A wonderful time in Tubac

The train woke me up this morning...enough that I was ready for my tea anyway.  It seems the train goes through the area twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  Until this morning I couldn't really have told you the timing...this morning was 5:20 am.  Enough about trains...

We have done quite a lot here...the town is touted as an artist community with an eclectic flair.  The Opera, the Presidio State Historic Park,  biking and hiking the Anza Historical Trail, a spice shop, the Whipple Observatory, a local winery wine tasting, and a little more shopping that has filled our days with interest and awe.

The Tubac Opera (I mentioned in the previous blog) was a wonderful time!  We were seated with a mid/late eighties couple from Green Valley, a small town just north of Tubac.  What a joy they were to be seated with and share the evening of fun!  They had been to one of the previous Operas at the Italian Peasant and all along the way gave me (as my hearing is pretty good) insights as to how it was going!  He was in law enforcement his entire career, they lived in Costa Rica for 10 years, and he did 2 years in the Peace Corps in the Ukarine.  They are parents, grandparents, and great grandparents!  So interesting  to talk with!  The tenor (in the video clip) was great...and we were so lucky as he was not one of the "usuals"!  They wanted us to come up and visit them before we leave (tomorrow) and we will try!  As a footnote...I had worn my "Tubac" (see previous blog) and when I gave them a hug goodnight they both loved how soft it was!!

The Presidio Historical Park/Museum is certainly worth the visit...a quick video of the history of Tubac and then walking through buildings of artifacts.  Suprising to me that this small town history is so well documented and includes being deserted/abandoned many times due to Apache raiders.

The old schoolhouse had the 1848 punishments on the board...I'll only share one of the two...and then the teacher duties...Only one of the two of those, too!  Both a bit different than current student/teacher responsibilities!!  If anyone is interested the volunteer gave Bryant a hard copy of the rules and responsibilities...and I'm sure he would share!  The picture above of the two of us was taken in the Museum...I'll let you decide if Bryant was putting the hat over my face...or trying to pull it away from my face!!

To the Anza Historical Trail...riding my bike and mostly wide enough for Bryant's trike!He has gotten quite good at getting through tight spaces!  
When we hiked the trail we stopped for a minute and talked with a couple that had just bought a home in the Tubac Golf Resort...they recommended a place for us to go that neither of us had ever heard of before.  It is sort of (or, we can make it) on our way north...looks like a must see kind of a place...it will definately be on the list!

To the Whipple Observatory...that was a WOW!!
The owner of the place where we have the RV outside of Tubac suggested we visit.  Her dad came this area to help build the obervatory.
There was a short video and lots of information on the purpose of the very large yet intricate functioning of searching for galaxy's and gamma rays!
The roads were impassable to the top because of the recent rains so we were not able to see the expansive views ourselves...but we had no idea when we came here that this existed...
.so all we did see was icing on the cake!  We are headed out soon for another bike ride...it is warming up nicely...we are saving the wine we bought for this summer at the lake house...our shopping finds I am so thankful and excited to have...the spices will make a great addition (just ask my kids, and Bryant)...and another train just passed through...maybe it is more than two trains a day...no matter...we have had a wonderful time in Tubac!