Sunning in Tucson

Aussies here checking in from sunny Tucson, though it was only a high of 56 today, it was still a nice day.  Much better then the cold and snow in IA and IL!

Well, on Saturday we took a drive on our last day in Casa Grande and drove to Picacho Peak State park.  Airstreamers from the Four Corners unit recommend this state park and have held some rallies there.  

It was a nice park, with some roomy sites with electricity.  After getting a few groceries we headed back for our last evening at the Escapees Co-op.  Folks were friendly, the sites spacious and extremely quiet after the noise of being in a park in the city in Mesa.  Beautiful star filled nights out in the desert. Only negative is the cattle finishing lots.....the smells drifting our way at night left a lot to be desired.   

We are now back in the city, Tucson, in a park that we believe is the largest we have ever stayed in.  There are bigger ones around the US, but we have never stayed at a park this large.  The sites are full hookups, roomy with patios and a patio table and chairs. We even have an orange tree!  :) We are located between the Air Force base and the International airport.  Lots of planes taking off! 

I need to get some pictures to post, but here is the main building. 

Met up with my cousin Holly on Monday and we are hoping to get together on Sunday, so I am really looking forward to spending time with her family.  Today, Tuesday, was the first day of Aluma Fiesta.  The park has LOTS of Airstreams, some new and some really old.   Ours is in the middle, not the oldest, but definitely not a 2014 like the one two sites down from us. 

The activity that I registered for was a introductory class on glass blowing.  I had the privilege of having the director of the school give me my lesson.  He was great.  Really young, 36; he told me he started learning the craft in high school and has been blowing glass for 20 years.  So I am going to share a few photos, in order of the process as he works with me on a bowl.  The furnace has a temperature of 2050 degrees!  It was a bit warm standing near it grabbing glass and warming it.  

First blow

Warming again,

Gathering color,

First shaping,

Adding more hot air!  :)

He left me alone to shape while he got more glass for the base.  Scary!

Adding the base,

Shaping the bowl,

Final heating, (someone has a sense of humor, notice the drawing around the furnace?)

The final shape before it comes off the pole.

The bowl now goes into a 910 degree oven, to slowly cool it.  The temperature in the oven drops 50 degrees every hour until it reaches room temperature.  A slow cooling is necessary to keep it from cracking.  It should be ready for me to pick up on Friday!  It was fun and very educational.  The instructor was great about explaining the steps, and answering my questions. 

After the class we rushed back to the rally for the last half hour of announcements and drawings for door prices. Dave won a book published by Airstream Life.  

Otherwise, it has also been busy with phone calls related to the new house.  Since we have accepted an offer on the house (it was a busy day Sunday, moving to Tucson, talking multiple times with our realtor regarding an offer and our counters and then acceptance of the offer). We needed to reconfirm our building loan, talk to the builder with a couple questions and attempt to get another storage unit, so we can move out before 28 March.  Whoa, busy!  Dave is so prepared, we hopefully will have smooth sailing once we get started.  :)

That's it for the last three days, but should have more to share from this week with over 150 other Airstreamers.   

Another fun little thought though..... Our sweet Aussies are real attention getters here in the park.  On every walk we get stopped multiple times by people inquiring about the breed or just to say how handsome and cute they are!  So proud!   :)

Stay warm and safe!   We'll check back soon!