Ostritches, Goats, Deer, Mini Donkeys - My kind of place

 Raining again in Tucson

After a mediocre breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up the car in the rain and headed for our next stop, hoping the rain quits before we get there since it's outdoors. By the time we got there, the rain had quit so we were ready.

 

We all love animals and none of us had ever been to Rooster Cogburn's Ostrich Ranch. Time to rectify that. We opted to buy the pass that also let us feed the sting rays. We got our cup full of food for the different animals and headed out to try our luck at feeding them. 

The big trucks only run on weekends or holidays.

 The first animal we encountered were the friendly mini donkeys. They are sooo cute. And they definitely know what we are there for and run right up to the fence to get their pellets. 

The second animal we found were my favorite - the Fallow Deer. They are very gentle when taking the food out of your hand. Even the youngest child could easily feed these deer. They are quite small.

How about some goats in a penthouse? These are Boer Goats from South Africa. The idea is to put the food in the little white cups and then you have to crank the cups up to the goats. The food falls out in a feeding tray and it's your turn to send up more food.

The Hole In The Wall Gang are also Boer Goats who know how to put their heads through the holes to get food. If you're brave enough, you can also get a kiss from one of these goats. That is Picacho Peak in the back ground.

 Next up were ostriches and this place has lots and lots of ostriches. Watching those animals run is really something to see. And I would keep little hands away from feeding them. They bite and both Pat and Marilyn found that out the hard way. I read the instructions carefully and did exactly what they said to do so I escaped unscathed. But I only did it once.

Did you by any chance happen to notice the lady's straw hat that was at the Hole In The Wall? Ostriches have long necks and have no trouble grabbing your hat off your head. She and her husband had a tug of war going with the ostrich over the hat. They finally won but the hat was a little worse for wear.

Next were the Giant Sulcata Tortoises from Africa. It was interesting to learn that they need to be fed from the side because they can grip the asparagus better from that angle. 

They also have chickens, rabbits, sheep, ducks, parakeets and Rainbow Lorikeets.

The Rainbow Lorikeets are from Australia and are a part of the parrot family.  The food you receive to feed them is nectar in a little cup. You hold the cup in your hand and they will fly to you and sit on your hand or head or shoulder. They can open the nectar cup by themselves and then enjoy a refreshing drink. Now that is fun.

 

All our food was gone from our cups so it was time to go visit the stingrays. They eat fish. Not sure what kind of fish but their keepers cut the fish into small strips which you hold between your fingers and then put your hand flat in the water which lets the stingray grasp them. These are cow nose stingrays and are really very gentle. I didn't let go of the food fast enough and one of them grabbed my hand. Did not hurt and felt quite soft.

Pat and Marilyn feeding the stingrays

 We really had a great time and would highly recommend taking children to feed the animals. There were a lot of children running around while we were there and they were having a great time.

It is now lunch time so we headed to Florence. This trip we stopped for lunch at Mount Athos Greek restaurant. It was so good and may become one of our favorites. 

Back home but not sitting still too long. Hope to make a few things happen closer to home this month. Got some ideas so check us out.

 

Arizona's First Synagogue

 Still Beautiful In Tucson

After our really good lunch, we had one more stop before calling it a day. This stop was heart wrenching.

Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center

The JMHC has a multi-faceted mission of educating about the Holocaust and other genocides, exploring the legacy of Jewish experiences in Southern Arizona, preserving the first synagogue in the Arizona Territory, and collaborating with Tucson's diverse community to promote human rights.

The first synagogue built in the Arizona Territory (1910) located in Barrio Viejo. 

 

I really don't have much to say about this visit because it is such an emotional visit. One of my very best friends is a Jew whose mother was in a concentration camp. She has told me that her parents did not talk about the war and she doesn't either. I understand. 

We arrived in the middle of a tour so we joined them. The guide was giving a presentation on the reasons why the Jews moved from New York and Pennsylvania to southern Arizona. One of the reasons they moved here is the same as many of us live here especially in the winter. They came for the sunshine. 

 

My back was really complaining at this point (it is better now) so Marilyn went on to the Holocaust portion of the museum while Pat and I sat in the pews. She said it was quite dark but she took a few pictures for me.

 

After the huge lunch we had, none of us were hungry for dinner so we just munched on whatever we could find. Tomorrow we head back home with two more stops to make. 

 

Stamps and Drugs

Tucson  Just a beautiful day. No rain.

First of all, thanks for your concern for my back. I had my massage so I'm sore but I can tell it's not as tight. Another appointment in two weeks. And NO lifting. 

I love finding small museums that aren't the usual type of historical museum. I found two of them that I thought could really be interesting.

Philately - noun definition - the collection and study of postage stamps

"The Postal History Foundation was established in 1960 by Bill Alexander. His idea was to establish an organization that studied and promoted research of Arizona and Western postal history." 

 

The museum has an 1890s postal station, a huge library (over 30,000 books), a stamp store, and it is also an operating post office. 

Libby wanted to be part of our tour.

One of the major goals of the Foundation is to teach K-12 students subjects like geography and history using stamps. The volunteers were really knowledgeable and very eager to share their love of stamps with us. 

I was never into stamp collecting. In fact, I've never really been a collector. So I found a place to sit and listen and let Pat and Marilyn do most of the looking and asking question. They always ask great questions. It's interesting to see how differently the three of us approach the places we stop. And I learn so much.

 

A glimpse into just a small portion of the library.

I've done it again (and I still don't know what it is) but everything is being centered. 

Now For The Drugs

Many years ago, when Jim and I were still full time RVers, we stopped at a Pharmacy Museum in Virginia, The Hugh Mercer Apothecary.   I really wanted to stop because Mercer is my maiden name. But the the people at the Apothecary were dressed in period costumes and the tour we had was really fun. So I found a Pharmacy Museum in Tucson. The Coit Museum located in the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy.

e museum

This museum has one of the world's leading collections of pharmaceutical artifacts. 

It took us awhile to find the museum. Most of the people we talked to weren't even sure that such a thing existed let alone how we could find it. But we persevered and finally success.

I always find an organization's Vision statement interesting. Coit's was no different.

"The Coit Museum aspires to create an authentic and engaging experience that broadens perspectives about the histories of pharmacy and health sciences for everyone."

I truly thought we would be the only people there but there was another group and we were told we could join their actual tour. But we decided to go it alone and we're glad we did. We found another docent who is a retired pharmacist and thoroughly enjoyed being a volunteer. I should have recorded some of his stories. The pictures show you some of the artifacts they have.

The museum began in 1966 with Jesse Hurlbut, a pharmacist and hobby historian. He collected all things pharmaceutical for decades and when he retired, he donated his collection to the University of Arizona Pharmacy College. For 55 years the museum had a highly unusual layout Exhibits were spread throughout the building in hallways and lobbies. In 2021 alumni R. Ken Coit donated the money for the space where the collection could be together in one space. Some of the older exhibits were left where they were because they would have been hard to move. 

Some of the items in the collection are the Upjohn Pharmacy collection that was located on Main Stret U.S.A. at Disneyland from 1955 to 1970, an Old Time Drugstore with a counter we could sit at, a large array of beauty products and so much more.

We asked our tour guide to recommend a place for lunch. He suggested we go to the Guadalajara Grill. It was busy but the food was really good. This woman comes over to your table to ask if you want her make your salsa for you. Now that was really good. Pat and Marilyn also had guacamole which they loved.

 

This post is long and we have two more stops that will be in the next blog post.