2011 Summer Vacation, Days 10 and 11

Friday morning we headed North to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  We got to see a screech owl:

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B mimics the gila monster’s tongue:

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The kids coming out of their non-shell:

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We saw javelinas and coyotes too.  It was a great museum!

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Next we went to the Western unit of Saguaro National Park:

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Next we visited Biosphere 2.  Imagine their surprise when it turned out replicating the planet in a glass box was more complicated than they thought.

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Having said that, it was an interesting tour.  Looking up!

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We toured the various biomes.  Here’s the “ocean”:

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The rainforest is well on its way to taking over the dome:

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There’s a desert biome too:

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There’s quite a bit of equipment down below keeping everything up above running smoothly:

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Since it’s a closed system, the air pressure changes as the temperature changes.  To avoid popping the facility, the “lung” has a flexible membrane that raises and lowers the center disc, changing the effective volume of the facility:

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After the tour, we headed to Phoenix for Shabbos.  It was in the low 110s, and fairly humid due to the monsoon thunderstroms.  We had meals with wonderful families, and the community was great!

2011 Summer Vacation, Day 9
2011 Summer Vacation, Day 12

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