How could I not be dreaming of warm sunny Tucson, after a call from my dad who is there while I’m in frigid Iowa. The temp here is 7 degrees (“Feels like -11.”)Happy New Year!) And more deep freeze to come all weekend. By Tuesday, though, we may hit 11! I can feel the cold as I type in my home office, even with the sun streaming through windows etched by frost with pretty snowflake patterns that look like bundles of spindly branches.
Dad was visiting Kartchner Caverns State Park, south of Tucson, a rare living and growing cave that I visited with my family and wrote about when the place opened to the public in 2000. (see http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/21/travel/frugal-traveler-outside-tucson-a-family-goes-underground.html?scp=6&sq=betsy rubiner&st=cse)
I need to get back there – especially since a new section (“The Big Room”) has opened for tours since my visit. As I wrote, ten years ago, what makes this seven-acre cave system special is that it is so unspoiled. I hope that’s still true. More more info see: azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/tour_info.html.