the river and thus spared the new visitor centre that had cost millions and also the campsite. They were extremely lucky.
We drove to the library which wasn't open yet so we made a veggie soup on the car park for lunch and did the washing up! We phoned Leslie and arranged to meet at 8pm. Then we drove over to the West side of San Diego towards where Leslie lives and found out that the campsite we had been to with Michael and Michéle on our 2nd and 3rd night in America, was just around the corner from Leslie! We didn't know at the time or we would have knocked on the door!
We met up with Leslie and Rod at 8pm and spent the evening catching up on old times and reminiscing on our South America trip. Unfortunately Leslie wasn't feeling too well. We parked up outside Leslies house for the night.
