Day 6 - Pima Air and Space/Colossal Cave - Liam/Baker

 Today started with the usual breakfast at the hotel and we then left to head out to the famous Colossal Cave. We had a hilarious tour guide who led us into the depths of the cave (around 6 stories deep). The cave has been used for many different things such as grain storage/shelter for Native Americans. The cave was also featured in 20+ films including Sesame Street and journey to the Center of the Earth. Come to think of it, Colossal Cave is somewhat of a misnomer as it is not really that colossal (at least the part that we toured). We were told not to touch the walls of the cave because the oils from our hands damage the sustainability of the cave, and also because many of the walls were covered in bat poop! Our tour guide mentioned that the first tours of Colossal Cave involved more "spelunking" because people traversed the cave by rappelling off the walls with rope and a candle. The first tour guide Frank actually lived part-time in a section known as "Frank's living room" during the hot summer months, hauling couches and furniture into the cave. We finished our tour and some of us went on a nature walk while others relaxed and drank prickly pear slushies. We then had lunch at a local breakfast chain known as "Jerry Bobs". The food included burgers, eggs, pancakes, and even a Sonoran hot dog. This place was so popular that we had to wait around 30 minutes to get seated but it was totally worth the wait. We then traveled to Pima Air and Space at around 1:30. This one-of-a-kind museum is the third largest aeronautic museum in the world and features many rare and obscure planes from airliners to fighter jets! Personally, I am very interested in planes and it was already on my bucket list before going on the trip. My favorite plane that they had was the B-36 Peacemaker. The B-36 is so big that it requires 6 propeller engines and 4 jet engines to fly! Another very cool plane that they had was a militarized version of the Douglas DC-6. This plane actually served as the Air Force One for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Sadly, we had more plans that needed fulfilling, and we left Pima Air and Space at around 4:30. We then went to Saguaro National Park and drove to Javelina Rock to watch the beautiful Arizona sunset. After, we tried to go to a nearby restaurant, however, it was filled to the brim and we weren't able to eat there. Mrs. Eckert then suggested a fifties-style diner called "Little Anthony's". As soon as we sat down, someone in my group (cough cough Charlie cough cough), told the waitress that it was Caroline's Birthday. It wasn't. So after a wonderful meal, a familiar name came over the intercom and staff began to gather around our table. So after announcing to the whole restaurant that it was Caroline's Birthday, the staff sang a long and embarrassing (and frankly hilarious) song and presented her with a massive ice-cream sundae. We then drove up into the Catalina foothills and did some impromptu stargazing. Ellie proceeded to point out all of the cool constellations for us (even in the car ride back to the hotel) and we then called it a day. Overall it was a wonderful day and I know I had a blast! 

Day 11 - A Recap of the Trip and Preparations for our Presentations - Eli Cunningham

     On this day, we had all made it back to Houston and this would be our first time back at school in almost a week. Because of jet lag, we were allowed to arrive at the school at 11:00am rather than the usual 8:30am which I, myself, and many other students enjoyed and took advantage of (I woke up around 10:00am). 

    Once making it to school, I caught up with my friends on what they had been doing for the past two weeks, then I went to the the room our group was meeting at. I was surprisingly one of the first students to make it into the room, but as time went on more and more sleepy looking students walked through the door and sat down. It was around 11:30 when everyone was actually there, but then we got started discussing how the trip went. Firstly, we thought of and listed all the goals we set out to accomplish on the trip, such as learning about Tucson's culture, bio-diversity, native peoples, bonding with our piers, etc. Secondly, we wrote down our thoughts of how well we accomplished these goals and the conclusion we came to was "pretty dang well". Thirdly, we talked about things we could have improved on the trip or things that went wrong. For this part we thought that nothing actually "went wrong", but we could have improved on a few easy things such as making meeting times when splitting up at a big museum, or reducing the amount of time it takes for 14 people to have a meal at a restaurant. Also, the fourth and last part of our discussion was deciding whether or not this trip should be done in future years. We all unanimously agreed that it should be done in future years and that the trip would also include some of the activities we weren't able to do this time, such as Biosphere 2 ("The World's Largest Earth Science Experiment").

    After taking around 30 minutes to discuss all of this, everyone got to work on their part of the google slides presentation (The presentation to explain to all the students and parents everything about the trip). Our goal was to have everyone finish their parts of the presentation so we could get out of school early and have fun doing whatever, or crash asleep in our beds. It took a little bit longer than expected and we finished around 3:30 when school ended, but we had fun working on it and talking to each other about the memories we had (maybe that's why it took to long).

 Anyway, this is the last blog of the trip and I think I can speak for the whole group when I say we had an amazing time. We experienced such a wide variety of activities, paired with great people to have fun with. Being one of the planners of the trip, it was great to see it truly be put into action and I hope it happens in a future year. Thanks for Reading!

Day 8: A Trip to the Tohono O'odham Nation - Trey Dulaney

Today was an exciting and informative day. Getting our usual 9 am driving start the beautiful one-and-a-half hour drive to the Tohono O'odham Nation to see the renowned cultural museum. Founded in 2007, it goes into incredible depth and detail about their rich history, heritage, and knowledge of the land. From traditional myths and stories to how they harvest and use saguaro fruit,
they truly show their incredible way of life. After spending many hours in the cultural center and museum, we made a quick but very necessary lunch pit stop at a local frybread stand. Frybread is a popular indigenous food believed to have originated in the Navajo Nation. It is fried or deep-fried bread in oil, either covered in honey and powdered sugar or with various savory ingredients pilled on like a tostada. After that delicious stop, we continued our drive back to the hotel. Once we got to the hotel around 4:30, a group of students went out to buy food from Trader Joe's for grilling later that night. Around 6 pm, we started up the grill, and Dr. Salem, with the help of others, cooked up an incredible steak, burger, baked potatoes, and asparagus meal. After that awesome meal, we relaxed, talking about our various experiences and truly unforgettable views. We were excited for our last day and expectantly waiting to experience all that day had in store!

Day 9: A Day in the City (Ellie)

 Today was our final full day in the city of Tucson. In the morning our crew set out to Tohono Chul, a botanical garden, art gallery, and bistro. When we got to Tohono Chul we split off into two groups of seven to be led around the garden. As we walked around the garden we learned about all the native plants in the area along with some interesting background stories that came with some of the plants we were looking at. After we walked around the garden we then headed to the bistro, but little did we know we were in for a little bit of a long wait. As we were waiting Dr. Salem decided to take a little nap on the patio. The food at the bistro was very tasty. After our time in Tohono Chul, we set out to the downtown area of Tucson and we went to this series of art shops Ms. Eckert recommended for us to explore. The shops were pretty cool, every single one had something different. There was a record shop, a Native American jewelry shop, a vintage shop, and local artist's shops. My personal section was the record shop I spent the majority of the time there. Later, we returned back to our hotel to relax before dinner and the U of A game later in the evening. For dinner, we went to a restaurant just outside our hotel, and our dinner was accompanied by a local band playing some tunes. After we finished our dinner we headed over to the U of A campus to watch the Wildcats play USC. The atmosphere of the arena was thrilling, and U of A fans scattered everywhere it was awesome. We watched LeBron James's son "Bronny" play for USC (not his best game), the U of A fans didn't appreciate it when he had the ball so he was greeted with jeers except for Baker's very loud cheer in the dead silent arena when "Bronny" scored. In the end, U of A won 82-67 so it was a great game. Then we all headed back to our hotel for a restful night. 

Dr. Salem taking a little nap

Trey exploring the art gallery 

A group of students getting a tour of the garden

U of A vs USC game 

Day 5- Bisbee! By: Caroline Davis

 Howdy from Tucson! We apologize for the poor timeliness of this blog post as we experienced technological issues hindering our posting process.

 Starting with a scenic hour-and-a-half drive from Tucson to Bisbee, students were able to enjoy naps, a game of cards, or some light reading (just because we aren't in school doesn't mean we have forgotten about the importance of continuing to pursue academics). Arriving in Bisbee a little before 11:00 am, we had just the perfect amount of time to wander and peruse the shops and scenery of the tiny town, most namely Bisbee Olive Oil and the haunted Copper Queen Hotel. After a lunch of bratwursts and chili at Old Bisbee Brewing Company, we had the experience of a lifetime at Copper Queen Mine Tours, where we traversed deep into the historic Copper Queen mining site alongside a former employee of the mine. We were immersed in the rich history and facts of the structure and experienced first-hand what it was like to work in the mine with insightful demonstrations. The Copper Queen Mine supplied an abundance of copper to the U.S. until it closed in 1975 when it began to run dry of its sources. 

After departing from Bisbee, students got the opportunity to return to their hotel rooms to briefly freshen up before attending dinner at Guillermo's in Tucson. 

Today was such a fruitful day full of learning and bonding with classmates, and we can't wait to do it all again tomorrow! 

Day 7 - Journey Through The Catalinas - Max King

 Today was one of the most active days of the trip. We began the day at 9:00, ascending into the mountains. We listened to a commentary along the way which explained the history and rock formations of the area around us. This was cool because it was synced with our location so we saw things as they were being discussed. On our journey up to Mount Lemmon, we stopped at a viewpoint overlooking the city of Tucson and the distant landforms of Mexico. This place was an enlarged playground with many large rocks that we climbed on to get the best view of the environment. We were here for about an hour. We then continued further upward, making our next stop at a decent view of a deep forest. Although this was the point of stopping, it was no match for the huge pack of snow on the ground gaining the interest of many students. We each grabbed a lump of snow and started packing it into a ball. From this, we started launching them at each other and having a great time in the process. Our third stop after this peaked on the top of Mount Lemmon. Multiple students and I decided to climb up a hill covered in snow. This was a difficult and rigorous journey. I kept on slipping on rocks but eventually, we reached the top. We felt a major sense of accomplishment from this. We then descended the cliff which I personally felt was more difficult than going up. I had multiple encounters with thorned plants, one smacked me in the mouth when sliding down. After that, We rode the ski lift as a class. Up there, we saw the most wonderful of views, which overlooked a variety of desert mountains through Arizona. We all got off feeling pleased with the ride. After these activities, we were getting a bit hungry and stopped for lunch. We took a 5-minute walk to the "Cookie Cabin". This place was packed with a line forming out the door. We remained dedicated and eventually got a bunch of cookies and pizzas which were pretty good. Into the cars again, most of us dozed to sleep from exhaustion. We made a final stop at Sabino Canyon where we were met by Mrs. Eckhart's friend who was a professional photographer. We took a quick stroll through the cacti where we gained photography tips and watched a memorable sunset. It was soon time for dinner. We had reservations at 7:30 for a hotel restaurant in the city. We ended the night off with some good food and interesting conversation. 

                                                                 (View over Mountains)

                                                                      (Snowy Climb)

                                                             (Quick Stop at Snow Bank)

                                       (Interaction with the foresty region on Mount Lemmon)

                                                         (View inside of Cookie Cabin)

                                                              (Stroll through the Desert) 

(Late Night Dinner)

Day 4 - Chiricahua Mountains

Today was another exciting day here in Tucson Arizona. while we were supposed to make our way to Mount Lemmon for an incredible hike our plans were changed due to icy roads so instead we took a 2-hour drive to go and explore the Chiricahua Mountains. While driving in Texas can be filled with boredom due to a lack of exciting things to look at our drive was amazing. although we were driving through the desert we were surrounded by mountains, a unique landscape, fascinating rock formations, and thousands of cacti. On our way to the mountain, we stopped a little more than halfway to briefly look around what used to be a massive lake in the middle of the desert back before the last ice age. Dr.Salem did an incredible job of explaining the geology and history of the land we explored on foot and throughout our drive. When we made it to the mountain we were all excited to start our hike, so after a brief stop to eat some Subway sandwiches we picked up on the way we started our 4-mile hike through the mountains. While some of the students had experience being around snow, some of us, including myself, had never been around this much snow and to say it was incredible is truly an understatement. Just at the starting point of our hike, the parking lot was lined with snow giving the perfect opportunity for snowballs and a bit of fun before our adventure took off. As we all took in the scenic view around us we were amazed by the stunning rock formations that covered the mountains. As we started the hike we all went at our own pace with Dr.Salem leading our pack through the trail surrounded by snow, forest, and rock formations reaching high above us. Our trial led us up and downhill through incredible scenery of snow and trees and even through a frozen lake where many of us spent some time breaking through three inch thick ice to see the water that was frozen over. While the plan was to walk a 4 mile hike by the time we made it to our halfway point we were met with so interesting news as we realized we had taken the wrong path at the beginning of the hike. We made our way on the 9 mile trail instead of the 4 mile hike and given we were only a little over 2 miles through we would have had much further to go. And, given the sun was on its descent, we made the decision to turn around and go back to at least complete a 4 mile hike back to our car. the hike back was still an incredible walk as we got to revisit the trail we had just walked and look back on the amazing scenery that we may have missed. after a little over an hour of walking we made it back to the car safely with a final sunset view before we left the mountains. As we all got ready to head out we made the decision to head to Waffle House but given the closest one would have taken closer to two hours we decided to go to another iconic spot here in Tucson, The Tripple T Dinner. The Triple T is a truck stop with a nice little dinner that provided us with some good food and a great way to end the long day. I personally got a Breakfast burrito while everyone else enjoyed burgers, pasta, and a lot of breakfast food. So after a nice meal after a long drive and a long hike, we all headed back to the hotel to rest up and get ready for another day exploring everything Tucson has to offer. 

A look at the Chiricahua Mountains before our hike

Dr.Salem explains the history of the lake that used to cover the land we stand on

A good dinner and a great way to end the day

Eli gets ready to explore the snowy hills

Everest takes a quick break from hiking to get in some rock climbing

An incredible view of the rock formations scattered around the mountains

Enough snow to make a snowman

Dr.Salem leads the troops up the mountain