Sunday was laundry day--UGH! We were first to the laundry so we were able to finish and get to the O Club for brunch.
Monthan Davis was the fourth base where we have eaten brunch in the last few years. It did not rate as high as the others we have visited. Ft. Benning still rates a 10 out of 10 with Patrick coming in at 7 out of 10. Eglin was also a 7 out of 10. Davis Monthan rates, at best, a 5 out of 10. It was by far the most expensive brunch at an O Club. The service paled in comparison to that at Patrick AFB or Ft. Benning. The number of choices for omelets was basic. Many of the items in the chafing dishes were almost gone and there was no sign they would be replenished--with more than half the serving time remaining.
We spent the rest of the afternoon doing chores in the rv, watching football, .... It was pretty windy outside--not a good day for sightseeing.
In the evening we walked around the campground. Overflow is bustling now! There is probably a two or three day wait for a full hook-up site.
Monday, January 14
Happy birthday, Cathy!
Today we drove north of Tucson to visit Biosphere 2 and Catalina State Park.
We arrived at Biosphere 2 just in time to take a tour of the habitat. 
Bob and I were the only 2 on the guided tour. Here we are waiting in the living area of the biosphere.
The place is awe inspiring! The biosphere contains 5 biomes, a living center, and a farming area. The tallest portion of the biosphere houses the rainforest. Unfortunately, it is the only area that can't be visited. We looked in the side windows and saw growth everywhere. I don't know where they would put the boardwalk to get through it.!
We started the tour in the living area. When it was operational, the biosphere housed 10 people--each with 2 rooms (bedroom loft & living room) and a shared bathroom. The small dome to the right of the rainforest biome is a common area where the biospherans often ate dinner. In the picture above where we are waiting, it is just up the stairs behind our chairs.
After leaving the living area, we passed the farming area which is dormant.
Next we went through the savannas and marshes.
The final biome is the desert.
Most of the plants for the desert biome came from the Baja Peninsula. The cacti from the Sonoran desert where the biosphere is located could not survive in the closed system as there was too much humidity.
The mechanics to keep the system balanced are underneath the biosphere, in a separate energy system near the biosphere, and in two 'lungs.' From the desert biome we went underneath the biosphere to see the air conditioning system and the water collection system.
Then we went through a tunnel to see the 'lungs' of the biosphere.
Here is the inside of one of the lungs. The black area 'breathes' to keep the windows from exploding in the biosphere. The floor is made of stainless steel so it springs when you walk on it. The diaphragm (platform at top of picture) raises and lowers as needed. It was cold in the lung!
The dome in the bottom left of the next picture is the outside of the lung.
From the lung we traveled outside to get to the basement to view the ocean .The wave action in the ocean is only 2-3 inches high. They found that if the waves were any higher they couldn't control beach erosion.
This is another view of Biosphere 2.
We enjoyed our visit to Biosphere 2 and recommend it to anyone who visits the Tucson area.As we returned to Tucson, we stopped at Catalina State Park.
We had a picnic lunch in the park. 
The park has many trails. We decided to walk 2 of them before returning to the rv. There was geocache near the first trail we walked. It was at the base of a saguaro.
The second trail had obstacles we haven't encountered lately--we had to cross two washes which had running water! Since the trail was a loop, we had to cross them again to complete the trail. Even though our hiking boots got wet, our feet stayed dry!
We enjoyed seeing the Catalina Mountains from a different perspective.
We were able to get up close to several cacti.
Once again, we had another busy and enjoyable day of retirement!
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