Mar 31 Thurs, Day 73 - Sunny & hot
Getting ready to pull out so I unhooked services & we hooked up the car. When we arrived at this campground, we were told that they charged 15 cents a kilowatt for usage over 20 KW per day. I checked the metre and over the 3 days/nights we used a total of 25 KW of our allotted 60 KW’s. In addition to the usual things, lights, microwave etc., during our stay, we used the AC for a few minutes one day, the heater one evening & the fantastic fan all one day, so it’s good to know we used so little power with all that. We pulled out and drove only a mile or so to the Pistachio Tree Ranch for pistachio nut tasting & wine tasting. Needless to say we ended up getting some of each. We pulled out of there at 11:30 at 137877 km. We started up hill passing a community oddly named “High Rolls”, at 6750 feet. Then we had to climb up & over the local ski hill, (apparently it is the most southern ski resort in the US – in Cloudcroft NM), at an elevation of 8650 feet. Cloudcroft is a quaint town with lots of old wooden buildings. Down the other side & stopped for lunch on the side of the road, (137878km 12:30 to 1:20), then onward & into the Carlsbad RV Park at 3:45 @ 138110km. On route we passed an outdoor thermometer in town which read 82 F at 3:30. They have an indoor swimming pool here so we both went for a dip before supper, then an evening of TV, they have cable here, & computer.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Mar 30 Wed - The Hubble space telescope IMAX movie & an evening hike over the dunes at white sands
Mar 30 Wed Day 72 - sunny & warm, (70 F)
We paid for another night and then were off to the Visitors Centre to get addresses for a Post Office & barber shop, then, we were off to the noon IMAX show on the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope and what it can do. It is an amazing instrument, showing distant galaxies & star nebulas in colour. Interestingly, a dying star has a bright orange aura, whereas a new, strong star’s aura is shades of blue. Sheila thought it should be the other way round. We heard many, many interesting facts, only a few of which we can remember. But here goes: The Hubble telescope took 10 yrs. & 10,000 people to build. When it was first sent into space, one of its lenses was warped so the images taken we fuzzy, just like the ones we see from our very powerful telescopes on earth, so another lens was made & sent into space with a team of astronauts to remove the faulty one & replace it with the good one. That was what we saw today. We learned that the strong stars in a nebula can produce winds of up to 15 trillion mph—creating images of tails on younger weaker stars named “tadpoles” because of their “tails”. We also learned that we’re the largest galaxy in our universe, but that scientists estimate that there are a 100 billion more galaxies in space, some much larger that ours. We really enjoyed the film & I tried to get some screen shots with the camera. Sheila tried to take notes in the dark in a small notebook, but discovered after the movie she’d written most of her notes on top of each other—so what she had was an unintelligible mess!
After the film & museum, we went back to the local hospital cafeteria, for some more cheap & good food. Then it was off to the Toy Train Museum housed in an early 1898 train station. They had a great collection of trains and several model setups running. While I was looking at everything, Sheila went off shopping for assorted stuff—stamps & clothes. She returned 1 1/2 hours later. We went to get me a hair cut and then home to get ready to drive back to White Sands National Monument for a Ranger guided Sunset Walk over the sand dunes, all included in our original admission of $6.00 each, which is good for 7 days. It was fun, but I’m glad it was guided as I looked around at one point & had no idea which way back was, all I saw was miles of snow white sand dunes and some scattered vegetation. Before we left on the hike the guide said that shoes were optional, you could hike over the sand in bare feet, Sheila did. Sheila noticed that the sand was cool even in the sun and it got quite cold to the touch as the sun set. The guide said that the gypsum sand never gets hot like ordinary beach sand, it could be 100 degrees out & it would still be easy to walk on, cool even. One really interesting fact is that the water table is just a foot or so below the interdunal surface, (the low area at the base of, and between the dunes where most of the vegetation grows), so, if you were lost & thirsty you could drink sandy water. Our guide pointed out various plants as we walked explaining the adaptations each had made in order to survive when the nearby dune moved & buried them. For instance, the Soapstone Yucca cactus grows extra quickly then, managing to keep its stem & leaves above the sand. This plant is also called the ‘supermarket’ of the dessert because its blossoms & fruit provided native people with food. (The ‘fruit’ tastes like squash when boiled.) Its spiky leaves provided them with material for clothes, baskets, mats etc. (In fact, citizens of NM & AZ provided WW I soldiers with bags woven of Yucca leaves as part of their contribution to the war effort.) And, finally when boiled, the roots of the Yucca plant became their shampoo/soap. We also learned that when the incline of the leading edge of the sand dune becomes greater than 34% the dune begins to “avalanche,” causing it to move.
The sunset was great, just enough thin cloud to really show up red over the white sand. After we drove back, we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up some stuff. I finally bit the bullet & paid $4.38 plus deposit for a doz. Coke Zero. Then, it was back home for a light supper, (by now it was 9 pm), plus an evening of journal-writing, (mostly Sheila), blogging & expenses, (Bren).
We paid for another night and then were off to the Visitors Centre to get addresses for a Post Office & barber shop, then, we were off to the noon IMAX show on the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope and what it can do. It is an amazing instrument, showing distant galaxies & star nebulas in colour. Interestingly, a dying star has a bright orange aura, whereas a new, strong star’s aura is shades of blue. Sheila thought it should be the other way round. We heard many, many interesting facts, only a few of which we can remember. But here goes: The Hubble telescope took 10 yrs. & 10,000 people to build. When it was first sent into space, one of its lenses was warped so the images taken we fuzzy, just like the ones we see from our very powerful telescopes on earth, so another lens was made & sent into space with a team of astronauts to remove the faulty one & replace it with the good one. That was what we saw today. We learned that the strong stars in a nebula can produce winds of up to 15 trillion mph—creating images of tails on younger weaker stars named “tadpoles” because of their “tails”. We also learned that we’re the largest galaxy in our universe, but that scientists estimate that there are a 100 billion more galaxies in space, some much larger that ours. We really enjoyed the film & I tried to get some screen shots with the camera. Sheila tried to take notes in the dark in a small notebook, but discovered after the movie she’d written most of her notes on top of each other—so what she had was an unintelligible mess!
After the film & museum, we went back to the local hospital cafeteria, for some more cheap & good food. Then it was off to the Toy Train Museum housed in an early 1898 train station. They had a great collection of trains and several model setups running. While I was looking at everything, Sheila went off shopping for assorted stuff—stamps & clothes. She returned 1 1/2 hours later. We went to get me a hair cut and then home to get ready to drive back to White Sands National Monument for a Ranger guided Sunset Walk over the sand dunes, all included in our original admission of $6.00 each, which is good for 7 days. It was fun, but I’m glad it was guided as I looked around at one point & had no idea which way back was, all I saw was miles of snow white sand dunes and some scattered vegetation. Before we left on the hike the guide said that shoes were optional, you could hike over the sand in bare feet, Sheila did. Sheila noticed that the sand was cool even in the sun and it got quite cold to the touch as the sun set. The guide said that the gypsum sand never gets hot like ordinary beach sand, it could be 100 degrees out & it would still be easy to walk on, cool even. One really interesting fact is that the water table is just a foot or so below the interdunal surface, (the low area at the base of, and between the dunes where most of the vegetation grows), so, if you were lost & thirsty you could drink sandy water. Our guide pointed out various plants as we walked explaining the adaptations each had made in order to survive when the nearby dune moved & buried them. For instance, the Soapstone Yucca cactus grows extra quickly then, managing to keep its stem & leaves above the sand. This plant is also called the ‘supermarket’ of the dessert because its blossoms & fruit provided native people with food. (The ‘fruit’ tastes like squash when boiled.) Its spiky leaves provided them with material for clothes, baskets, mats etc. (In fact, citizens of NM & AZ provided WW I soldiers with bags woven of Yucca leaves as part of their contribution to the war effort.) And, finally when boiled, the roots of the Yucca plant became their shampoo/soap. We also learned that when the incline of the leading edge of the sand dune becomes greater than 34% the dune begins to “avalanche,” causing it to move.
The sunset was great, just enough thin cloud to really show up red over the white sand. After we drove back, we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up some stuff. I finally bit the bullet & paid $4.38 plus deposit for a doz. Coke Zero. Then, it was back home for a light supper, (by now it was 9 pm), plus an evening of journal-writing, (mostly Sheila), blogging & expenses, (Bren).
Mar 29 Tues - New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo
Mar 29 Tues Day 71 - sunny & hot, with some wind
Today it’s off to the New Mexico Museum of Space History. There is also an IMAX theatre on site. The museum is 4 storeys and has split levels. We got there at 11:00 and booked an IMAX show at 1:00 called Sea Monsters which showed anthropologists digging fossils and then told the story behind the fossil using “photo-realistic computer-generated animation.” The “sea monsters” shown appeared to be predecessors of our modern dolphins, sharks, & barracudas, plus three kinds of aquatic dinosaurs, now extinct. It was good, I could swear that they had used a real ocean with the prehistoric creatures superimposed, and even they looked real too. After the movie, we drove to the nearby hospital as it was the nearest café place, food was good and it was cheap. Then back to the museum. It has a lot of very interesting exhibits. I finished a bit before closing at 5 pm but Sheila still has more to see, perhaps because she spent quite a bit of time listening to a male astronaut describe the types of jobs they do in space on ‘live link’ Nasa TV & a female astronaut describe the types of medical tests they are doing on the “lab rats” ie astronauts living in the space station to see the effects of space travel & habitation on the human body. A major concern is the loss of bone density & onset of osteoporosis while in a weightless environment, making astronauts very prone to osteoporosis related injuries when they return. One other really neat thing was simulator for landing the shuttle. I tried it several times and finally got her in without crashing but to do that I had to choose the simplest, “Novice” option where you only control pitch, (up & down), and not roll, (side to side & twisting, - I failed miserably trying to control everything). Sheila never did manage to make a safe landing—even on “Novice!” We then looked at some outside missile displays and headed towards home. Both of us were exhausted! Sheila wanted to stop at a “Frozen Custard” place, kind of like an ice cream place but with lots of eggs added to make it a custard.. It was good. Tasted like a very rich, creamy ice cream. Finally we are home for a quiet eve of TV & computer. We are going to stay an extra night here as I want to see the IMAX movie on the Hubble telescope, and Sheila hasn’t finished in the museum, (ticket is good for next day entry).
Today it’s off to the New Mexico Museum of Space History. There is also an IMAX theatre on site. The museum is 4 storeys and has split levels. We got there at 11:00 and booked an IMAX show at 1:00 called Sea Monsters which showed anthropologists digging fossils and then told the story behind the fossil using “photo-realistic computer-generated animation.” The “sea monsters” shown appeared to be predecessors of our modern dolphins, sharks, & barracudas, plus three kinds of aquatic dinosaurs, now extinct. It was good, I could swear that they had used a real ocean with the prehistoric creatures superimposed, and even they looked real too. After the movie, we drove to the nearby hospital as it was the nearest café place, food was good and it was cheap. Then back to the museum. It has a lot of very interesting exhibits. I finished a bit before closing at 5 pm but Sheila still has more to see, perhaps because she spent quite a bit of time listening to a male astronaut describe the types of jobs they do in space on ‘live link’ Nasa TV & a female astronaut describe the types of medical tests they are doing on the “lab rats” ie astronauts living in the space station to see the effects of space travel & habitation on the human body. A major concern is the loss of bone density & onset of osteoporosis while in a weightless environment, making astronauts very prone to osteoporosis related injuries when they return. One other really neat thing was simulator for landing the shuttle. I tried it several times and finally got her in without crashing but to do that I had to choose the simplest, “Novice” option where you only control pitch, (up & down), and not roll, (side to side & twisting, - I failed miserably trying to control everything). Sheila never did manage to make a safe landing—even on “Novice!” We then looked at some outside missile displays and headed towards home. Both of us were exhausted! Sheila wanted to stop at a “Frozen Custard” place, kind of like an ice cream place but with lots of eggs added to make it a custard.. It was good. Tasted like a very rich, creamy ice cream. Finally we are home for a quiet eve of TV & computer. We are going to stay an extra night here as I want to see the IMAX movie on the Hubble telescope, and Sheila hasn’t finished in the museum, (ticket is good for next day entry).
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Mar 28 Mon - White Sands National Monument
Mar 28 Mon Day 70 windy, sunny, hot, (81 F)
After breakfast Sheila & I decided that she would take the car & the GPS as she wanted to check out Siesta RV Park close by. Then she would get some gas for the car, maybe shopping if time and she would meet me at Veterans Memorial Park. I would get gas & fill up the propane tank on the RV. Out Coachlight @ 10:15. I put gas in at 137746 km but didn’t fill it as the gas pump read 96 octane not the 97 that the RV requires, I didn’t notice till after I started, I put in 20 gallons to mix with the 97 octane gas in the tank. Then I went to the propane station. Propane here is $3.37 per USG compared with $2.43 in CA. I left propane stn at 10:40. As well I also stopped at an ATM & got out more cash. It’s weird though, this time the fee to withdraw was $ 2.68--how do they come up with odd numbers like that? Away bank at 10:50 and I arrived at the Veterans Memorial Park at 11:10. At the memorial I took several pictures of brass plaques they had commemorating all USA wars from the 1776 revolution all the way to Desert storm. The plaques gave a brief history of each war, how many were involved & how many casualties there were. The info on each war was presented in a very informative and even- handed way, I was impressed. Sheila finally showed up an hour after I got there and we pulled out at 12:10. She had been told the park was across the street from Vista Middle School and so plugged that school’s address into the GPS so it took her there. “There” was nowhere near the memorial park. She went into Vista school, & with the secretary’s help found the school it was near, but not across from. When she arrived at that school & still couldn’t find the park she had to consult that school’s secretary who said it was a mile east on Roadrunner Ave. With all that consulting, she didn’t arrive at the memorial until an hour after I did. Unfortunately, she hadn’t thought to take a map of Las Cruces with her, so was totally dependent on the GPS which didn’t have a listing for the memorial. She said she thought she was going in the wrong direction the first time, but couldn’t prove it without a map. Very frustrating!
We found space to hook up at 12:20, in a church parking lot, & drove to the White Sands National Monument (est. in 1953), arriving at 1:15 @ 137839 kms. After a quick lunch in the RV, we went to the Visitors Centre--several very attractive adobe bldgs connected by an inner courtyard. After watching a 17 minute video on this park in theTularosa Basin which is part of the Chichauan Desert, we went on the 8 mile drive into the gypsum sand dunes area. They are really white and when we walked on them they were quite firm, way more so than ordinary sand. Also, even tho the temp. was in the 80’s, the sand was not at all hot to the touch. The gypsum is dissolved from rocks by rain & snow & washed down from surrounding mountains into the Tularosa basin but it has no rivers that drain it so the water slowly evaporates and deposits the dissolved gypsum as selenite crystals – some up to 3 feet long. Nature eventually breaks these crystals into sand-sized grains which are then blown by a strong SW wind to form sand dunes, some as high as 50 ft. They are quite a sight and the sand grains are really fine, way more so than regular beach sand. As the SW winds continually blow on these dunes, they move more & more sand to the leading edge of the dune where it topples down moving the dune forward by a few feet each year. As a result many plants in the area between the dunes are covered up & die, though some, like the animals adapt & survive. We finally left the sand dunes at 4:40 and arrived at Edgington RV Park just north of Alamogordo at 5:15 at 137872 km. They have a club house area with a satellite TV so Sheila got to see her Dancing with the Stars. I put the aerial up & we get 2 digital channels crystal clear on the RV TV, Fox & some channel called Cool TV.
After breakfast Sheila & I decided that she would take the car & the GPS as she wanted to check out Siesta RV Park close by. Then she would get some gas for the car, maybe shopping if time and she would meet me at Veterans Memorial Park. I would get gas & fill up the propane tank on the RV. Out Coachlight @ 10:15. I put gas in at 137746 km but didn’t fill it as the gas pump read 96 octane not the 97 that the RV requires, I didn’t notice till after I started, I put in 20 gallons to mix with the 97 octane gas in the tank. Then I went to the propane station. Propane here is $3.37 per USG compared with $2.43 in CA. I left propane stn at 10:40. As well I also stopped at an ATM & got out more cash. It’s weird though, this time the fee to withdraw was $ 2.68--how do they come up with odd numbers like that? Away bank at 10:50 and I arrived at the Veterans Memorial Park at 11:10. At the memorial I took several pictures of brass plaques they had commemorating all USA wars from the 1776 revolution all the way to Desert storm. The plaques gave a brief history of each war, how many were involved & how many casualties there were. The info on each war was presented in a very informative and even- handed way, I was impressed. Sheila finally showed up an hour after I got there and we pulled out at 12:10. She had been told the park was across the street from Vista Middle School and so plugged that school’s address into the GPS so it took her there. “There” was nowhere near the memorial park. She went into Vista school, & with the secretary’s help found the school it was near, but not across from. When she arrived at that school & still couldn’t find the park she had to consult that school’s secretary who said it was a mile east on Roadrunner Ave. With all that consulting, she didn’t arrive at the memorial until an hour after I did. Unfortunately, she hadn’t thought to take a map of Las Cruces with her, so was totally dependent on the GPS which didn’t have a listing for the memorial. She said she thought she was going in the wrong direction the first time, but couldn’t prove it without a map. Very frustrating!
We found space to hook up at 12:20, in a church parking lot, & drove to the White Sands National Monument (est. in 1953), arriving at 1:15 @ 137839 kms. After a quick lunch in the RV, we went to the Visitors Centre--several very attractive adobe bldgs connected by an inner courtyard. After watching a 17 minute video on this park in theTularosa Basin which is part of the Chichauan Desert, we went on the 8 mile drive into the gypsum sand dunes area. They are really white and when we walked on them they were quite firm, way more so than ordinary sand. Also, even tho the temp. was in the 80’s, the sand was not at all hot to the touch. The gypsum is dissolved from rocks by rain & snow & washed down from surrounding mountains into the Tularosa basin but it has no rivers that drain it so the water slowly evaporates and deposits the dissolved gypsum as selenite crystals – some up to 3 feet long. Nature eventually breaks these crystals into sand-sized grains which are then blown by a strong SW wind to form sand dunes, some as high as 50 ft. They are quite a sight and the sand grains are really fine, way more so than regular beach sand. As the SW winds continually blow on these dunes, they move more & more sand to the leading edge of the dune where it topples down moving the dune forward by a few feet each year. As a result many plants in the area between the dunes are covered up & die, though some, like the animals adapt & survive. We finally left the sand dunes at 4:40 and arrived at Edgington RV Park just north of Alamogordo at 5:15 at 137872 km. They have a club house area with a satellite TV so Sheila got to see her Dancing with the Stars. I put the aerial up & we get 2 digital channels crystal clear on the RV TV, Fox & some channel called Cool TV.
Mar 27 Sunday White Sands Missile Range test facility near Las Cruces New Mexico
Mar 27 Sun. Day 69 - bright & sunny, mid to high 70’s forecast
The Passport America El Rancho Lobo Park we were in last night charges for electricity over the flat camping rate, which includes water & sewer connections plus free WiFi. They charge 12 cents per KW used. They read the meter on entry then in the morning. Our total bill for the night was $11.87, of that 72 cents was power; (we used 6 KW). We weren’t trying to save power; we ran the fridge on electricity and whatever lights we felt like, plus the microwave for supper and the furnace in the morning. I did switch the hot water over to propane from electricity. It stayed warm here in the evening so we didn’t need the furnace at night at all.
We left El Rancho Lobo Park @ 137665 @ 10:40 am and arrived at Coachlight RV Park @ 123745 @ 11:45. We settled in, hooked up, had lunch & then headed out to the White Sands Missile Range museum about 20 miles north up Hwy 70, which had a sign saying it was the “Bataan Memorial Highway”. Once on the entrance road we saw a large number of people, some in military fatigues walking along the side of the hwy. There were police - state, city & military, directing traffic around cones set up to mark the route. We found out this was the 22nd annual Memorial Bataan Death March. The Death March occurred in 1942 after 72,000 US forces were taken prisoner after the 3 month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. The POW’s were marched 60 miles (97 kms) without food & almost no water) and were routinely abused & murdered. Records show that only 54,000 survived the march. The memorial march has 2 routes, 26.2 miles & 15.2 miles. We saw a large number of people still on the road when we left a cpl hours later. The dashboard temp read out at 2:40 pm was 24C, that’s just over 75F. We passed a water & medical station that had military ambulances standing by & we saw more than one person limping or lying on a stretcher off the road. Unfortunately the museum at the missile range was closed Sat. & Sun. but the outdoor display of assorted missiles was open so we walked around. It was amazing, the number & variety of missiles that had been developed over the years & tested in the area surrounding this base. Each one had a placard showing its name, size, weight, range & what it had been developed for. After we left, we drove home to have supper & do journal entries etc.
The Passport America El Rancho Lobo Park we were in last night charges for electricity over the flat camping rate, which includes water & sewer connections plus free WiFi. They charge 12 cents per KW used. They read the meter on entry then in the morning. Our total bill for the night was $11.87, of that 72 cents was power; (we used 6 KW). We weren’t trying to save power; we ran the fridge on electricity and whatever lights we felt like, plus the microwave for supper and the furnace in the morning. I did switch the hot water over to propane from electricity. It stayed warm here in the evening so we didn’t need the furnace at night at all.
We left El Rancho Lobo Park @ 137665 @ 10:40 am and arrived at Coachlight RV Park @ 123745 @ 11:45. We settled in, hooked up, had lunch & then headed out to the White Sands Missile Range museum about 20 miles north up Hwy 70, which had a sign saying it was the “Bataan Memorial Highway”. Once on the entrance road we saw a large number of people, some in military fatigues walking along the side of the hwy. There were police - state, city & military, directing traffic around cones set up to mark the route. We found out this was the 22nd annual Memorial Bataan Death March. The Death March occurred in 1942 after 72,000 US forces were taken prisoner after the 3 month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. The POW’s were marched 60 miles (97 kms) without food & almost no water) and were routinely abused & murdered. Records show that only 54,000 survived the march. The memorial march has 2 routes, 26.2 miles & 15.2 miles. We saw a large number of people still on the road when we left a cpl hours later. The dashboard temp read out at 2:40 pm was 24C, that’s just over 75F. We passed a water & medical station that had military ambulances standing by & we saw more than one person limping or lying on a stretcher off the road. Unfortunately the museum at the missile range was closed Sat. & Sun. but the outdoor display of assorted missiles was open so we walked around. It was amazing, the number & variety of missiles that had been developed over the years & tested in the area surrounding this base. Each one had a placard showing its name, size, weight, range & what it had been developed for. After we left, we drove home to have supper & do journal entries etc.
Mar 26 Saturday Wilcox, birthplace of Cowboy film star & singer Rex Allen
Mar 26 Sat Day 68 – clear blue sky, sunny, cool night but warming nice to 70++
Fort Willcox RV park has coffee on in the office and a waffle maker with the batter all measured out, just pour it in & close the lid & we had waffles for breakfast, they even provide butter & syrup as well as plastic plates to take your waffle(s) back to your RV. When I was doing the second one for Sheila she asked if I wanted two for myself. All that with power, water, sewer, free WiFi, free hot showers in the spacious 1 person bathroom and a nice club room with a TV, for $17.00 on our Passport America. We pulled out at 10:10 to go find the Safeway and then explore the town. They have an old town area dating back to early 1900’s. There is a Marty Robbins museum and a Rex Allen museum. Rex Allen was born in Willcox and was related to Roy Rodgers, (Roy Rogers’ father was Rex Allen’s Cousin). Rex Allen, (his birth name), was actually a real cowboy before he became a singer & movie actor. He was an accomplished bronc buster as well as a cowhand on his father’s ranch. For lunch, we went to a BBQ place that was in an old time railway car. They had a large BBQ burner and pile of wood, (hickory?) out back. We both had the ribs, a half rack for under $10 including beans & choice of one side--a great deal! We were full, no room for dessert even. We finally pulled out of Willcox, AZ @ 2:35 pm @ 137423 km heading to a Passport America campground in Deming, NM. Pulled into El Rancho Lobo RV Park @ 5:15 @ 137665 and settled down for the evening. We discovered that we lost an hour as we changed time zones, so it was actually 6:15 when we arrived. After supper, Sheila went to their Rec room to watch TV where she discovered a dried 7-8 ft. Agave tree in a pot in the corner. Beside the tree was a photo book chronicling the Agave tree’s life from when it was a 22” shoot growing out of the round 18” “mother” plant with spear-shaped leaves. It seems the Agave plant grows phenomenally fast. According to notes on the inside cover of the photo book—on Apr. 20 the shoot measured 22”, on the next day it was 26” & on the following day 32 in. One day it was measured am & pm & it grew 6 in.! In a bit less than one month, the stalk grew 8 to 10 ft., and produced short branches of large, bright yellow flowers, which died within a few days.
Fort Willcox RV park has coffee on in the office and a waffle maker with the batter all measured out, just pour it in & close the lid & we had waffles for breakfast, they even provide butter & syrup as well as plastic plates to take your waffle(s) back to your RV. When I was doing the second one for Sheila she asked if I wanted two for myself. All that with power, water, sewer, free WiFi, free hot showers in the spacious 1 person bathroom and a nice club room with a TV, for $17.00 on our Passport America. We pulled out at 10:10 to go find the Safeway and then explore the town. They have an old town area dating back to early 1900’s. There is a Marty Robbins museum and a Rex Allen museum. Rex Allen was born in Willcox and was related to Roy Rodgers, (Roy Rogers’ father was Rex Allen’s Cousin). Rex Allen, (his birth name), was actually a real cowboy before he became a singer & movie actor. He was an accomplished bronc buster as well as a cowhand on his father’s ranch. For lunch, we went to a BBQ place that was in an old time railway car. They had a large BBQ burner and pile of wood, (hickory?) out back. We both had the ribs, a half rack for under $10 including beans & choice of one side--a great deal! We were full, no room for dessert even. We finally pulled out of Willcox, AZ @ 2:35 pm @ 137423 km heading to a Passport America campground in Deming, NM. Pulled into El Rancho Lobo RV Park @ 5:15 @ 137665 and settled down for the evening. We discovered that we lost an hour as we changed time zones, so it was actually 6:15 when we arrived. After supper, Sheila went to their Rec room to watch TV where she discovered a dried 7-8 ft. Agave tree in a pot in the corner. Beside the tree was a photo book chronicling the Agave tree’s life from when it was a 22” shoot growing out of the round 18” “mother” plant with spear-shaped leaves. It seems the Agave plant grows phenomenally fast. According to notes on the inside cover of the photo book—on Apr. 20 the shoot measured 22”, on the next day it was 26” & on the following day 32 in. One day it was measured am & pm & it grew 6 in.! In a bit less than one month, the stalk grew 8 to 10 ft., and produced short branches of large, bright yellow flowers, which died within a few days.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Mar 25 Friday - Pima Air Museum
Mar 25 Fri Day 67 clear & sunny & warm
We dropped off the RV at Orangewood for them to finish it up and went to the WiFi coffee shop, “Java Break” for breakfast & to check email. Then off to the Pima Air Museum. It is immense! There are 4 hangers of aircraft, a space gallery, + acres of aircraft parked outside. We saw a small portion of it all & took lots of pictures. They have 2 or 3 free guided tours plus a long tram tour around the field for an extra $6. You can get a 2 day pass so you can come back to see more. As it is the 100th anniversary of Navy Air Power, they put on a tour of all the navy aircraft which was very interesting, informative, & best of all—FREE! The tour was around Hanger 1 and then on a tram outside, around part of the field. The docent that conducted the tour had been a Navy aircraft carrier pilot for 6 yrs. (’59-65) and then a United Airlines pilot for 30, so he shared lots of interesting information first-hand with us, including near crashes & an bail out ejection, ( he broke his leg).
They had lots of docents around to explain the aircraft; a lot of them were retired air/army & navy personnel. I learned a few things I didn’t know, for instance, the difference between aircraft & airplane - - an airplane has wings, an aircraft might fly, but doesn’t have wings. So all airplanes are aircraft but not all aircraft are airplanes. One docent showed us the photo of the B59 crew beside their plane and mentioned the fact that the ages of them were mostly all under 20, some as young as 17. The old man of the crew who they called “pops” was 26! Another interesting fact was that the life expectancy of a WWII bomber crew was 6 to 10 missions and you needed around 20 missions to complete your tour of duty. When we were under the B59 looking up into the bomb bay the docent pointed out a tube running fore & aft through the plane. He explained that the B59 was one of the first pressurized airplanes and as you can’t pressurize the bomb bay you had to crawl through this 22 inch diameter pipe to go from front to back of the airplane. No wonder in those old war time photos air crew all seemed to be slim & trim. They had a TV beside a Vietnam era attack helicopter playing the scene from “Apocalypse Now” where the helicopters come in over the beach with the loudspeakers playing Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”. Another exhibit depicted a scene from “Dr Strange Love” when Peter Sellers as Group Captain Lionel Mandrake is sitting with Brigadier General Jack Ripper, (Sterling Hayden) & the general’s mannequin was holding the hand-held 50 calibre machine gun with the pistol grip featured in the movie.
Besides the planes & helicopters in the hangers, there are a lot of large old bombers out in the field as well as many other military aircraft. Two that Sheila found especially interesting were the Bumble Bee & the SR 71. The Bumble Bee is the world’s smallest airplane that can carry a man. The fuselage was only about 6 ft. long & the wingspan 5 to 6ft. Sheila was convinced it could only be flown by remote control because she couldn’t see how the pilot got in until a docent explained it to her. Evidently it was built to capture the record for the world’s smallest airplane, only flown once, & then donated to the museum.
The SR 71, used for reconnaissance, is the world’s fastest & highest flying plane. It had to be built of titanium so it could withstand the sun’s heat at high elevations, which meant every screw hole drilled required a new drill bit because of how hard titanium is. The docent said that the CIA admitted that its top speed was Mach II, (2200 mph), but he thinks it’s even faster than that since it can fly LA to New York in 30 min. One other tidbit of info that Sheila learned is that any plane that carries a US president is designated “Airforce I” and only when the president is actually on board.
We finally had to tear ourselves away to head back to pick up the RV & head east out of Tucson towards New Mexico. Away Orangewood RV @ 137293km @ 3:25 pm; after a 10 minute rest area stop, we were into Fort Wilcox RV park in Willcox AZ by 4:50 @ 137413 km. Now it’s “shower & laundry time” and “catch-up on computer & journal time”.
FYI – I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT IF YOU PUT YOUR MOUSE OVER A PICTURE AND CLICK, IT ENLARGES THE PICTURE.
We dropped off the RV at Orangewood for them to finish it up and went to the WiFi coffee shop, “Java Break” for breakfast & to check email. Then off to the Pima Air Museum. It is immense! There are 4 hangers of aircraft, a space gallery, + acres of aircraft parked outside. We saw a small portion of it all & took lots of pictures. They have 2 or 3 free guided tours plus a long tram tour around the field for an extra $6. You can get a 2 day pass so you can come back to see more. As it is the 100th anniversary of Navy Air Power, they put on a tour of all the navy aircraft which was very interesting, informative, & best of all—FREE! The tour was around Hanger 1 and then on a tram outside, around part of the field. The docent that conducted the tour had been a Navy aircraft carrier pilot for 6 yrs. (’59-65) and then a United Airlines pilot for 30, so he shared lots of interesting information first-hand with us, including near crashes & an bail out ejection, ( he broke his leg).
They had lots of docents around to explain the aircraft; a lot of them were retired air/army & navy personnel. I learned a few things I didn’t know, for instance, the difference between aircraft & airplane - - an airplane has wings, an aircraft might fly, but doesn’t have wings. So all airplanes are aircraft but not all aircraft are airplanes. One docent showed us the photo of the B59 crew beside their plane and mentioned the fact that the ages of them were mostly all under 20, some as young as 17. The old man of the crew who they called “pops” was 26! Another interesting fact was that the life expectancy of a WWII bomber crew was 6 to 10 missions and you needed around 20 missions to complete your tour of duty. When we were under the B59 looking up into the bomb bay the docent pointed out a tube running fore & aft through the plane. He explained that the B59 was one of the first pressurized airplanes and as you can’t pressurize the bomb bay you had to crawl through this 22 inch diameter pipe to go from front to back of the airplane. No wonder in those old war time photos air crew all seemed to be slim & trim. They had a TV beside a Vietnam era attack helicopter playing the scene from “Apocalypse Now” where the helicopters come in over the beach with the loudspeakers playing Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”. Another exhibit depicted a scene from “Dr Strange Love” when Peter Sellers as Group Captain Lionel Mandrake is sitting with Brigadier General Jack Ripper, (Sterling Hayden) & the general’s mannequin was holding the hand-held 50 calibre machine gun with the pistol grip featured in the movie.
Besides the planes & helicopters in the hangers, there are a lot of large old bombers out in the field as well as many other military aircraft. Two that Sheila found especially interesting were the Bumble Bee & the SR 71. The Bumble Bee is the world’s smallest airplane that can carry a man. The fuselage was only about 6 ft. long & the wingspan 5 to 6ft. Sheila was convinced it could only be flown by remote control because she couldn’t see how the pilot got in until a docent explained it to her. Evidently it was built to capture the record for the world’s smallest airplane, only flown once, & then donated to the museum.
The SR 71, used for reconnaissance, is the world’s fastest & highest flying plane. It had to be built of titanium so it could withstand the sun’s heat at high elevations, which meant every screw hole drilled required a new drill bit because of how hard titanium is. The docent said that the CIA admitted that its top speed was Mach II, (2200 mph), but he thinks it’s even faster than that since it can fly LA to New York in 30 min. One other tidbit of info that Sheila learned is that any plane that carries a US president is designated “Airforce I” and only when the president is actually on board.
We finally had to tear ourselves away to head back to pick up the RV & head east out of Tucson towards New Mexico. Away Orangewood RV @ 137293km @ 3:25 pm; after a 10 minute rest area stop, we were into Fort Wilcox RV park in Willcox AZ by 4:50 @ 137413 km. Now it’s “shower & laundry time” and “catch-up on computer & journal time”.
FYI – I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT IF YOU PUT YOUR MOUSE OVER A PICTURE AND CLICK, IT ENLARGES THE PICTURE.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Mar 24 Thursday - Repairs start & we visit the Titan II ICBM missile museum
Mar 24 Thurs Day 66 sunny & warm, low 70’s
We got up early to get to Orangewood RV Center to get an estimate of time & cost of repairs. Spoke with the service manager Fred Brooks. They will have to research finding the filler pipe etc. Our old tire on the driver’s side is now going flat so Fred gave us the name of a RV tire repair shop, Jack Furriers Western Tire Centre, just up the street, and to ask for Roy. We went there while Fred looked for parts. The Tire Center fixed the spare; it was the valve stem that had gone letting air out, and started on the new tire mounting. Roy said that the tire valves for use with valve extenders should always be steel, never rubber, so I had them put in the steel ones. First I had ever heard that, but it makes sense. While they were doing that we went to a nearby WiFi coffee shop for breakfast. Back to Orangewood and left the RV for Fred and his RV technician to work on and said we’d be back mid afternoon to see how he was doing. As it was looking like a long job we had decided to just get the gas filler & water pump working & leave the compartment broken & open.
We went down to the Titan Missile museum. It was quite something, to look down the silo at the missile and to go into the underground workings & command centre was quite enlightening. The security when it was operational was amazing. They had a “no lone zone” in the control room and anywhere on the 8 levels ops crew or maintenance staff would be, which meant there always had to be two people together at any place doing anything, one to watch the other, no one could be on their own. Considering they had a 6 megaton nuclear weapon there, it seemed reasonable. The security procedure just to get in & out was also complex. The on duty crew was 4, 2 officers & 2 sergeants who did a 24 hour shift down in the silo. Getting the codes to fire the ICBM was also very complex. It was a very interesting tour to see a part of history that used to be super top secret & highly guarded. Of the 54 ICBM sites in the US they were in only 3 states, Arizona, Kansas, & Missouri. The 18 in AZ were in a ring around Tucson. Each one had 3 targets & the warhead was 6 megatons which is 600 times more powerful than WW II bombs dropped on Japan.
When we got back just before closing at 5PM they had almost finished and we have to take it in Fri morn for the last bit. They had finally found the required gas filler pipe by sending a man out to a truck wrecking yard & he got the proper original equipment gas filler pipe off a 2003 ford econoline van. Fred said they just had to do the whole job & fix the compartment that would have been open because it was a safety hazard and he couldn’t let us go out with unsafe conditions. It would have been open to the rear wheels throwing up water onto the 110 volt & 12 volt electrical connection which could cause shorts & a fire possibly, and it is close to the gas tank. We found a vacant lot nearby & parked the RV there. Just as we were leaving to go to the casino across town a pick up truck drove up. Turns out the vacant lot was part of his property with a business on it a half block away. WE explained the situation& he had no problem with us staying there. We took the car & the GPS for a trip to Casino of the Sun. The GPS proved itself again as the street signs were not light up so with out the GPS I wouldn’t have been able to see were to turn until I was into the intersection. We had buffet at Casino of the Sun then drove the ½ doz blocks to Casino del Sol for the entertainment in their lounge, no cover, no drink minimum.
We got up early to get to Orangewood RV Center to get an estimate of time & cost of repairs. Spoke with the service manager Fred Brooks. They will have to research finding the filler pipe etc. Our old tire on the driver’s side is now going flat so Fred gave us the name of a RV tire repair shop, Jack Furriers Western Tire Centre, just up the street, and to ask for Roy. We went there while Fred looked for parts. The Tire Center fixed the spare; it was the valve stem that had gone letting air out, and started on the new tire mounting. Roy said that the tire valves for use with valve extenders should always be steel, never rubber, so I had them put in the steel ones. First I had ever heard that, but it makes sense. While they were doing that we went to a nearby WiFi coffee shop for breakfast. Back to Orangewood and left the RV for Fred and his RV technician to work on and said we’d be back mid afternoon to see how he was doing. As it was looking like a long job we had decided to just get the gas filler & water pump working & leave the compartment broken & open.
We went down to the Titan Missile museum. It was quite something, to look down the silo at the missile and to go into the underground workings & command centre was quite enlightening. The security when it was operational was amazing. They had a “no lone zone” in the control room and anywhere on the 8 levels ops crew or maintenance staff would be, which meant there always had to be two people together at any place doing anything, one to watch the other, no one could be on their own. Considering they had a 6 megaton nuclear weapon there, it seemed reasonable. The security procedure just to get in & out was also complex. The on duty crew was 4, 2 officers & 2 sergeants who did a 24 hour shift down in the silo. Getting the codes to fire the ICBM was also very complex. It was a very interesting tour to see a part of history that used to be super top secret & highly guarded. Of the 54 ICBM sites in the US they were in only 3 states, Arizona, Kansas, & Missouri. The 18 in AZ were in a ring around Tucson. Each one had 3 targets & the warhead was 6 megatons which is 600 times more powerful than WW II bombs dropped on Japan.
When we got back just before closing at 5PM they had almost finished and we have to take it in Fri morn for the last bit. They had finally found the required gas filler pipe by sending a man out to a truck wrecking yard & he got the proper original equipment gas filler pipe off a 2003 ford econoline van. Fred said they just had to do the whole job & fix the compartment that would have been open because it was a safety hazard and he couldn’t let us go out with unsafe conditions. It would have been open to the rear wheels throwing up water onto the 110 volt & 12 volt electrical connection which could cause shorts & a fire possibly, and it is close to the gas tank. We found a vacant lot nearby & parked the RV there. Just as we were leaving to go to the casino across town a pick up truck drove up. Turns out the vacant lot was part of his property with a business on it a half block away. WE explained the situation& he had no problem with us staying there. We took the car & the GPS for a trip to Casino of the Sun. The GPS proved itself again as the street signs were not light up so with out the GPS I wouldn’t have been able to see were to turn until I was into the intersection. We had buffet at Casino of the Sun then drove the ½ doz blocks to Casino del Sol for the entertainment in their lounge, no cover, no drink minimum.
Mar 23 Wed - Things that go bump in the night went BANG in the afternoon!
Mar 23 Wed Day 65 – sunny & warm
After showers, e-mails, & housework¸ we pulled out of Shadow Ridge RV park in Ajo at 11:20 @137061 and headed east on Hwy 86. At 12:35 @ 137164, with a bang that sounded like a cannon shot, followed by a loud rattling noise, our driver’s side rear inside dual, (tire) blew. When we got stopped by the side of the road, I called Good Sam Hwy Service & a repair truck is on route from Tucson, 100 kms, (60 miles), east of us. When Sheila couldn’t get water from the pump, I checked closer & found that when the tire delaminated, it had damaged the services compartment and broken off the water line from the pump. The pump still runs OK, (we found out later that a water pipe fitting was sheared off so the pump had to be replaced). The other thing it took out was the gas tank filler hose. I have less then a ¼ tank of gas approximately & nothing leaked out, thank goodness. It will all have to be fixed in Tucson. The repair truck arrived at 3:20, the tire was changed and we were away with spare on at 3:50. Arrived Casino del Sol 137261 @ 5:10. We went into the casino to check it out. No deals on food here, the discounted buffet is at Casino of the Sun few blocks away. However, they had a deal with the players club card that gave you free a $10.00 on the slots but you had to make one money bet first, I put in $5, got my free play & eventually cashed out with $10.50, so a gain of 5.50. Sheila put in $10 & came out with $20.50—a $10.50 gain. Unfortunately, she lost all but $4.50 of it when she continued to play. After a light supper at the taco & soup bar, we returned to the RV to update our journal, do expenses etc.
After showers, e-mails, & housework¸ we pulled out of Shadow Ridge RV park in Ajo at 11:20 @137061 and headed east on Hwy 86. At 12:35 @ 137164, with a bang that sounded like a cannon shot, followed by a loud rattling noise, our driver’s side rear inside dual, (tire) blew. When we got stopped by the side of the road, I called Good Sam Hwy Service & a repair truck is on route from Tucson, 100 kms, (60 miles), east of us. When Sheila couldn’t get water from the pump, I checked closer & found that when the tire delaminated, it had damaged the services compartment and broken off the water line from the pump. The pump still runs OK, (we found out later that a water pipe fitting was sheared off so the pump had to be replaced). The other thing it took out was the gas tank filler hose. I have less then a ¼ tank of gas approximately & nothing leaked out, thank goodness. It will all have to be fixed in Tucson. The repair truck arrived at 3:20, the tire was changed and we were away with spare on at 3:50. Arrived Casino del Sol 137261 @ 5:10. We went into the casino to check it out. No deals on food here, the discounted buffet is at Casino of the Sun few blocks away. However, they had a deal with the players club card that gave you free a $10.00 on the slots but you had to make one money bet first, I put in $5, got my free play & eventually cashed out with $10.50, so a gain of 5.50. Sheila put in $10 & came out with $20.50—a $10.50 gain. Unfortunately, she lost all but $4.50 of it when she continued to play. After a light supper at the taco & soup bar, we returned to the RV to update our journal, do expenses etc.
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