Siri, Charlotte and I woke early. Apparently my snoring hadn’t disturbed Siri, and she had a proper night’s rest – I imagine after tenting it roadside for a week on rocky ground, a carpeted, heated van was an upgrade.
We got on the road quickly – today’s trip was a longish one – around 300 miles east across an expanse of pretty much nothing before getting to the prime destination for the day – Biosphere 2 out near Tuscon.
There’s not a lot between Yuma and Tuscon – it’s a fairly desolate stretch with really only one road – the Interstate I8. With a 75 mph speed limit, pretty much ignored by everyone with real world speeds in the mid to high 80s, and with cross country truck convoys ubiquitous, it’s no place for a cyclist.
I’d happily extended the offer to take Siri to Tuscon and check out Biosphere 2 on the way – it saved her perhaps a week of travelling, avoided the danger of having to travel by interstate, and we had become firm friends the day before.
We left by 7.30 am, so had plenty of time to get to Biosphere by midday, spend some time there before heading off to see another place I wanted to check out – the Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley, AZ
The trip along the interstate was pretty uneventful (allowing for American car madness) – Siri and I chatted until a few hours later we reached the turnoff for Biosphere 2. We turned off and I handed over the reins to Siri to drive us the 40 miles into our destination – she and Charlotte clearly approved of each other, I could use the rest, and as this was Siri’s major planned destination along the route, it only seemed appropriate that she take us there.
We duly arrived, just as drizzle started to sprinkle down. We get to the entrance, inquire about the guided tour and are told the 3 pm is about to leave in 5 mins.
THE 3 pm tour??? WTF?
We’d been on the road about 4 and a half hours, so according to my phone (which had had no signal since we left) it was shortly before midday. Now we had noticed the previous night that Siri’s phone and mine differed by an hour, so even if I’m out by an hour, that means we left at 8.30 (traffic and the light didn’t seem like this was the case) we’d then got to our destination by 1 pm.
We checked US time zones.
Yesterday morning we had been in CA (Pacific time) before crossing into Arizona (Mountain time) – an hr’s difference. That might explain the difference between my phone and Siri’s. But Yuma and Biosphere 2 were in the same time zone, so where the hell did the other 2 hours go?
Neither of us could explain it – surely we had not slept until 10.30 am, the only way which we could have arrived at this time. Short of having been abducted by aliens and mind wiped for 2 hours before being placed back seamlessly into the timestream, neither of us could explain it.
To this day it remains a mystery.
Anyhoo, back to Biosphere 2.
The tour takes anywhere between 45 mins and 90 mins depending on questions, number of people etc. We had a biggish group (around 30) but not a lot of questions and all up we spend about 75 mins inside.
From Rainforest to Savannah to Desert, Biosphere 2 is a huge, controllable climate building which provides researchers with an incredible to study the effect of water and temperature on soils and plant life. The tour takes you to each of the different climate sections, which include an indoor “ocean” complete with wave machine.
Due to the drizzle, our guide, who bore a striking resemblance to Nicolas Cage, took us to a few underground sections instead of making us brave the outdoors. The facility is huge, compete with tunnels, wind machines and lungs initially designed to prevent the facility from blowing out windows in it’s first iteration as a completely sealed place with 8 live in scientists.
It even is working on growing food for space travel.
All in all, it’s pretty impressive, but I must admit I had expected a little more. I remember the days of the first mission – 8 scientists sealed inside seeing if they could survive. I suppose I wanted a little more about that, and perhaps expected something a little more space agey than botanical.
Still it’s absolutely worth a visit and is a brilliant example of human achievement.
By the time we finish it’s getting close to 5, so clearly the Titan Museum will have to wait for another day.
Instead we head off to Tuscon.
Siri needs a new tent, so we stop at an REI store. 15 mins later Siri emerges with the cheapest tent they have – about $140 worth! Ouch!
Add to that it’s not as small as her original one (she left one this big at home!), and is heavier to boot, Siri is a little disappointed, but after factoring in (a) year end discount rebate and even possibly (b) returning it for a refund at the end of the trip (90 day returns policy), soon gets over the pain.
Again Siri acts as event co-ordinator and finds a local brewhouse for us – this time it’s Thunder Canyon Brewery, again right in the heart of downtown.
There’s a great selection of beers, – Siri offers to drive afterwards so I get to try more than I usually would. We play a couple of games pf pool before heading off to look for our overnight park. Siri might as well get another good sleep in Charlotte’s arms before setting off on the bike in the morning.
The local park closes at midnight and doesn’t allow overnighting, so it’s simply a nearby suburban street that we end up in.
Again we unload the bike – lock it to the car and repeat the sleeping arrangements from the night before.
It’s been a lot of fun having Siri join me for the last two days – sharing this part of our separate adventures with each other has been a wonderful early Xmas present.
