With the weather warming up and Spring replacing Winter, we decided it was time to get out of Tucson . . . before the daytime temperatures got too hot. We need to be in South Texas mid-May, so we decided to go to the high desert in New Mexico for a couple of weeks to see some new scenery and kill some time enroute.
A park near Roswell, New Mexico, really sounded interesting; Bottomless Lakes State Park. This would give us interesting scenery and unusual geology, plus we could be on the lookout for alien sightings in the Roswell area . . . the "UFO Capital of the World".
So, with adventure in the wind, we pulled up stakes in Tucson and set our sails for Roswell, New Mexico, and the Bottomless Lakes.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Tucson at Night
Throughout the winter we spent in Tucson, our good friends, Joe and Marty Chandler from Fort Wayne, Indiana, were telling us that we really needed to see "Tucson at Night" . . . driving North up to the end of Campbell Street in the foothills above Tucson. So, during our last week in Tucson, we all drove to the end of Campbell Street to see "Tucson at Night".
Sure enough, it was worth the trip. We were just high enough in the foothills North of the city to be able to look down on the city lights. It was very pretty, like flying into a city after dark . . . "Tucson at Night".
Sure enough, it was worth the trip. We were just high enough in the foothills North of the city to be able to look down on the city lights. It was very pretty, like flying into a city after dark . . . "Tucson at Night".
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Cold War - Revisited
The Cold War extended from the end of WW II to 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. During that time, the United States was at war . . . "The Cold War". US stratagy was called "Mutual Assured Destruction". That is, if either side initiated a nuclear strike, the other country had the capability to destroy the opponent. This strategy gave birth to the Inter-Contiental Balistic Missile . . . behomuths of metal, electronics, rocket fuel, and multiple nuclear warheads.
One of the most awesome of these behomuths in the United States assenal was the Titan II Missile which was on alert, at-the-ready, in blast-proof underground silos in 54 locations across the country. These awesome liquid fueled rockets with multiple nuclear warheads stood 103 feet tall, but were buried from view and destruction in these underground silos.
At the end of "The Cold War", a treaty between The United States and the Soviet Union required the dis-mantling of both missles and the silos in which they were protected. All such missles and installations in this country were destroyed except one, all under the watchful eye of scientists from the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union's approval, that one Titan II Missile and one silo were preserved as a museum near Tucson, Aizona. The missile and the silo are, of course, inoperable.
My long-time friend, Joe Chandler, and I had the opportunity to tour this facility . . . truly "The Cold War - Revisited".
A large metal building in front of the underground silo serves as a Visitor's Center and Museum, where many exhibits provide an introduction to the events of the time.
The missile silo behind the Visitor's Center is covered in concrete with massive steel blast-proof doors which were designed to roll away for firing of the missile, but today are permanantly blocked from opening more than half way . . . and the Russians monitor this site by satelitte and personal inspections.
The Titan Missile in the silo is shockingly huge. The viewing area was only about ten feet from the warhead which, of course, is a dummy approved by the Russians.
The missile itself is very tall. We only went down to the second level of the silo, where the Control Room is located, but there are eight levels in total. The lower levels were used primarily for fueling and maintenance. This is a photo looking down into the silo from the second level.
We toured the crew's quarters and walked down long blast-proof hallways passing through massive steel doors and 20-30 foot thick walls of reinforced concrete to the Control Room. Everywhere we looked, there was piping and huge electric cables.
The Control Room was awesome . . . a computer room from the 60's with so many redundancies. No crew member was ever allowed to be alone anywhere in the silo, except in the Crew's Quarters. It took at least two crew members to do anything, especially a launch.
The Tour Guide led us through a simulated launch of the Titan Missile, which could be launched within 58 seconds of a Launch Command and be delivered to a target up to 5,500 miles away in less than 30 minutes. Our tour was extremely educational and really, almost kind of chilling to see the world of the 50's and 60's . . . and what could have been.
It really was "The Cold War - Revisited".
One of the most awesome of these behomuths in the United States assenal was the Titan II Missile which was on alert, at-the-ready, in blast-proof underground silos in 54 locations across the country. These awesome liquid fueled rockets with multiple nuclear warheads stood 103 feet tall, but were buried from view and destruction in these underground silos.
At the end of "The Cold War", a treaty between The United States and the Soviet Union required the dis-mantling of both missles and the silos in which they were protected. All such missles and installations in this country were destroyed except one, all under the watchful eye of scientists from the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union's approval, that one Titan II Missile and one silo were preserved as a museum near Tucson, Aizona. The missile and the silo are, of course, inoperable.
My long-time friend, Joe Chandler, and I had the opportunity to tour this facility . . . truly "The Cold War - Revisited".
A large metal building in front of the underground silo serves as a Visitor's Center and Museum, where many exhibits provide an introduction to the events of the time.
The missile silo behind the Visitor's Center is covered in concrete with massive steel blast-proof doors which were designed to roll away for firing of the missile, but today are permanantly blocked from opening more than half way . . . and the Russians monitor this site by satelitte and personal inspections.
The Titan Missile in the silo is shockingly huge. The viewing area was only about ten feet from the warhead which, of course, is a dummy approved by the Russians.
The missile itself is very tall. We only went down to the second level of the silo, where the Control Room is located, but there are eight levels in total. The lower levels were used primarily for fueling and maintenance. This is a photo looking down into the silo from the second level.
We toured the crew's quarters and walked down long blast-proof hallways passing through massive steel doors and 20-30 foot thick walls of reinforced concrete to the Control Room. Everywhere we looked, there was piping and huge electric cables.
The Control Room was awesome . . . a computer room from the 60's with so many redundancies. No crew member was ever allowed to be alone anywhere in the silo, except in the Crew's Quarters. It took at least two crew members to do anything, especially a launch.
The Tour Guide led us through a simulated launch of the Titan Missile, which could be launched within 58 seconds of a Launch Command and be delivered to a target up to 5,500 miles away in less than 30 minutes. Our tour was extremely educational and really, almost kind of chilling to see the world of the 50's and 60's . . . and what could have been.
It really was "The Cold War - Revisited".
Monday, April 16, 2012
Thunder and Lightning
The Davis-Monthan AFB at Tucson put on an Air Show over the weekend, which they called "Thunder and Lightning Over Arizona". A couple of guys here in the RV Park and I decided to take it in. The wives had no interest.
Rather than getting into the 100,000+ people crowd on the air base, we decided to set up chairs just outside the base on the back side, about 150 yards from the control tower. We had pretty good seats, but the telephoto setting on my camera didn't do the action justice.
The show included flyovers of the C-17 Globmaster transport, the heavy-duty long-range B-1B Lancer bomber, and the stealth flying-wing design B-2 Spirit bomber. Demonstrations of the A-10 Thunderbolt (nicknamed the Warthog), which are stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB, included simulated strafing and bombing passes.
At one point in the show, an A-10 flew in formation with the much smaller WW II F-51 Mustang. That brought back a lot of memories because when I was in the U.S. Air Force, my unit flew F-51 Mustangs.
The C-130 cargo plane, which is also stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB, demonstrated airborne refueling of two helicopters.
The T-33A Shooting Star put on quite a show, including some nice acrobatics.
An MV-22B Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter, then rotates the propellers forward to fly like an airplane demonstrated it's capability.
There were many stunt flying and aerobatics demonstrations . . .
Including a wing walker . . .
and a number of sky diving demonstrations . . .
But the highlight of the show was precision flying by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. They put on quite a show . . .
They flew six F-16C Fighting Falcon's with four of them demonstrating precision formation flying while two of them were performing low-level near-miss passes over the runway and manuvers with one flying right-side up and one flying upside down. They finished with all six flying in close formation and performing a starburst manuver. It was quite a sight!
I'm sorry my camera didn't record these arial demonstrations better . . . but, then, as they say, "you should have been there" for the "Thunder and Lightning Over Arizona".
Rather than getting into the 100,000+ people crowd on the air base, we decided to set up chairs just outside the base on the back side, about 150 yards from the control tower. We had pretty good seats, but the telephoto setting on my camera didn't do the action justice.
The show included flyovers of the C-17 Globmaster transport, the heavy-duty long-range B-1B Lancer bomber, and the stealth flying-wing design B-2 Spirit bomber. Demonstrations of the A-10 Thunderbolt (nicknamed the Warthog), which are stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB, included simulated strafing and bombing passes.
At one point in the show, an A-10 flew in formation with the much smaller WW II F-51 Mustang. That brought back a lot of memories because when I was in the U.S. Air Force, my unit flew F-51 Mustangs.
The C-130 cargo plane, which is also stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB, demonstrated airborne refueling of two helicopters.
The T-33A Shooting Star put on quite a show, including some nice acrobatics.
An MV-22B Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter, then rotates the propellers forward to fly like an airplane demonstrated it's capability.
There were many stunt flying and aerobatics demonstrations . . .
Including a wing walker . . .
and a number of sky diving demonstrations . . .
But the highlight of the show was precision flying by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. They put on quite a show . . .
They flew six F-16C Fighting Falcon's with four of them demonstrating precision formation flying while two of them were performing low-level near-miss passes over the runway and manuvers with one flying right-side up and one flying upside down. They finished with all six flying in close formation and performing a starburst manuver. It was quite a sight!
I'm sorry my camera didn't record these arial demonstrations better . . . but, then, as they say, "you should have been there" for the "Thunder and Lightning Over Arizona".
Monday, April 9, 2012
Millie's Easter
On Easter morning, I stepped outside to pick up the Sunday morning paper and discovered that the Easter Bunny had visited during the night. There, on the steps of "The Bus", was an Easter basket full of dogie treats. It must be for Millie.
I picked it up and took it inside for Millie. As far as I know, this is the first Easter basket Millie has ever received in her estimated 5 years of age. She thought it was pretty nice and was anxious to get into the treats.
We found that our neighbor here in the RV Park, Karl & Teri Kellner from Oregon, were the Easter Bunny.
On behalf of Millie, thanks Karl & Teri. The Easter basket is really cute, very cleverly decorated.
And . . . yes, Millie sure like the treats!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
A Dog's Life
We adopted our dog, Millie, in late-November, just before we left Kansas for Arizona. We were a little aprehensive about how Millie would take to RVing and how she would relate to other dogs in the area. But when we arrived at the RV Park in Tucson, we were pleasantly surprised to have a small Yorkshire Terrier named Missy right next door.
Millie:
Missy:
Millie and Missy became good friends and playmates almost immediately. The two of them spend lots of time under the awning on the patio running, wrestling, jumping, attacking, and just having a doggone good time.
Both of them mind well and stay close to the RV. Millie is lucky to have a lively playmate right next door. It gives her a lot of needed excercise in addition to the walks I make with her.
All of this along with a warm place to sleep and a dog dish that's always full of food. She may have been a "junkyard dog" before we adopted her, but look at her now. What a dog's life!
Millie:
Missy:
Millie and Missy became good friends and playmates almost immediately. The two of them spend lots of time under the awning on the patio running, wrestling, jumping, attacking, and just having a doggone good time.
Both of them mind well and stay close to the RV. Millie is lucky to have a lively playmate right next door. It gives her a lot of needed excercise in addition to the walks I make with her.
All of this along with a warm place to sleep and a dog dish that's always full of food. She may have been a "junkyard dog" before we adopted her, but look at her now. What a dog's life!
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