Arizona's Moon Tree

     Tucson has so many wonderful and interesting "things" to explore and none more than the official Arizona Moon Tree.  We wrote this story for an anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.  Hope you like our story and that you take the time to visit Arizona's own Moon Tree!  Here is a link with more information about Moon Trees - http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/moon_tree.html


     July 20th marks the forty-first anniversary of the Apollo astronauts landing on the moon.  For Arizonans still fascinated by those Apollo moon flights, Arizona has a unique, living symbol of those glorious days growing on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson - an American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), better known as  Arizona’s “Moon Tree.”
    It was January 31, 1971 when the Saturn V rocket roared to life, sending Apollo 14 and its three-man crew on a journey to the moon.  Astronaut Stuart Roosa was the pilot of the command module and would stay in orbit above the moon while his fellow astronauts, Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell, landed and explored the moon’s surface.
    Prior to becoming an astronaut, Commander Roosa worked as a hotshot for the U.S. Forest Service.  He had always had a great love for trees so it was no surprise that he had worked out a plan with the Forest Service to carry 400 – 500 seeds to the moon and back.
    Roosa chose five species of seeds to make that journey with him to the moon.  They were the loblolly pine, sycamore, sweet gum, redwood and Douglas fir.  While Shepard and Mitchell explored the moon’s surface, Roosa and his tree seeds circled the moon together.
    Upon Apollo 14’s return to earth, Forest Service geneticists began their work to get the many seeds that had flown to and from the moon to germinate.  Their efforts were successful and soon resulted in about 450 saplings.  Now the task of deciding where to plant these special trees began.
    The White House, of course, received one.  So too did Valley Forge, the Kennedy Space Center, the New Orleans River Walk, Washington Square in Philadelphia and several universities – including the University of Arizona.
     The planting of the Moon Trees even became a part of America’s 1976 Bicentennial Celebrations.  President Gerald Ford spoke of these trees that were planted in communities across America in 1976 as living symbols of “our spectacular human and scientific achievements.
    Arizona’s Moon Tree was planted on April 30, 1976.  Today it is still located between the Kuiper Space Sciences Building and the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium just waiting for Arizonans to get out and see for themselves a little part of the Apollo moon flight history. 

Sky Islands of Arizona

     Tucson is the northern limits of an amazing group of ecological zones known in Arizona as Sky Islands.  They are unique in both their geology and their flora and fauna.  A tremendous organization that supports these wonderful biomes is the Sky Island Alliance.  Here is a link - http://www.skyislandalliance.org/

The 4 photos that are at the end of this story belong to members of the Sky Island Alliance as follows;

Photo #1 – Map of region by Louise Miszta
Photo #2 – by AJ. Schneller
Photo #3 – by Walt Anderson
Photo #4 – by Sergio Avila

We thank them for allowing us to use their photos.

     Visiting an island archipelago is something most folks associate with an ocean cruise, but in Arizona such an archipelago visit is also possible with a road trip to the Madrean Sky Island Archipelago of southeastern Arizona.   
    Sky Islands are mountain ranges that have become isolated from each other by vast valleys of grasslands or deserts that act as natural barriers, just like seawater, to the movement of plant and animal species. Here over the eons of geological time in southeastern Arizona the valley floors have sunk resulting in sky island mountain peaks rising to over 10,000 feet in elevation above the desert floor.
    The Madrean Sky Island Archipelago is a region of over 70,000 square miles that is the biological meeting point of two great mountain ranges – the Rocky Mountains of the north and the Sierra Madre Mountains of the south.  Here in this rugged southeast corner of Arizona and northern Mexico is found over half the bird species of the North America, 29 bat species, 104 species of mammals and 3,000+ species of plants. Arizona’s Madrean Sky Islands are the most biologically diverse communities found in the United States.
     There are 27 Madrean Sky Islands found in the United States most of which are found in this southeastern corner of Arizona.  Such unique and rugged sky island ranges as the Baboquivari, the Huachuca, the Chiricahua, the Tumacacori, the Dragoon, the Whetstone along with the Santa Rita and Santa Catalina Mountains all offer limitless opportunities for hiking, camping, horseback riding and photography.
     The many hotels of Tucson provide a great base-camp for day outings into over a half dozen of the sky island mountain ranges found around the Tucson area.  Willcox, Arizona becomes the ideal place to stay while enjoying the driving or hiking trails found among the incredible balance rock formations of the Chiricahuas.   Sierra Vista becomes a perfect home away from home while seeking to photograph the many variety hummingbirds that over-winter in the Huachuca’s Ramsey Canyon.  A four-day road trip from Tucson to Willcox to Douglas to Sierra Vista and back to Tucson will allow visitors the opportunity to explore and enjoy the many small towns and natural beauty found in this sky island region.  
     The Madrean Sky Islands are located within the boundaries of the Coronado National Forest.  The regional headquarters of the national forest found in Tucson, Safford, Douglas, Sierra Vista and Nogales all provide updated information for recreational opportunities and events.
Conservation groups, such as the Sky Island Alliance, offer the chance to learn more about sky islands through classroom and field hands-on workshops.  The Sky Island Alliance also seeks and trains volunteers who are interested in assisting in the conservation and preservation of these fragile Arizona biological wonderlands. 
     If you are looking for a great road trip, why not get out and take that drive to a memorable land known as the Madrean Sky Island Archipelago?  You will discover a part of Arizona that is historic, fun and ruggedly beautiful.

The Sky Islands of southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

The Chiricahuas Mountains

Looking from the summit of Mt. Graham

Sacred Baboquivari Peak

 

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

     Arizona has many amazing museums all across our wonderful state.  Close the top of that list must truly be the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson.  If you get a chance, be sure you visit this Arizona wonder!


     The Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum, just west of downtown Tucson, is a world-class zoo, botanical garden, natural history museum and desert research and education center located on 98 acres of lush Sonoran Desert land.   As spring wildflowers are once again exploding all across the Sonoran Desert, March is just the perfect time to visit this one-of-a-kind Arizona treasure.
    Founded in 1952 by friends William H. Carr and Arthur Pack the museum’s mission has always been to “inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the Sonoran Desert.”  Since its beginning the Arizona – Sonora Desert Museum has been regularly recognized as one of the top 10 zoological parks in the world.
    This outdoor facility is a unique museum but with the coming together of an amazing collection of plant, animal and geological features with the “goal of making the Sonoran Desert accessible, understandable and treasured.”
    Located 12 miles from downtown Tucson by way of beautiful Gates Pass, the museum is home to over 2,700 animals and an estimated 72,000 plants found on the museum’s grounds.  Over 14,400 rocks and minerals specimens are also a part of the museum collection including 2,068 fossils.  In addition, the museum’s botanists and zoologists study and care for 175 species of plants and animals considered endangered.
    There are now 2 miles of paved paths that lead visitors to some of the most environmental sensitive enclosures found in the zoological world.  As one explores the many environments, the lucky visitor often comes face-to-face with ocelots, gila monsters, mountain lions, red-tailed hawks and more.  On a beautiful day in March, visitors can spend hours strolling the pathways while watching and photographing the animals of the Sonoran Desert.
    Yet the Sonoran Desert Museum offers more to the people of Arizona than just botanical and zoological observing.  The museum is also home to The Center for Sonoran Desert Studies that conducts the educational and scientific activities of the museum.  From docent education and training to school outreach programs, the center’s staff is teaching citizens of all ages about the uniqueness and beauty of their desert home.
    The center’s scientific staff is world-renowned botanists and zoologists whose research projects bring understanding, stewardship and conservation to the land and people of the Sonoran Desert.
    Museum tours offered by the center’s knowledgeable staff take guests to the far outreaches of the 55 million acre Sonoran Desert to enjoy such natural adventures as whale watching along the Baja coast, to exploring the deciduous tropics considered the grandmother of the Sonoran Desert near Colonial Alamos in the Sierra Madre of Old Mexico, to the harvesting of cholla buds and so many more.
    In the 1990s the Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum began to produce a television series called “The Desert Speaks.”  It is produced by the Tucson PBS affiliate and is broadcasted weekly on local PBS stations.  If you can’t make it to the Arizona – Sonora Desert Museum, watching this weekly show will bring the museum right into your living room.
    So plan a trip to Tucson and spend a day at the Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum.  It will be a most enjoyable and educational trip for the whole family.






Here is a link - http://www.desertmuseum.org/

Lodge on the Desert - Tuscon

    We love Tucson and when we go one of our favorite places to stay is the Lodge on the Desert.  It is a great hotel with great history, not too far from downtown and even has its own ghost.  And, this hotel is also pet friendly (which Gypsy loves)!  What more could we want?  Here is our story...


     A blending of the historic and modern is always an architectural challenge, but when that challenge is overcome, something special is certain to be the result. And special is the best word to describe what has been achieved in the preservation and renovation of the historic mid-town hideaway known as the Lodge on the Desert in Tucson.
    The genesis of this Arizona treasure began with the story of Mr. and Mrs. Quinsler of Watertown, Massachusetts early in 1930.  Mr. Quinsler had just received the medical diagnosis of tuberculosis and was told by his doctor that the best medicine for his recovery was the dry climate of Arizona.
    The Quinslers decided Tucson would be the best place to start their new Arizona life and purchased two acres of land in the desert, 4 miles east of downtown Tucson.  A New York architect was hired to design their new home and even though he had never been to Arizona, he designed a home that took maximum advantage of the Tucson sun.  Tucson builder Zanner Lee, whose daughter would grow up to be singer/environmentalist Katie Lee, built the new, Quinsler home.  
    The adobe home was completed in 1931 and it was something special even then.  It contained 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, dining and a family room with a large fireplace.  A horse corral and bunkhouse completed the Quinsler’s new desert home site.
    Life changed for the Quinslers and in 1936 they sold their desert home to Cornelia and Homer Lininger who saw the beautiful adobe home and surrounding desert as a perfect location to open a lodge.  The first guest arrived to the Lodge on the Desert in November 1936. 
The Quinsler’s dining and living rooms became the main lobby of the new lodge and the large fireplace became a beacon of welcome to lodge guests.  The home’s bedrooms and bunkhouse made into seven guest rooms for rent.  A new swimming pool and more rooms were added in 1937.  These historic 1937 rooms are available for today’s guests as rooms #153 and #154.
    The Lodge on the Desert took on a patriotic mission from 1942 – 1945.  During these years of war the lodge’s guest rooms were used as a dorm for young aviators learning to fly at nearby Davis-Monthan Army Air Field, today’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
    The end of World War II saw a new boom in population growth and tourism come to all of Arizona including the Old Pueblo.  The Lodge on the Desert kept up with this new demand for vacationing retreats by adding more guest rooms in 1952, 1956, 1968 and 1973.
The 35 rooms and suites of the beautiful resort were now connected to the original Quinsler home lobby by broad sidewalks that meandered through lush desert gardens and green patio lawns.  The large living room fireplace still welcomed new and returning guests.  The Lodge of the Desert had become a desert oasis surround by a modern Arizona city.
Lodge lore also tells us that it was during this time that an old guest, one from the other side, began to appear to lodge visitors.  Affectionately called Gus, this friendly spirit is believed to be an old cowboy who once enjoyed the lodge’s accommodations and just doesn’t want to ever check out!
In 1997 the Lodge on the Desert was purchased by entrepreneur Dan Donahoe.  Mr. Donahoe had gained fame in the hospitality world with his purchase and restoration of the L’Auberge de Sedona and the Rosario Resort & Spa in the San Juan Islands of Washington. 
Under Donahoe’s masterful eye all 35 historic rooms were completely restored with the most modern of furniture and conveniences.  The old cactus gardens were also rejuvenated and restore to their 1940s charm. 
But Dan Donahoe’s vision for lodge was not yet complete.  In 2007 a major expansion project began.  Adjacent acres were acquired and sixty-eight modern guest rooms and suites were constructed to blend with the old, historic architecture of the lodge. 
A new charming hacienda style lobby now greets lodge guests while a new banquet and meeting rooms are available for the business traveler.  A roaring fire in the old Quinsler fireplace still greets guests on winter days.
 Weddings once again have become a common Saturday afternoon occurrence on the beautiful lawns and families once again refresh in the modern, heated swimming pool. 
The newly renovated restaurant features the wonderful culinary offerings of Chef Ryan Clark who is well known for his fresh farm-to-fork meals.  And cowboy Gus still makes an appearance, most often hanging around the old lodge bar.
So when you travel south to Tucson and need a place to stay in the Old Pueblo, let us suggest you head straight to the Lodge on the Desert.  You too will find the historic and modern accommodations and the people who will greet you to be very special – even ol’ Gus!

Here is a link to this wonderful hotel - http://www.lodgeonthedesert.com/

First 6 photos belong to the Lodge of the Desert; remaining are ours...

Gallery of the Sun - Tucson

     Tucson is one of our favorite destinations because of all the historic and natural attractions found in and around the Old Pueblo.  One of those many "favorites" is the Gallery of the Sun.  If you have never visited this wonderful studio, let us encourage you to put it near the top of your "Arizona Bucket List."  Sure hope you enjoy our story!

     Arizona’s most famous artists certainly must be Ettore “Ted” DeGrazia.  His art was once the artistic face of the United Nations Children’s Emergence Fund.  Since each October brings UNICEF’s yearly celebration of the children of the world it becomes the perfect month to get out and visit DeGrazia’s Tucson studio, the Gallery of the Sun.
     It was 1960 when Ted DeGrazia began his paintings of children for UNICEF.  Soon his art became famous in countries around the world.  His paintings of Los Niño’s, of angels and of native Southwest cultures for UNICEF were soon found on plates, jewelry, stained glass and canvas.  Arizona’s Ted DeGrazia became one of the world’s most reproduced artists.
     As DeGrazia’s fame and wealth grew a permanent place to display his life’s artistic works was needed.  In 1952 he had already built an adobe chapel, the Mission of the Sun, to honor one of his life’s heroes, the great missionary priest of Spain, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. 
     Father Kino had first come to this area in 1692 when he visited a Tohono O’odham village known even then as Bac.  Years after Kino’s death, in 1775, Spanish commander, Hugo O’Connor, would select a site near Bac and establish the old adobe Presidio of Tucson. 
     In 1963, just north of downtown Tucson, Ted DeGrazia again started making his own adobe bricks to build an art gallery beside his Mission of the Sun.   He would call his art center the Gallery of the Sun.
     The main building of the Gallery of the Sun opened in 1965, the 254th anniversary of the death of Father Kino.  It contains six permanent collections of his paintings of the children, of the cultures of Arizona and Mexico and of his most cherished work, the paintings of the life-story of Father Kino.  Rotating exhibitions throughout the year display some of the other 15,000 original works of art created by Ted DeGrazia.
     Arizona artist, Ted DeGrazia died on September 17, 1982 but his works of art remain an integral part of Arizona’s history. 

www.degrazia.org/ 

One of the many gallery rooms

The Chapel of the Virgin of Guudalupe

Grave of Ted De Grazia found at the Gallery of the Sun, Tucson.

"Three Men Hurled Into Eternity...."

          Those words just might be a part of the greatest newspaper headline ever written in the Wild West.  They told of the Gunfight at the OK Corral which occurred on October 26, 1881 when three young cowboys died from the guns of the Earp Brothers and Doc Holiday.
          Now, 131 have passed since that 3:00 p.m. showdown but Tombstone, the "Town Too Tough To Die", is worth visiting in any season.  We have written several stories over the years about Tombstone.  Here is the first one dealing with their just completed annual Helldorado Days.

Credit Photos:  Dan Germain
  
            “Three Men Hurled Into Eternity…” is arguably the most famous newspaper headlines ever written in the Wild West.  It appeared as the banner for the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper, retelling the events of October 26, 1881 along Freemont Street, just outside the back entrance to the OK Corral.  And even though the Gunfight at the OK Corral occurred 128 years ago, the good folks of Tombstone, Arizona continue to memorialize that historic gunfight during their annual Helldorado Days*.
          It was a lonely miner by the name of Ed Schieffelin who was warned by a United States Cavalry patrol that if he did not watch himself, the only thing he would find in the isolated hills of the San Pedro River Valley in southeastern Arizona would be his tombstone.  Well, Ed remembered that warning and when he struck a rich vein of silver in the spring of 1877, he named his strike and the town that grew up around it, Tombstone. 
          Other mines quickly were discovered and given some of the Wild West’s most unique names -- the Tough Nut, the Mattie Blaylock and the Good Enough.  To these new mines came thousands of people to both work and to serve this newest of western boomtowns.  And what an amazing group of human kind they were.
          If ever there was ever a perfect template for a Wild West town, Tombstone must surely be the model.  Between 1879 and 1889 the streets of Tombstone saw the most unique mixture of miners, gambles, rustlers, ladies of the night, lawmen, preachers, saloon owners and plain common folks that  any town in the Arizona Territory.
          One such group of newly arrived Tombstone residents were called by the law abiding folks of Tombstone, cow –boys.  In 1881 this term, cow-boys, was not an endearing name as it was used to describe those “ranchers” who earned a living by stealing other folks cattle. And as fate would have it, in mid-afternoon on a cold October day in 1881, on the dusty streets of Tombstone, a group of cow-boys would come face-to-face with their destiny in the form of another historic Western clan, the Earp brothers.
          In a space no large that 15 feet wide and 30 feet deep, eight men and two horses came to stand within a few feet of each other.  A sixth man, Doc Holiday, stood with a shotgun on the edge of Fremont Street.  “Throw up your hands”, U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp shouted to the cow-boys!  Within a moment, the guns of both groups began firing; 30 shots were fired in less than 30 seconds.  When the smoke and dust cleared, 3 cow-boys lay dead.
          The Gunfight at the OK Corral was not the most deadly gunfight of the Wild West but it is surely the most famous.  And it is this gunfight along with all the historic people and events of this Wild West Silver Boom Town that is celebrated each year during Helldorado Days.
          The first Helldorado Days were held in 1929 so this year’s celebration will be the 80th anniversary of those early, rip-roaring days of Tombstone.  The Tombstone Vigilantes are the sponsoring organization of Helldorado and they always plan to make the 3-day festival fun for everyone who makes the effort to come and to join in the merriment. 
          This year's celebration begins at 10:30 a.m. on October 16 along Allen Street with the playing of our National Anthem followed by entertainment “every ten minutes” till 5:00 p.m.   Saturday is filled with all sorts of entertainment from gunfighters, line dancers, belly-dancers, cowboy stories and western music.
           On Sunday the 18th, the official parade steps off from 6th Street and Allen and features the renowned Cowboy Walkdown followed by the always, crowd pleasing “Yee Haw” contest.  Yes, Tombstone, the “town too tough to die” is celebrating their historic past once again and warmly invites all Arizonans to get out and enjoy this year’s Helldorado Days on their famous streets of Tombstone.   


*In July 1881, a down-in-his-luck miner wrote a letter to the Tombstone Nugget newspaper, lamenting the fact that most miners like he, had come to Tombstone to find their “Eldorado”, their fortune in mineral riches.  Instead, they ended up washing dishes, sweeping saloons or cleaning corrals, thus finding instead their “Helldorado!”


Past Helldorado Days fun...

Wings Over Willcox

     Before leaving the Willcox area, we want to highlight an annual area event called "Wings Over Willcox."  Check out this website for updated information, www.wingsoverwillcox.com/, but this is usually a late January/early February celebration.  It is very cold at sunrise in these barren fields around Willcox so if you choose to go, dress wisely. 
    The photos here belong to Robert Shantz.  We thank him for sharing with us his pictures.  Hope you enjoy our story.    


     The small towns of Arizona have many unique and fun celebrations and Wings Over Willcox would certainly be at the top of that list. The National Geographic Society ranks this Arizona avian gathering of Sandhill Cranes one of North America’s two greatest wildlife events, sharing the spotlight with the great caribou migration in Alaska.
    In an area defined by the Dragoon Mountains to the west and the Dos Cabezas Mountains to the east, a natural bird sanctuary is created which attracts over 500 species of birds that spend their winter in this Cochise County avian paradise.  It is within this natural corridor that the annual Wings Over Willcox celebration occurs.
    Last year over 36,000 cranes visited the 60-square mile preserve owned and operated by the Arizona Game and Fish Department who flood a portion of the land each year to create a 6-inch deep pool that the Sandhill Cranes find just perfect for winter roosting.
    The highlight of a visit to the Wings Over Willcox celebration is the pre-dawn guided tours to the crane roosting fields.  Here, dressed in cloths created for mid-January in Chicago, the curious and enthusiast people wait for sunrise and the Sandhill “liftoff.”
    In a moment, thousands of birds, with wingspans up to 6-feet and weighing up to 14 pounds, take flight.  The sight and sound of this morning leap into the air is what attracts thousands of nature lovers to Willcox each year.
    Once airborne, the cranes quickly line into a V-formation to pass another day flying from harvested cornfield to cornfield in search of food.  Their daily adventure delight and mesmerize onlookers who just can’t seem to get enough of these long-legged, longneck-flying wonders.
     The Sandhill Cranes will hang around the Willcox area until early March when the lengthening days will again make them take flight to their summer artic breeding grounds.  Some of these Arizona winter bird visitors are known to migrate as far as Siberia.
    Wings Over Willcox organizers promise that this year’s event will be better than ever before.  New tours dealing with astronomy and wildlife of the Chiricahua Mountains will be offered.  Seminars will be presented with topics ranging from the Arizona jaguar to wildlife tracking to rainwater harvesting and more.  For those who love nature and the out-of-doors, Wings Over Willcox is an ideal opportunity to get out and discover another special part of our Arizona!