We had been talking quite some time about visiting Biosphere 2, where those scientists stayed for two years, back in the early 90's with no outside contact except for phone calls & emails. Since Jack & Jeanne had never been there either, we decided to go. The biosphere is located just north of downtown Tucson, about 20 miles, I say downtown, because slowly but surely, the outside communities are growing closer to the structure. It is now owned by the Arizona college system & they continue doing experiments of all kinds.

The tour was great & our guide was quite knowledgeable about everything. It's hard to imagine those 8 people living there for so long & not even being able to go outside! They grew all their own food and even had animals for milk & eggs. They recycled all waste, including animal, back into drinking water....yes, you heard me right, all I can say is ICK!!! I don't care how much it is filtered and all, I am NOT going to drink anything that is made out of human or animal waste!! Anyway, the thing that did them in, the reason they stopped with the experiment is that they weren't getting any research done at all. They were too busy planting, harvesting, replanting, taking care of the animals & fixing broken equipment. The first group was in there two years, the second only six months before they closed it down. But, some of the areas are just like they were back then, and it was interesting seeing the different environments within the walls and where they lived & ate together.