Friday
We decided to visit downtown Phoenix today.
Phoenix is the State Capital, which means that it has the State Capitol building. In this case the original building is now a museum. As so few people were visiting we were given a personal tour round the building by one of the volunteers, which was very interesting.
The building reflects Arizona is many ways, it is quite pretty, but small and AZ has always been minimalist its political process (history of public lynchings may have a bearing here). It also prides itself (as I am sure most states do) on going its own way. It was the last area of the 'contiguous 48 states' to receive statehood, February 14th 1912, with New Mexico beating it by a month. It is probably the most active in its support of the 2nd amendment. Incredibly rich in mineral resources, it is the second largest produce of copper, after Chile, in the world.
The State Capitol is now a museum which has exhibits which display much of Arizona's brief history. Very much to the fore is the fate of U.S.S. Arizona ( sunk in the raid on Pearl Harbor, now a monument in Pearl Harbor and a symbol to all Americans).
Frank Lloyd Wright used to live in Phoenix in the winter and there are several of his buildings to the East of Phoenix. He also designed a new State Capitol for Phoenix, a beautiful building, but the design was not adopted as it was too expensive. The newer, functional, precast concrete jungle buildings so common in the early 60's, now surround the the old capitol.
Among a number of interesting exhibits was some of the contents of Arizona's Merci Train Boxcar. Also an exhibit about the Harvey Girls, as well as a photographic exhibit about Native Americans in the 19th century.
Following our tour round the Capitol we strolled the lovely gardens which surround it. The gardens are full of memorials to historical events. We read the time line of the Vietnam war, which now makes for horrendous reading with more than half a million US troops fighting there, it really does seem a senseless war there now.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Merci Train Boxcar
Merci Train Boxcar also known as the Gratitude Train
We discovered that in 1948 US charities sent 700 boxcars (rail freight cars) to France, full of of donated materials. By way of thanks the French sent 49 box cars back full of gifts for the Americans, one for each state (Hawaii and Washington D.C. had to share one). Many of these box cars are preserved in museums across the country.
The box cars were called 'Forty and Eight Boxcars' as they are all stamped with '40/8', meaning that they could carry either forty men or eight horses. They were used extensively in the first world war to transport troops. they became an icon of that war. After the war a 'select' group of American Legion activists set up a fraternal group (like the Masons, or Moose club) for the betterment of their fellow man called the '40&8's'. They are well known for their Forty and Eight Scholarships. When the boxcars arrived from France the Forty and Eights took on the responsibility for distributing the gifts and now are often involved in their preservation. The Arizona Boxcar now resides in McCormick Park. The exhibit in the museum included several interesting items. A lovely wedding dress, which sadly has never been worn. Also a somewhat battered Peugeot racing cycle circa 1948, which, complete with Simplex derailleur gears looks little different from my first bike, or indeed any modern racing cycle (except the real racing, racing cycles).
Although we have not seen any of these famous boxcars we have passed close to some of them. In Tennessee we passed within about 100 yards of one when we were in Bristol. Our closest encounter was in Jackson, Mississippi when we walked from the Old State Capitol through an underpass to Hal and Mal's restaurant. The boxcar was just about 30 yards away, but hidden by an embankment. Well there you go. We shall now have to keep an eye out for other boxcars on our travels. Roll on Fresno!
The Harvey Girls
It is amazing that when you are traveling how themes start to develop. Some of the themes that we have interacted with are the exploits of the Butterfield Stage Routes right across the West, Twenty Mule Teams (the workhorse of the western Mineral Workings), Route 66 and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Seeing an exhibition of the Harvey Girls in Arizona State Capitol Museum reminded us that we have come across this name before. We first encountered The Harvey House Restaurants and the Harvey Girls in Guthrie. Our British friends, I hear you say " Harvey House? what is that? I have never heard of this", our American friends will give a patronizing nod of the head and then sigh longingly for another icon of American history. Sally knew of the Harvey Girls through a book she had read and seen the 1946 Judy Garland film of the same name.
It seems that without realizing it our journeys have crossed the path of Fred Harvey on many occasions!
Briefly he was probably the first person to start a chain of special restaurants which served rail travellers from the 1870's until the 1970's. But they grew into much more than this, a veritable institution! As usual in America it makes a fascinating story.
So if you only have a little time then I urge you to read this review of the importance of Fred Harvey, ........or you can read more about The Harvey Girls here .......and the Harvey Restaurants here......... or .... lastly here.
Including Guthrie we have been in three Harvey Houses- Guthrie Station (briefly), we also had lunch in La Fonda Hotel,which was a Harvey House in Santa Fe, now restored and a fabulous hotel and restaurant and we also toured the visitor centre at Painted Desert National Park, which was originally a Harvey House Restaurant. Though we have passed close to 28 more of these restaurants.
Maybe I will dig out some pics and maybe we will see some more Harvey Houses on our travels.
Harvey Houses we have passed within a mile of.
In Arizona:
Seeing an exhibition of the Harvey Girls in Arizona State Capitol Museum reminded us that we have come across this name before. We first encountered The Harvey House Restaurants and the Harvey Girls in Guthrie. Our British friends, I hear you say " Harvey House? what is that? I have never heard of this", our American friends will give a patronizing nod of the head and then sigh longingly for another icon of American history. Sally knew of the Harvey Girls through a book she had read and seen the 1946 Judy Garland film of the same name.
It seems that without realizing it our journeys have crossed the path of Fred Harvey on many occasions!
Briefly he was probably the first person to start a chain of special restaurants which served rail travellers from the 1870's until the 1970's. But they grew into much more than this, a veritable institution! As usual in America it makes a fascinating story.
So if you only have a little time then I urge you to read this review of the importance of Fred Harvey, ........or you can read more about The Harvey Girls here .......and the Harvey Restaurants here......... or .... lastly here.
Including Guthrie we have been in three Harvey Houses- Guthrie Station (briefly), we also had lunch in La Fonda Hotel,which was a Harvey House in Santa Fe, now restored and a fabulous hotel and restaurant and we also toured the visitor centre at Painted Desert National Park, which was originally a Harvey House Restaurant. Though we have passed close to 28 more of these restaurants.
Maybe I will dig out some pics and maybe we will see some more Harvey Houses on our travels.
Harvey Houses we have passed within a mile of.
In Arizona:
Ash Fork: “Escalante” Hotel
The Grand Canyon - South Rim
Kingman: Santa Fe Eating House
Seligman: “Havasu” Hotel
Petrified Forest National Park: Painted Desert Inn
Phoenix: Union Station News Stand and “Green Gables” Restaurant
Williams: “Fray Marcos” Hotel
Winslow: Old Santa Fe Hotel & “La Posada” Hotel
The Grand Canyon - South Rim
Kingman: Santa Fe Eating House
Seligman: “Havasu” Hotel
Petrified Forest National Park: Painted Desert Inn
Phoenix: Union Station News Stand and “Green Gables” Restaurant
Williams: “Fray Marcos” Hotel
Winslow: Old Santa Fe Hotel & “La Posada” Hotel
In California:
Bakersfield: Santa Fe Eating House
Barstow: “Casa del Desierto” Hotel
Fresno: Santa Fe News Stand
Mojave: Santa Fe Eating House
San Bernardino: Santa Fe Eating House
San Diego: Santa Fe Lunch Room and Shops
San Francisco: Ferry Building News Stand, “San Pedro” Santa Fe Ferry, Santa Fe Bus Terminal
Merced: Santa Fe Eating House
Bakersfield: Santa Fe Eating House
Barstow: “Casa del Desierto” Hotel
Fresno: Santa Fe News Stand
Mojave: Santa Fe Eating House
San Bernardino: Santa Fe Eating House
San Diego: Santa Fe Lunch Room and Shops
San Francisco: Ferry Building News Stand, “San Pedro” Santa Fe Ferry, Santa Fe Bus Terminal
Merced: Santa Fe Eating House
In New Mexico:
Albuquerque: “Alvarado” Hotel
Clovis: “Gran Quivira” Hotel
Las Cruces: News Stand
Santa Fe: “La Fonda” Hotel
Albuquerque: “Alvarado” Hotel
Clovis: “Gran Quivira” Hotel
Las Cruces: News Stand
Santa Fe: “La Fonda” Hotel
In Oklahoma:
Ardmore: Santa Fe News Stand
Oklahoma City
Ardmore: Santa Fe News Stand
Oklahoma City
In Texas:
Amarillo: Santa Fe Hotel
Dallas: Santa Fe Eating House
El Paso: Union Passenger Station Restaurant and Shops
Fort Worth: Santa Fe Eating House
Gainesville: Santa Fe Eating House
Galveston: Santa Fe Eating House
Temple: Santa Fe Hotel
Amarillo: Santa Fe Hotel
Dallas: Santa Fe Eating House
El Paso: Union Passenger Station Restaurant and Shops
Fort Worth: Santa Fe Eating House
Gainesville: Santa Fe Eating House
Galveston: Santa Fe Eating House
Temple: Santa Fe Hotel
Picacho State Park and on to Royal Palms
Wednesday
Having pulled into Picacho State Park we found our site, a large flat site, but then when you are in the middle of the desert space is not really at a premium.
We spent all of Wednesday doing nothing but relaxing in the sunshine, with a short drive to the visitor centre and I had a short walk through the desert, checking out the local birds and the giant Seguaro. Very pleasant.
Thursday
Time to move on, we want to make sure that Phoenix it self is not missed out of our itinery so we are returning to Royal Palms (where we finished our last trip) for a few days, mostly to take advantage of their pool.
We drove the 85 miles and arrived in time for a dip and then took up the invite to play bingo with the residents.
Bingo
US bingo is different. they use a grid of 5 x 5 numbers (free in the middle), each column has a letter above Col 1 is 'B', col 2 is 'I'' etc. then the numbers are split into 15's which are distributed at random in each column, so col 1 can be 5 numbers from 1 - 15 in any order. So when they call it is a letter and a number.
I don't know if it was just this caller, but there were no number descriptions, like "two little ducks 22", "Two fat ladies 88". However as wit most bingo the people we were with were lovely and welcoming and there were home made cookies and coffee while we played. I felt really, really bad by scooping the rolloever jackpot, which had been standing for a few weeks, of $60!!!!! But again everybody seemed very happy for me to have won.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Tuscon Botanical Gardens
Sunday
A short drive along Grant takes us to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. We took a picnic and hoped for a pleasant day. we were not disappointed. The gardens are well laid out, though rather specializing in desert type plants. There were lots of succulents and cacti as well as a lot of aromatic plants and herbs.
Of most interest was the butterfly and orchid house. We spent a fair amount of time there trying to identify butterflies and take photos.
We had our picnic in the shade of a grapefruit tree then explored some other areas. We stumbled across an landscape gardening competition, a bit like Chelsea Flower show, but only four local entrants, still it was interesting. The last area of note was what is termed a community garden, quite common in mexico, what was attractive was the prayer tree, on which people hang trinkets and icons as a prayer request. This had been simplified to small wooden hearts which had been decorated. It was a very peaceful area.#
Quite an enjoyable excursion.
I get hung up on taking nice pics, so here are some more.
Monday was designated a quiet day, we lazed around in the sun and then mid afternoon took off to the local Texas Roadhouse for our first steak of this trip! Very nice meal, then a quick waltz round Walmart, which happened to be next door.
Tuesday
Time to move on, having sucked Tucson dry of all its tourist adventure potential we are starting our drive West, not far, Picacho State Park is only 34 miles away, but is an isolated State Park in the middle of the Saguaro Desert, even if it is only a few miles from the Interstate 10 and a railway. We plan to try and chill out for a couple of days in the heat of the desert before moving on to see a bit more of Phoenix at the weekend.
A short drive along Grant takes us to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. We took a picnic and hoped for a pleasant day. we were not disappointed. The gardens are well laid out, though rather specializing in desert type plants. There were lots of succulents and cacti as well as a lot of aromatic plants and herbs.
Of most interest was the butterfly and orchid house. We spent a fair amount of time there trying to identify butterflies and take photos.
We had our picnic in the shade of a grapefruit tree then explored some other areas. We stumbled across an landscape gardening competition, a bit like Chelsea Flower show, but only four local entrants, still it was interesting. The last area of note was what is termed a community garden, quite common in mexico, what was attractive was the prayer tree, on which people hang trinkets and icons as a prayer request. This had been simplified to small wooden hearts which had been decorated. It was a very peaceful area.#
Quite an enjoyable excursion.
I get hung up on taking nice pics, so here are some more.
Monday was designated a quiet day, we lazed around in the sun and then mid afternoon took off to the local Texas Roadhouse for our first steak of this trip! Very nice meal, then a quick waltz round Walmart, which happened to be next door.
Tuesday
Time to move on, having sucked Tucson dry of all its tourist adventure potential we are starting our drive West, not far, Picacho State Park is only 34 miles away, but is an isolated State Park in the middle of the Saguaro Desert, even if it is only a few miles from the Interstate 10 and a railway. We plan to try and chill out for a couple of days in the heat of the desert before moving on to see a bit more of Phoenix at the weekend.
Sunday
A short drive along Grant takes us to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. We took a picnic and hoped for a pleasant day. we were not disappointed. The gardens are well laid out, though rather specializing in desert type plants. There were lots of succulents and cacti as well as a lot of aromatic plants and herbs.
Of most interest was the butterfly and orchid house. We spent a fair amount of time there trying to identify butterflies and take photos.
We had our picnic in the shade of a grapefruit tree then explored some other areas. We stumbled across an landscape gardening competition, a bit like Chelsea Flower show, but only four local entrants, still it was interesting. The last area of note was what is termed a community garden, quite common in mexico, what was attractive was the prayer tree, on which people hang trinkets and icons as a prayer request. This had been simplified to small wooden hearts which had been decorated. It was a very peaceful area.#
Quite an enjoyable excursion.
I get hung up on taking nice pics, so here are some more.
Monday was designated a quiet day, we lazed around in the sun and then mid afternoon took off to the local Texas Roadhouse for our first steak of this trip! Very nice meal, then a quick waltz round Walmart, which happened to be next door.
Tuesday
Time to move on, having sucked Tucson dry of all its tourist adventure potential we are starting our drive West, not far, Picacho State Park is only 34 miles away, but is an isolated State Park in the middle of the Saguaro Desert, even if it is only a few miles from the Interstate 10 and a railway. We plan to try and chill out for a couple of days in the heat of the desert before moving on to see a bit more of Phoenix at the weekend.
A short drive along Grant takes us to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. We took a picnic and hoped for a pleasant day. we were not disappointed. The gardens are well laid out, though rather specializing in desert type plants. There were lots of succulents and cacti as well as a lot of aromatic plants and herbs.
Of most interest was the butterfly and orchid house. We spent a fair amount of time there trying to identify butterflies and take photos.
We had our picnic in the shade of a grapefruit tree then explored some other areas. We stumbled across an landscape gardening competition, a bit like Chelsea Flower show, but only four local entrants, still it was interesting. The last area of note was what is termed a community garden, quite common in mexico, what was attractive was the prayer tree, on which people hang trinkets and icons as a prayer request. This had been simplified to small wooden hearts which had been decorated. It was a very peaceful area.#
Quite an enjoyable excursion.
I get hung up on taking nice pics, so here are some more.
Tuesday
Time to move on, having sucked Tucson dry of all its tourist adventure potential we are starting our drive West, not far, Picacho State Park is only 34 miles away, but is an isolated State Park in the middle of the Saguaro Desert, even if it is only a few miles from the Interstate 10 and a railway. We plan to try and chill out for a couple of days in the heat of the desert before moving on to see a bit more of Phoenix at the weekend.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
4Th Ave Street Market
Saturday
4th Avenue in downtown Tucson is famous for its semi annual street fair, which happens to be this weekend, so we felt that we had to go along and have a look.
It was rather busy, but fun
All the normal booths, but some lovely art/craft work for sale, all too pricey or untransportable for us, but we enjoyed the stroll and the looking.
Sally was rather taken with a number of clothes for the grandkids (sorry, nothing bought) and Terry nearly fell asleep in a Hawaiian hammock chair.
A pleasant day out overall.
4th Avenue in downtown Tucson is famous for its semi annual street fair, which happens to be this weekend, so we felt that we had to go along and have a look.
It was rather busy, but fun
 |
| A lone policeman controls where the crowd and the traffic cross |
All the normal booths, but some lovely art/craft work for sale, all too pricey or untransportable for us, but we enjoyed the stroll and the looking.
 |
| An interesting 'Here's looking at you' peacock feather dress |
Saturday, March 23, 2013
San Xavier Mission
After visiting the Studio we figured that we had enough time to drive to the South of Tucson and stop by the old mission (by old we mean old). This mission was built in 1560 and is a beautiful example of Spanish church architecture, both inside and out. Unusually (for us with our limited expertise) the roof was made from a series vaulted domes, rather than the usual large rafters. It was very ornate inside and had many interesting icons and statues. As it as a couple of days before Palm Sunday the alter had a purple cloth and there were Easter Lilies around the church. We also walked through some of the other parts of the mission with its cactus gardens, which were very pretty. There were several pictures on the walls, one of them was of a native indian saint - Saint Keteri Tekatwitha, who lived in 1656-1680, but was only sanctified in 2012. There is some very interesting, and detailed, information about her and her way of life on Wiki.
A very pleasant afternoon.
A very pleasant afternoon.
Old Tucson Studio
Friday we visited the Old Tucson Studio up in the mountains very near to the Desert Museum.
We arrived fairly early as there was not a cloud in the sky and it promised to be a hot day. The studio was built in 1939 for the film 'Arizona' and for various political and financial reasons was not removed, but other bits were added on. The studios became one of the larger cowboy film studios and even though a lot of it was lost in a fire in 1997 it still has an impressive number of recognizable film sets.
Following a brief orientation tour we set off to see the set of High Chapparal, which Sally remembers from her childhood, meanwhile just across from there is the adobe wall and ruin used to good effect in Rio Bravo.
We stopped in at the Crystal Saloon to see a music hall show, what appears to be a wooden saloon is in fact a steel constructed studio, with a saloon and stage inside it. We enjoyed the short show.
We now walked down Main Street, stopping at the Old Mission, which was used for a lot of films, notably the Three Amigos and Tombstone. While there we watched a demonstration of a restored 1830's gatling gun, very impressive as it fired its 40 rounds in about 5 seconds.
After going to the courthouse to see a short movie showing the many films made there we picnicked outside a saloon and then had a wander past the old mine and schoolhouse before deciding that we had seen enough.
An interesting place, though a little short on information.
We arrived fairly early as there was not a cloud in the sky and it promised to be a hot day. The studio was built in 1939 for the film 'Arizona' and for various political and financial reasons was not removed, but other bits were added on. The studios became one of the larger cowboy film studios and even though a lot of it was lost in a fire in 1997 it still has an impressive number of recognizable film sets.
Following a brief orientation tour we set off to see the set of High Chapparal, which Sally remembers from her childhood, meanwhile just across from there is the adobe wall and ruin used to good effect in Rio Bravo.
We stopped in at the Crystal Saloon to see a music hall show, what appears to be a wooden saloon is in fact a steel constructed studio, with a saloon and stage inside it. We enjoyed the short show.
We now walked down Main Street, stopping at the Old Mission, which was used for a lot of films, notably the Three Amigos and Tombstone. While there we watched a demonstration of a restored 1830's gatling gun, very impressive as it fired its 40 rounds in about 5 seconds.
After going to the courthouse to see a short movie showing the many films made there we picnicked outside a saloon and then had a wander past the old mine and schoolhouse before deciding that we had seen enough.
An interesting place, though a little short on information.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Arizona Desert Museum
Friday
Today we drove out from Tucson into the Sonora Desert to visit the Desert Museum.
A museum dedicated to the desert. Fortunately we took lunch with us as the visit took longer than we anticipated.
We followed the guided walk along its paved paths, visiting sections about the desert. It's geology, climate, minerals, animals, plants, birds, insects and, yes, fish!
The highlight was visiting the hummingbird enclosure, where we spent nearly an hour. It was lovely to see hummingbirds with their young, or sitting on their nest, or just bombing around finding nectar in flowers, or from the feeders. A great day that gave us a good insight into the Sonora Desert.
These and all ourblogs are indexed by date in the list on the right hand side of this page
Today we drove out from Tucson into the Sonora Desert to visit the Desert Museum.
A museum dedicated to the desert. Fortunately we took lunch with us as the visit took longer than we anticipated.
We followed the guided walk along its paved paths, visiting sections about the desert. It's geology, climate, minerals, animals, plants, birds, insects and, yes, fish!
The highlight was visiting the hummingbird enclosure, where we spent nearly an hour. It was lovely to see hummingbirds with their young, or sitting on their nest, or just bombing around finding nectar in flowers, or from the feeders. A great day that gave us a good insight into the Sonora Desert.
The visit prompted me to put a couple of more specific blogs up, so just before this blog you can find:
Flowers of the Desert 2
Our visit to the Arizona Desert Museum enabled us to see a variety of flowers that are found in the Sonora Desert. My practice in Sabino Canyon helped to get some more really nice photos.
Seguaro Cactus
Nothing defines desert in Arizona more clearly that Seguaro Cactus (pronounced say-where-oh).
It is a feature of the Sonora Desert, which stretches from New Mexico almost to the Pacific, from Mexico north to Needles AZ.
It is an interesting plant in many ways.
Its habitat is defined very clearly by climate: it must remain frost free during the day all year round.
It must have summer rains (monsoon).
They only grow from the top. If the top dies (say struck by lightning) it does not continue to grow upwards, though may well put out arms to continue growth
It grows very slowly, about one inch per year
Seguaro can live for more than 200 years, thus often exceeding 20ft tall.
They only flower after 45 years
They only grow 'arms' after 75 years
Their roots are rarely more than 6 inches below ground, but are as long as the Seguaro is tall.
A mature plant may weigh several tons
The seguaro is not just water inside, it has a wooden structure which is left behind when the plant dies.
All things considered it is a fascinating plant.
It is a feature of the Sonora Desert, which stretches from New Mexico almost to the Pacific, from Mexico north to Needles AZ.
It is an interesting plant in many ways.
Its habitat is defined very clearly by climate: it must remain frost free during the day all year round.
It must have summer rains (monsoon).
They only grow from the top. If the top dies (say struck by lightning) it does not continue to grow upwards, though may well put out arms to continue growth
It grows very slowly, about one inch per year
Seguaro can live for more than 200 years, thus often exceeding 20ft tall.
They only flower after 45 years
They only grow 'arms' after 75 years
Their roots are rarely more than 6 inches below ground, but are as long as the Seguaro is tall.
A mature plant may weigh several tons
The seguaro is not just water inside, it has a wooden structure which is left behind when the plant dies.
All things considered it is a fascinating plant.
More Hummingbirds
Our visit to the Arizona Desert Museum enabled us to see hummingbirds close up in a walk in aviary.
We had a fascinating time and took a few pictures of these amazing birds.
We had a fascinating time and took a few pictures of these amazing birds.
Flowers of the Desert
Wednesday 20th March
Today we visited the Sabino Canyon, just North East of Tucson. We took the shuttle ride up the canyon for a picnic and the rode back. We had a lovely time.
While walking there we found a huge variety of flowers,, such as you could not really imagine in a 'desert environment'. So here are some pics of the flowers we found. No names for them I am afraid, except the red fluffy flower which is called Fairy Duster.
While walking there we found a huge variety of flowers,, such as you could not really imagine in a 'desert environment'. So here are some pics of the flowers we found. No names for them I am afraid, except the red fluffy flower which is called Fairy Duster.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Titan Missile Silo
We packed up and left the very pleasant site of Patagonia Lake State Park really early, though we lost half an hour when the GPS directed us down a tarmac road which after 5 miles turned into a dirt road, so we had to do a three point turn and come back, no fun for a rig more than 50 foot long. Once we had passed Nogales the then had to pass through the Border Check Point (no we had not been across to Mexico, but all roads from Mexico have the check point), this tiem we were waved through without comment - Phew!
As we were still well up on time we decided to visit the Titan Missile Museum south of Tucson. What a fascinating place. It is the only missile silo that is still in 'working order', preserved as a piece of history and accessible to the public. The rest of this blog is probably quite boring to many, so don't worry if you skip it.
But the pictures are fun:
Our tour guide was a man called Steve, who had been a crew member from 1956 until 1964, that meant the he was the guy who had his hand on the button of a nuclear missile right through the Cuban Missile Crisis. He explained took place in the control room. The team of four worked a 24 hour shift, every action on duty required two people to work together. The closest thing that there is to a launch code was a butterfly vavle on the main fuel line to the rocket motors. That could only be operated if a combination code was fed in to the control panel. The control code was kept in a filing cabinet that had two locks on it. The launch was started by a radio message from HQ, which consisted of a series of codes. The codes had corresponding codes in the filing cabinets that had to match, then provided the Butterfly valve code. You had 7 goes to get the code right, then the panel would destroy itself. On entering the sequence two keys, 7 feet aparet, had to be turned together, which started the launch sequence. Once the butterfly valve was opened and the sequence started there was no 'off' switch - the missile would launch. Its flight path was determined by paper punch tapes, the crew had no knowledge of the target.
We then went and saw the Titan II missile, still standing in its silo, where it had been for more than 50 years. The same type of rocket that launched Colonel John Glenn into orbit in the Gemini Space Capsule. in 1963.
There were 54 Titan II silos in USA, no missiles were ever fired from them. Training flights were carried out at Van Den Burgh Airbase in California.
The technology was basic but very well thought out. Both the missile and the control room were spring mounted and could move more than a foot in any direction, or rather stay where they were if the ground moved, as might happen in a nuclear attack nearby. All the systems had back ups and though they were electro mechanical rather than electronic, they all functioned well. The silo was hardened with steel and concrete walls between 4 and 8 feet thick, and doors to match. The entrance had two doors in, with an airlock in between. One door could not open unless the other was shut, in case there was a nuclear attack at the very moment the door opened. If they had had to fire the missile there was no back up pan for afterwards, they were told that the air inside would keep them alive for up to 15 days, after that they were on their own, though there was an escape tube/air conditioning vent which gave them emergency access to the outside.
I repeat it was fascinating to experience being in the complex that at once protected and threatened the world at the turn of a key. The titan II missiles were in operation from 1962 until 1983.
As we were still well up on time we decided to visit the Titan Missile Museum south of Tucson. What a fascinating place. It is the only missile silo that is still in 'working order', preserved as a piece of history and accessible to the public. The rest of this blog is probably quite boring to many, so don't worry if you skip it.
But the pictures are fun:
Our tour guide was a man called Steve, who had been a crew member from 1956 until 1964, that meant the he was the guy who had his hand on the button of a nuclear missile right through the Cuban Missile Crisis. He explained took place in the control room. The team of four worked a 24 hour shift, every action on duty required two people to work together. The closest thing that there is to a launch code was a butterfly vavle on the main fuel line to the rocket motors. That could only be operated if a combination code was fed in to the control panel. The control code was kept in a filing cabinet that had two locks on it. The launch was started by a radio message from HQ, which consisted of a series of codes. The codes had corresponding codes in the filing cabinets that had to match, then provided the Butterfly valve code. You had 7 goes to get the code right, then the panel would destroy itself. On entering the sequence two keys, 7 feet aparet, had to be turned together, which started the launch sequence. Once the butterfly valve was opened and the sequence started there was no 'off' switch - the missile would launch. Its flight path was determined by paper punch tapes, the crew had no knowledge of the target.
We then went and saw the Titan II missile, still standing in its silo, where it had been for more than 50 years. The same type of rocket that launched Colonel John Glenn into orbit in the Gemini Space Capsule. in 1963.
There were 54 Titan II silos in USA, no missiles were ever fired from them. Training flights were carried out at Van Den Burgh Airbase in California.
The technology was basic but very well thought out. Both the missile and the control room were spring mounted and could move more than a foot in any direction, or rather stay where they were if the ground moved, as might happen in a nuclear attack nearby. All the systems had back ups and though they were electro mechanical rather than electronic, they all functioned well. The silo was hardened with steel and concrete walls between 4 and 8 feet thick, and doors to match. The entrance had two doors in, with an airlock in between. One door could not open unless the other was shut, in case there was a nuclear attack at the very moment the door opened. If they had had to fire the missile there was no back up pan for afterwards, they were told that the air inside would keep them alive for up to 15 days, after that they were on their own, though there was an escape tube/air conditioning vent which gave them emergency access to the outside.
I repeat it was fascinating to experience being in the complex that at once protected and threatened the world at the turn of a key. The titan II missiles were in operation from 1962 until 1983.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Patagonia Lake State Park and its birds
We are now camping for a second night at Patagonia Lake State Park. A pretty lakeside campground up in the Coronado Hills, south of Tucson, about 15 miles from the Mexican Border. We have had a very relaxing day. we had a ramble round the campground this morning seeing lots of different birds, Hummingbirds, Orioles, Gold finches and hawks. One of the RV's here has a whole load of bird feeding stations and a couple of chairs with a notice to invite anyone passing to sit and watch the birds for a while, so we did.
Tomorrow we move on to Tucson to test the delights of that city.
March 17th - Everybody Loves A Parade
Tombstone, The Town Too Tough To Die!
That is its favourite mission statement, you see it everywhere.
This weekend they had a celebration (also St Patricks Day) of the USO, American Armed Forces with all sorts of activities and demonstrations on Saturday but culminating in a parade down Allan Street on Sunday morning. Not wanting to miss w parade we hitched up the trailer, took a lawn chair and found ourselves a nice place at the side of the road, just outside Big Nose Kates Saloon Bar and settle in to wait for the parade.
At 11.00 a rendition of the National Anthem was sung and the parade started. It consisted mostly of motor cycles driven by ex service men, some people riding ponies and a number of locals dressed in 1880's costumes. There was also a monster truck and the local fire department brought up the rear with all lights blazing.
It was great fun to watch (though not in the same league as the Dade City Christmas parade) and this left us in good humour to move on.
We drove a short distance to Sierra Vista, where we stopped for food at Fry's and lunch at Denny's. Sierra Vista is the town which is beside Fort Huachaca, still an army base. However it dates back to the 1860's when the U.S. was at war with the Cochise Indians, this is the era of the Apaches and Geronimo. From Tombstone you could look to the North across the prairy to Cochise Stronghold where Geronimo held out against the army for many years. You could also look South West to Fort Huachaca, where the Army were based and could easily imagine how the two forces would watch each other. The cavalry too strong for Geronimo to defeat. The Indians mountain fortress too impregnable to be taken - stalemate. Finally ended when the honourable and respectable army took all the indian women and children into captivity and held them hostage until the Indians surrendered. Three cheers for the good guys.
We then drove up into the mountains to find the lovely Patagonia Lake State Park, just near the border with Mexico. Very peaceful, even though it is full with families on Spring Break Vacation.
That is its favourite mission statement, you see it everywhere.
This weekend they had a celebration (also St Patricks Day) of the USO, American Armed Forces with all sorts of activities and demonstrations on Saturday but culminating in a parade down Allan Street on Sunday morning. Not wanting to miss w parade we hitched up the trailer, took a lawn chair and found ourselves a nice place at the side of the road, just outside Big Nose Kates Saloon Bar and settle in to wait for the parade.
At 11.00 a rendition of the National Anthem was sung and the parade started. It consisted mostly of motor cycles driven by ex service men, some people riding ponies and a number of locals dressed in 1880's costumes. There was also a monster truck and the local fire department brought up the rear with all lights blazing.
It was great fun to watch (though not in the same league as the Dade City Christmas parade) and this left us in good humour to move on.
We drove a short distance to Sierra Vista, where we stopped for food at Fry's and lunch at Denny's. Sierra Vista is the town which is beside Fort Huachaca, still an army base. However it dates back to the 1860's when the U.S. was at war with the Cochise Indians, this is the era of the Apaches and Geronimo. From Tombstone you could look to the North across the prairy to Cochise Stronghold where Geronimo held out against the army for many years. You could also look South West to Fort Huachaca, where the Army were based and could easily imagine how the two forces would watch each other. The cavalry too strong for Geronimo to defeat. The Indians mountain fortress too impregnable to be taken - stalemate. Finally ended when the honourable and respectable army took all the indian women and children into captivity and held them hostage until the Indians surrendered. Three cheers for the good guys.
We then drove up into the mountains to find the lovely Patagonia Lake State Park, just near the border with Mexico. Very peaceful, even though it is full with families on Spring Break Vacation.
Everybody Loves A Parade
Tombstone, The Town Too Tough To Die!
That is its favourite mission statement, you see it everywhere.
This weekend they had a celebration (also St Patricks Day) of the USO, American Armed Forces with all sorts of activities and demonstrations on Saturday but culminating in a parade down Allan Street on Sunday morning. Not wanting to miss w parade we hitched up the trailer, took a lawn chair and found ourselves a nice place at the side of the road, just outside Big Nose Kates Saloon Bar and settle in to wait for the parade.
At 11.00 a rendition of the National Anthem was sung and the parade started. It consisted mostly of motor cycles driven by ex service men, some people riding ponies and a number of locals dressed in 1880's costumes. There was also a monster truck and the local fire department brought up the rear with all lights blazing.
It was great fun to watch (though not in the same league as the Dade City Christmas parade) and this left us in good humour to move on.
We drove a short distance to Sierra Vista, where we stopped for food at Fry's and lunch at Denny's. Sierra Vista is the town which is beside Fort Huachaca, still an army base. However it dates back to the 1860's when the U.S. was at war with the Cochise Indians, this is the era of the Apaches and Geronimo. From Tombstone you could look to the North across the prairy to Cochise Stronghold where Geronimo held out against the army for many years. You could also look South West to Fort Huachaca, where the Army were based and could easily imagine how the two forces would watch each other. The cavalry too strong for Geronimo to defeat. The Indians mountain fortress too impregnable to be taken - stalemate. Finally ended when the honourable and respectable army took all the indian women and children into captivity and held them hostage until the Indians surrendered. Three cheers for the good guys.
We then drove up into the mountains to find the lovely Patagonia Lake State Park, just near the border with Mexico. Very peaceful, even though it is full with families on Spring Break Vacation.
That is its favourite mission statement, you see it everywhere.
This weekend they had a celebration (also St Patricks Day) of the USO, American Armed Forces with all sorts of activities and demonstrations on Saturday but culminating in a parade down Allan Street on Sunday morning. Not wanting to miss w parade we hitched up the trailer, took a lawn chair and found ourselves a nice place at the side of the road, just outside Big Nose Kates Saloon Bar and settle in to wait for the parade.
At 11.00 a rendition of the National Anthem was sung and the parade started. It consisted mostly of motor cycles driven by ex service men, some people riding ponies and a number of locals dressed in 1880's costumes. There was also a monster truck and the local fire department brought up the rear with all lights blazing.
It was great fun to watch (though not in the same league as the Dade City Christmas parade) and this left us in good humour to move on.
We drove a short distance to Sierra Vista, where we stopped for food at Fry's and lunch at Denny's. Sierra Vista is the town which is beside Fort Huachaca, still an army base. However it dates back to the 1860's when the U.S. was at war with the Cochise Indians, this is the era of the Apaches and Geronimo. From Tombstone you could look to the North across the prairy to Cochise Stronghold where Geronimo held out against the army for many years. You could also look South West to Fort Huachaca, where the Army were based and could easily imagine how the two forces would watch each other. The cavalry too strong for Geronimo to defeat. The Indians mountain fortress too impregnable to be taken - stalemate. Finally ended when the honourable and respectable army took all the indian women and children into captivity and held them hostage until the Indians surrendered. Three cheers for the good guys.
We then drove up into the mountains to find the lovely Patagonia Lake State Park, just near the border with Mexico. Very peaceful, even though it is full with families on Spring Break Vacation.
March 16th - Bisbee
Now there is a name for a town - Bisbee!
It was named after a judge in the 1880's, though he never set foot in the town!
What an amazing place, possibly one of the most fascinating places we have visited (and we have visited a few). We drove the short 26 miles from Tombstone on Saturday, not quite knowing what to expect.
This was a real frontier town, it is built at the confluence of a couple of narrow canyons. Houses were crowded into the narrow gulches and built right up the sides of the mountains, the only access was, and still is, by steps, hundreds of them). It's origins are based in the discovery of copper, huge amounts of it, both high grade ore, which was dug out using mines, 2000 miles of mining tunnels are beneath Bisbee and low grade ore which was removed with huge open cast quarries, one of them is deep enough that you could invert Roseberry Topping and place it in there and it still would not fill it. The Copper Queen Mine being the most famous and though it is now quiet though by no means a ghost, town it once had a population of 100,000. Because of the many fires they have had the main streets are now mostly brick built and show Edwardian, but western, architecture.
The gulches are dry except in the rainy season (July August), when the main streets used to become rivers (now have slightly better drainage, though locals do not park their cars on the street in the wet season as they tend to float off down the road during storms).
Its wealth was based on Copper, Wooden houses were tightly packed on terraces where they clung to the mountain sides. Town burning was almost as regular as town flooding! The flooding was a mixed blessing as there was no drainage system, so waste (yes I mean all waste) would be just chucked and allowed to dissipate. The local hotels and bars, of which there were many as much of the population were single miners, used a system whereby they would dump all waste under the building in like a basement. When the rain came they removed the lowest side wall and allowed nature to remove the years sewage. Worked OK with a really good flood, but not so good in drier years. Another problem was the cemetery which was up the canyon affectionately known as Brewery Gulch, nothing wrong with a cemetery problem came with the storms as not only did the water wash away the dirt it also washed away the bodies down the main street.
Once the copper gave out in the 1970's the town nearly died and became almost empty, but was taken over by hippies, many from California, who claimed squatters rights and renovated the buildings and sold them. The hippy atmosphere still remains and is now a arty crafty/antiquey with nice coffee shops and organic food. It is the southern most mile high town in USA and when they talk about being high, they really mean it.
We learned a lot of this history by taking the trolley bus tour, which was excellent value at $6.00 and gave us a real insight into the town.
I must say that I loved this town and would perhaps vote it as one of my favourites, even more so than perhaps Santa Fe in NM.
It was named after a judge in the 1880's, though he never set foot in the town!
What an amazing place, possibly one of the most fascinating places we have visited (and we have visited a few). We drove the short 26 miles from Tombstone on Saturday, not quite knowing what to expect.
This was a real frontier town, it is built at the confluence of a couple of narrow canyons. Houses were crowded into the narrow gulches and built right up the sides of the mountains, the only access was, and still is, by steps, hundreds of them). It's origins are based in the discovery of copper, huge amounts of it, both high grade ore, which was dug out using mines, 2000 miles of mining tunnels are beneath Bisbee and low grade ore which was removed with huge open cast quarries, one of them is deep enough that you could invert Roseberry Topping and place it in there and it still would not fill it. The Copper Queen Mine being the most famous and though it is now quiet though by no means a ghost, town it once had a population of 100,000. Because of the many fires they have had the main streets are now mostly brick built and show Edwardian, but western, architecture.
The gulches are dry except in the rainy season (July August), when the main streets used to become rivers (now have slightly better drainage, though locals do not park their cars on the street in the wet season as they tend to float off down the road during storms).
Its wealth was based on Copper, Wooden houses were tightly packed on terraces where they clung to the mountain sides. Town burning was almost as regular as town flooding! The flooding was a mixed blessing as there was no drainage system, so waste (yes I mean all waste) would be just chucked and allowed to dissipate. The local hotels and bars, of which there were many as much of the population were single miners, used a system whereby they would dump all waste under the building in like a basement. When the rain came they removed the lowest side wall and allowed nature to remove the years sewage. Worked OK with a really good flood, but not so good in drier years. Another problem was the cemetery which was up the canyon affectionately known as Brewery Gulch, nothing wrong with a cemetery problem came with the storms as not only did the water wash away the dirt it also washed away the bodies down the main street.
Once the copper gave out in the 1970's the town nearly died and became almost empty, but was taken over by hippies, many from California, who claimed squatters rights and renovated the buildings and sold them. The hippy atmosphere still remains and is now a arty crafty/antiquey with nice coffee shops and organic food. It is the southern most mile high town in USA and when they talk about being high, they really mean it.
We learned a lot of this history by taking the trolley bus tour, which was excellent value at $6.00 and gave us a real insight into the town.
I must say that I loved this town and would perhaps vote it as one of my favourites, even more so than perhaps Santa Fe in NM.
Bisbee
Now there is a name for a town - Bisbee!
It was named after a judge in the 1880's, though he never set foot in the town!
What an amazing place, possibly one of the most fascinating places we have visited (and we have visited a few). We drove the short 26 miles from Tombstone on Saturday, not quite knowing what to expect.
This was a real frontier town, it is built at the confluence of a couple of narrow canyons. Houses were crowded into the narrow gulches and built right up the sides of the mountains, the only access was, and still is, by steps, hundreds of them). It's origins are based in the discovery of copper, huge amounts of it, both high grade ore, which was dug out using mines, 2000 miles of mining tunnels are beneath Bisbee and low grade ore which was removed with huge open cast quarries, one of them is deep enough that you could invert Roseberry Topping and place it in there and it still would not fill it. The Copper Queen Mine being the most famous and though it is now quiet though by no means a ghost, town it once had a population of 100,000. Because of the many fires they have had the main streets are now mostly brick built and show Edwardian, but western, architecture.
The gulches are dry except in the rainy season (July August), when the main streets used to become rivers (now have slightly better drainage, though locals do not park their cars on the street in the wet season as they tend to float off down the road during storms).
Its wealth was based on Copper, Wooden houses were tightly packed on terraces where they clung to the mountain sides. Town burning was almost as regular as town flooding! The flooding was a mixed blessing as there was no drainage system, so waste (yes I mean all waste) would be just chucked and allowed to dissipate. The local hotels and bars, of which there were many as much of the population were single miners, used a system whereby they would dump all waste under the building in like a basement. When the rain came they removed the lowest side wall and allowed nature to remove the years sewage. Worked OK with a really good flood, but not so good in drier years. Another problem was the cemetery which was up the canyon affectionately known as Brewery Gulch, nothing wrong with a cemetery problem came with the storms as not only did the water wash away the dirt it also washed away the bodies down the main street.
Once the copper gave out in the 1970's the town nearly died and became almost empty, but was taken over by hippies, many from California, who claimed squatters rights and renovated the buildings and sold them. The hippy atmosphere still remains and is now a arty crafty/antiquey with nice coffee shops and organic food. It is the southern most mile high town in USA and when they talk about being high, they really mean it.
We learned a lot of this history by taking the trolley bus tour, which was excellent value at $6.00 and gave us a real insight into the town.
I must say that I loved this town and would perhaps vote it as one of my favourites, even more so than perhaps Santa Fe in NM.
It was named after a judge in the 1880's, though he never set foot in the town!
What an amazing place, possibly one of the most fascinating places we have visited (and we have visited a few). We drove the short 26 miles from Tombstone on Saturday, not quite knowing what to expect.
This was a real frontier town, it is built at the confluence of a couple of narrow canyons. Houses were crowded into the narrow gulches and built right up the sides of the mountains, the only access was, and still is, by steps, hundreds of them). It's origins are based in the discovery of copper, huge amounts of it, both high grade ore, which was dug out using mines, 2000 miles of mining tunnels are beneath Bisbee and low grade ore which was removed with huge open cast quarries, one of them is deep enough that you could invert Roseberry Topping and place it in there and it still would not fill it. The Copper Queen Mine being the most famous and though it is now quiet though by no means a ghost, town it once had a population of 100,000. Because of the many fires they have had the main streets are now mostly brick built and show Edwardian, but western, architecture.
The gulches are dry except in the rainy season (July August), when the main streets used to become rivers (now have slightly better drainage, though locals do not park their cars on the street in the wet season as they tend to float off down the road during storms).
Its wealth was based on Copper, Wooden houses were tightly packed on terraces where they clung to the mountain sides. Town burning was almost as regular as town flooding! The flooding was a mixed blessing as there was no drainage system, so waste (yes I mean all waste) would be just chucked and allowed to dissipate. The local hotels and bars, of which there were many as much of the population were single miners, used a system whereby they would dump all waste under the building in like a basement. When the rain came they removed the lowest side wall and allowed nature to remove the years sewage. Worked OK with a really good flood, but not so good in drier years. Another problem was the cemetery which was up the canyon affectionately known as Brewery Gulch, nothing wrong with a cemetery problem came with the storms as not only did the water wash away the dirt it also washed away the bodies down the main street.
Once the copper gave out in the 1970's the town nearly died and became almost empty, but was taken over by hippies, many from California, who claimed squatters rights and renovated the buildings and sold them. The hippy atmosphere still remains and is now a arty crafty/antiquey with nice coffee shops and organic food. It is the southern most mile high town in USA and when they talk about being high, they really mean it.
We learned a lot of this history by taking the trolley bus tour, which was excellent value at $6.00 and gave us a real insight into the town.
I must say that I loved this town and would perhaps vote it as one of my favourites, even more so than perhaps Santa Fe in NM.
Tombstone 2
Having surveyed the town of Tombstone we then used Friday seeing the sights there. First of all we took a ride on the Old Butterfield Stage, which was originally used to travel between Tombstone and Yuma, via Nogales. This gave us a gentle tour round the streets of Tombstone and an insight into its history.
Following this we stopped in at the Gunfight At The O.K. Corral for their 12.00 performance. It was fun, though I have seen better acting.
From there we went for lunch at the Longhorn Restaurant again.
The last major stop was to Boot Hill, just out of town. (Dead centre of town). Vry interesting to see the many graves of the 1880's with simple epitaphs like; Died, Murdered, Killed on their head boards (mostly wooden and probably more recent than 1880's).
We returned to our trailer and put our feet up for an hour or two before having a quiet tea.
I have now worked out that Android/Ipad readers can use the link 'View All' to go to the Picasa Albums site to view photos as a slide show.
Following this we stopped in at the Gunfight At The O.K. Corral for their 12.00 performance. It was fun, though I have seen better acting.
From there we went for lunch at the Longhorn Restaurant again.
The last major stop was to Boot Hill, just out of town. (Dead centre of town). Vry interesting to see the many graves of the 1880's with simple epitaphs like; Died, Murdered, Killed on their head boards (mostly wooden and probably more recent than 1880's).
We returned to our trailer and put our feet up for an hour or two before having a quiet tea.
I have now worked out that Android/Ipad readers can use the link 'View All' to go to the Picasa Albums site to view photos as a slide show.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Tombstone
Thursday 14th March On Tuesday evening we flew into Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, picked up a rental car and were reunited with our truck and trailer. Once I had jump started the truck we had power and everything seemed fine. No Bugs, no water, no worries (a bit of mold in the Fridge, as we had forgotten to leave it open). A good nights sleep and we were ready for the off. Wednesday morning we packed up in Phoenix, returned the rental car and by 10.30 we were passing the campground I had picked out for our first night, however because we were so well up on time we pressed on to our first big destination - Tombstone. Tombstone is out in the desert, right out in the desert, like Bodie in California, if it wasn't for silver mining no one in there right mind would want to live here. It has that unreal quality about it that makes you think you really are in a film, stage coaches coming past, cowboys on the street, street fighting (though we haven't seen that yet, maybe tomorrow), all those names of cowboys that we know from films, but they were really here, really shooting each other. We toured the courthouse and read the story of the O.K. Corral, great fun. we stopped in for lunch at the Longhorn Restaurant and then visited the famous Bird Cage Theatre. we have included some of the pictures. Tomorrow I think we will take a ride on the Butterfield Stage and go see the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Here is a link for mobile phones:
Here is a link for mobile phones:
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| Tombstone |
Monday, March 11, 2013
Harpers Hideaway
Monday Morning and the party is now just about over, just a few friends left to help finish the clearing away. Wednesday we ate baby back ribs at the Oakwood with about 30 friends (at this point the diet went right out of the window ). When we came back we sat in Connie's front room to jam, because it was too cold outside. Thursday we took our side trip to Rainbow Springs, by the time we returned the numbers of people rolling in had increased. Thursday night we took refuge in the kitchen to jam, to cold outside still, though warming up Friday we got into full swing as the main bulk of people arrived. On the evening we had the Band Scramble, for a change I was in the very last group to perform, so we were able to take a leisurely hour or so to practice together. The set went really well, making a great finale to the evening, with Paul (who had arrived that evening from New Jersey) finishing off with Foggy mountain Breakdown. Saturday was fun with groups performing on the stage all day, we were able to relax in the sun and listen, though I spent sometime playing. the evening was taken up with the more organised events. This summer Connie and Jim celebrate their 50th anniversary, so wanted to share it by renewing their vows, so we had a special time, with Larry presiding, while they restated their vows, talked a little abut their life together and then sung some songs with the Crooked Halos. It was very touching. This was followed by the Paaty Poopers, the all man/lady band who have entertained us in their inimitable style over the last few years. This year the 'Theme' was the Outhouse, based on 7 Old Ladies Stuck in mthe Lavatory. Very funny, but I guess you had to be there. At last it was warm enough to sit out and jam, we had a really nice jam by the stage until 2.00, then realised that the clocks also go forward, so it was really 3.00 before I got to bed, still good fun. Sunday Morning Brunch was a very relaxed affair as we sat in the sunshine. This followed by a very pleasant Gospel Hour (or two), people had steadily drifted off home and so in the afternoon we were able to do some clearing up. In the evening we sat and jammed to some good old hit songs, good fun.and I find myself sat in Connie's Kitchen with the Party over That brings us to today, Monday, with only one traditional activity left to undertake - Beal's Double Points Senior Citizen Monday Sale scrum down, yes we hit the shops to find bargains in Beal's Outlet shops. Tomorrow we drive back down to Orlando and resume our journey to Phoenix to pick up the trailer.
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| Party life |
Friday, March 8, 2013
Splash Landing
Well we are well and truly splashed down. Flew in over enjoying the Florida Cape Canaveral an hour early, which gave us time to take a leisurely drive the 75 miles to Connie and Jim's.
We are now enjoying the Florida sunshine, though feeling v. tired.
We have joined in a couple of really nice jams, but chose yesterday afternoon to take a side trip to one of Florida's most beautiful springs - Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon. It is a wonderful spring, surrounded by trees and Azalea in full bloom, lots of large butterflies floating around, brightly coloured birds flashing through the trees and fish swimming in the crystal clear spring of the Rainbow River, welling out of the ground at its constant 72 degrees F. Enabled us to remember why we think that Florida is such a wonderful state with such diversity of habitat. A relaxingly peaceful afternoon, though we met some really nice family from Minnesota and Indiana and spent an hour or so just chatting, only to find that we had been near their home when we visited Sioux Falls in October and drove past Stonepipe Park.
We are now enjoying the Florida sunshine, though feeling v. tired.
We have joined in a couple of really nice jams, but chose yesterday afternoon to take a side trip to one of Florida's most beautiful springs - Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon. It is a wonderful spring, surrounded by trees and Azalea in full bloom, lots of large butterflies floating around, brightly coloured birds flashing through the trees and fish swimming in the crystal clear spring of the Rainbow River, welling out of the ground at its constant 72 degrees F. Enabled us to remember why we think that Florida is such a wonderful state with such diversity of habitat. A relaxingly peaceful afternoon, though we met some really nice family from Minnesota and Indiana and spent an hour or so just chatting, only to find that we had been near their home when we visited Sioux Falls in October and drove past Stonepipe Park.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Last Rush to be Ready
All Trip preparation seems to have a plan shaped like one of those slides at the swimming pool, start gentle, get everything nicely planned, when to do things, so there is no rush. A week before, sat at the top of the slide, we see all below and everything seems to be running smoothly, but moving down, slowly at first, yes we have ticked off the things we need to do, a couple of days on and the feeling in your stomach is more uncertain - there is too much to do to be ready in time.
All the time our departure is rushing up faster and faster and the list of jobs seems to get longer and longer. Things you planned for one day seem to need a bit more time. As we approach our last day at home everything is whizzing by at White Rabbit speed. With the inevitability of the ticking clock, we will be sucked into the last drop of the slide, then be shot out over the water, where all is beyond our control to change (allegorical Atlantic), only to splash down in the bright, warm, clear water of our arrival in Florida , where we hope we can relax and float. Hopefully we will write again and describe the start of our travelling adventure when we have come back up for air.
All the time our departure is rushing up faster and faster and the list of jobs seems to get longer and longer. Things you planned for one day seem to need a bit more time. As we approach our last day at home everything is whizzing by at White Rabbit speed. With the inevitability of the ticking clock, we will be sucked into the last drop of the slide, then be shot out over the water, where all is beyond our control to change (allegorical Atlantic), only to splash down in the bright, warm, clear water of our arrival in Florida , where we hope we can relax and float. Hopefully we will write again and describe the start of our travelling adventure when we have come back up for air.
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