TUCSON, AZ 9-28-2017 PART II

Davis-Monthan AFB is the home of a fantastic museum and AMARG, Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group.  It’s as big as Wright-Pat and there is so much to see and learn it’s nearly overwhelming. 

SR-71 drone, a failed concept

We didn’t know that the Blackbird had a drone designed to ride on its back.  When they took it up to deploy it, the aircraft went unstable, it crashed and the co-pilot was killed. 

Marian Rice Hart was the original Wonder Woman.  Born in 1891, she obtained a degree in chemical engineering and a masters in geology.  She and her sister, Dorothy, had a passion for sailing and did long voyages over oceans, Marian sailing around the world in 3 years in a small ketch when she was 45 years old.  Sailing wasn’t enough, though, and when she was 54, she learned to fly.  That wasn’t enough, either.  She made 7 solo flights across the Atlantic, her first at the age of 70.  In all, she logged 5,000 hours of flying time and on her final flight, she had a bit of a rough landing and was very unhappy with her performance.  She climbed out of the airplane, walked away and tore up her pilot’s license and said, “That’s it, I quit.”  She was 87. 

Marian Rice Hart's pilot dress.
Her Beechcraft Bonanza is in the background.

She also invented a pilot dress for women (and I guess men, too?), because she liked to wear dresses.  It had lots of pockets for maps, gauges, logs and so forth.  She lived to be 98 years old and wrote several books on how to navigate.  Her Beechcraft Bonanza is on display at Davis-Monthan Museum.

There are several hangars where some of the beauties are lovingly pampered and a big yard where others are kept.  In the yard, Rob found a rare (All but 5 were scrapped.) B-36, built by Convair and entered into service in 1948.  It has ten engines, three push-props and two jet engines per wing.  (You never know when you’ll need ten engines!) 

B-36 Ten engines, count 'em!

B-52 Is this a gorgeous picture or what?!

750 lb. general purpose bomb.  Got TNT?

It was replaced by the B-52.  A bomb is on display near the B-52.  The sign says that this is an “M117 750 lb. general purpose bomb,” and the B-52 could carry 66 of these.  (You never know when you’re going to need a general purpose bomb.)  In one of the hangars is a small General Motors F-4F Wildcat, almost intact.  It has fold-up wings and was used as a trainer for pilots learning to land on carriers.  The carriers were old cargo ships that were shaved off flat to create flight decks.  All of this took place on the Great Lakes.  This particular F-4 was found at the bottom of Lake Michigan and brought up 55 years after it crashed in 1945.  The pilot climbed out and survived.  There are dozens of others on the bottom of the lakes and they are left undisturbed. The honored final resting places of the pilots who are still inside.

F-4F pulled up off the floor of Lake Michigan

Meanwhile, back to the present!  Our baby flew overhead!

At 2PM, we boarded a bus that took us through the “boneyard,” now called AMARG.  Some of the airplanes are not “scrap,” and so they don’t say, “boneyard,” anymore.  The word “regeneration” was added to the acronym.  We had to drive through the active base to get to the storage fields and the security was tight.  It took our busload an hour to clear security.  We were told not to take any pictures and apparently they were watching.  When we were allowed to re-board the bus to go on the tour, we sat for a long time.  Why the delay?  Finally, two Air Force guys boarded the bus and walked over to an Asian guy who didn’t speak English and asked if he had taken a picture.  He said, “no.”  They said, “Yes you did, we saw it on the tape.”  They made him delete it and then we were free to go.  (They should have taken his chip if they were serious but what do I know?)

The “boneyard” is a sea of wings and tails, an airplane cemetery as far as the eye can see.  Why Tucson, you ask?  Under the dirt is a clay-like sub-layer called caliche.  It is very hard and it is not necessary to construct concrete pads upon which to park the aircraft.  They say if you want to plant flowers in Tucson, you blow a hole in the soil with a stick of dynamite.  There are 4,000 aircraft languishing here and it made me feel infinitely blue.  They told us that the value of the aircraft is almost $34 billion dollars (much more in today’s dollars) and most will never fly again.  After an amazing 2-hour tour, we were driven back to the museum.

Stealth 117 fighter-bomber (Who said
Air Force guys don't have a sense
of humor?)

A sea of airfoils.....

going on forever.....

Unhappy retired American muscle ("Somebody
please fly me!  I'm ready to kick
some ass!")

Extended wing B57 used by NASA

Boeing built YC14

Retired Thunderbird, F-4 (note the shirt
on Lindy)

Tonight, we’ll watch the Packers beat the Bears at a sports bar.  Tomorrow, we move along to Wickenburg.

TUCSON, AZ 9-26-2017 PART I

This is the most beautiful KOA that we’ve decided to stay extra nights, five total.  There is a smoked bbq restaurant here on campus so we’ll walk there tonight for dinner.  We can have a cocktail before dinner and not worry about driving or calling a taxi!  Hurray!  This park has the biggest repair facility we have ever seen.  As we’ve learned, you don’t know the beast has a malfunction until you take it on the road, right?  There is a huge warehouse of parts and we found a bin latch we need.  Between that and the restaurant, all is well here in Tucson.

It’s always something, Jane.  I got up this morning to find a puddle of water behind the toilet about ½” deep.  Fortunately, it was fresh water from the supply line.  We mopped up and started fiddling with the toilet, wondering how we can deal with this till we get home, maybe turn the water pressure off and stuff towels behind it as we go along.  Rob figured out how to get the close-out panel off and we found the leak.  It was an easy disassembly and reassembly and, lo and behold, the KOA parts department had the correct valve!  A new, blueprint toilet valve, oh yay!  It doesn’t take much to delight two engineers!  It was a 15 minute job and we’re back to business, as it were. 

Beaver

Tortoise

Mmmm, I LOVE humans!
They are delicious!

Here in Tucson, there is a big conservatory, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  When I hear, “museum,” I usually think of dead stuff.  However, this is more of a sanctuary with a pleasant walk through trees, flowers, butterflies, birds, cacti and lots of animals like turtles, otters, beavers, fish, deer, long horn sheep, black bears, grey fox, ocelots and mountain lions.  The animals were not free, of course, but the environment was big and natural, no coops or cages.  We learned that some are rescue animals, injured on the job, so to speak.  One resident is a beautiful blue heron.  As a chick, he was captured and carried away by an eagle.  The eagle dropped him for some reason and a human saw this drama.  The chick was taken to a medical facility to try to fix a broken wing and foot bones.  They did not heal properly and the heron lives comfortably here as a permanent guest in protective custody. 

Blue heron with a malfunctioning right wing

Plan view of the blue heron

There were also snakes and spiders.  Rob paid a visit.  I waited outside.  The saguaro cactus is 75 years old before it begins to sprout arms.  It grows to be about as tall as a 4 story building and can weigh up to 7,000 pounds when it is fully grown.  It lives to be about 200 years old and the support structure is actually wood.  So the straight ones with no arms that we see here and there can be as old as 75 years!  They are majestic beasts!  It was an all-day affair including lunch at the pretty restaurant and, I will say, it isn’t unusual for us to miss about half the exhibits at a place this size but here, it was comfortable and easy to see almost everything.

Nice kitty, nice kitty...

Ocelot... looks like he may not eat humans.

Why is there a goat on my head?

Saguaro cacti of all ages

LAS CRUCES, NM 9-22-2017 PART II

Somebody turned 70 years old today and it wasn’t me!  Birthday Boy wanted to travel out to White Sands.  We have been there before but it is a phenomenon that it is worth seeing again.  And again.

Birthday Boy

It looks like snow and it is blinding white.  But it isn’t snow, it is gypsum, that chalky stuff in drywall.  And it isn’t cold outside, it is actually hot in the sun!  They sell saucers in the gift shop and you can go sledding on the white hills.    Or you can stop at one of the picnic areas and have a cold brew.  This is how Birthday Boy wanted to spend his day.  Who am I to argue?

Yay!  I'm SEVENTY!

I can do this!

Birthday Boy!

Lindy and a saucer can do it, too!

Is this beautiful or what?!

White stuff up my shorts!  Oh yikes!  Does it itch?!

Have a beer at a shaded picnic table!

La Posta is a very old establishment and there were many of these a few hundred years ago.  They were built originally as “rest stops” for the King as he traveled about his kingdom and some of them also acted as mail drops.  The one in Mesilla, a small historic district in Las Cruces, has been a restaurant for decades.  They specialize in Spanish and Mexican food and in the lobby there are aquariums with colorful fish and cages where parrots entertain clientele.  The parrots imitated Rob’s chatter and laughter and danced when we sang rock and roll to them.  It was really funny.

C'mon, Polly!  "Rock and roll is here to stay!"

One of the aquariums at La Posta

On Saturday, we went to the center of town and walked many blocks where the farmers’ market is set up under shady canopies.  The artisans display their crops of vegetables (including pecans!) and many different kinds of art including photography, jewelry, basket making, music and the making of soaps, honey and oils.  There were vegetables that I didn’t recognize like different kinds of squash and maybe beans, and some I did recognize but I don’t know how to cook.  Rob was very happy to find that a chef had brought a wood fired pizza oven to the affair!  Naturally, he had to order one of these, what else?!  There was even a cattle man who was hawking his beef, pork and lamb.  “We would like two grass-fed rib eyes, please.”  “Oh no!  I am fresh out of rib eyes.”  “That’s OK.  We’ll have a bunch of lamb chops.”  “Gosh, I am sold out of lamb chops.”  “That’s OK, then.  How about a pound of hamburger?”  Well, bingo, we acquired a pound of hamburger right off the hoof, the best we could do and as lean as can be.  (I hope it wasn’t a chunk of Bessie.)

This is our fifth night in Las Cruces and I will feel sad to leave in the morning.  We will enjoy one last night on the cliff overlooking the city lights sitting under the twinkling stars.  Next stop:  Tucson.

LAS CRUCES, NM 9-21-2017 PART I

First, we are at about 4,400 feet elevation so we can sleep with all the windows open.  Second, this is the place to pick up lots of pecans for the Christmas season.  Third, dinner at La Posta.  We love it here.  Our longest stay so far, five nights!

Our favorite KOA on the cliff

We are camped at our favorite, quiet KOA way up high on the edge of a cliff that overlooks the city, which is framed by mountains on the horizon.  During the day, bunnies, squirrels, roadrunners and hummingbirds are busy, busy, busy.  In the evening, after el sol dips behind the horizon, the city lights illuminate and sparkle like glitter and a bazillion stars twinkle over head.  It is like sitting on the branch of a God-size Christmas tree.  It is tranquilizing and hypnotic.

View of the city framed by
the Organ Peak Mountains

Five years ago, we stopped here for a few very hot August days because they have a swimming pool.  Unfortunately, the pool was closed for renovation.  At that point, the government stepped in.  “You can’t do this, you can’t do that, we can’t grandfather you.”  Then, the inspectors were “too busy” and couldn’t keep their appointments to stamp things off.  This went on all summer.  Unanswered phone calls.  Canceled appointments.  The sign on the gate to the pool said, “Please help us.  Call the Governor.”  That was all I needed.  Call the governor, indeed.  Leave a message and they’ll hit “delete.”  I’ll WRITE to the governor (who, by the way, was conservative Susannah Martinez).  She wrote back!  She said she would help and I should hear something from someone “in the near future.”  I wrote back to her.  “Not only did I not hear from anyone in the near future, I didn’t even hear from anyone in the FAR future.  A small business is trying to make a living and feed a family and they have had no income for an entire season thanks to government red tape.”  Then, heads rolled.  The Governor got the parties involved off of their government asses and the pool was once again open for business.  The elated KOA owners, Chris and Tony, sent me a tin of pecans and offered me a free night if I were ever back in town.  I sent Governor Susannah a thank you note (she is still the governor, by the way).  Five years later, we are closing the loop on the last day of the summer season!

Victory lap for Lindy!  Yay, the
citizens won one!

As you may recall, Col. Edward Hatch was the commander of the 9^th Regiment, the Buffalo Soldiers, at Fort Stockton.  The town of Hatch, NM is named for him.  We drove there today to investigate the haps.  Mostly, they specialize in every kind of pepper imaginable.  Red, yellow, green, mild to hotter than hell!  Nothing has changed and you can’t get a beer or a margarita anywhere in Hatch, fyi.  Along the 25 miles of road were endless pecan orchards and they are often flooded.  The trees look like they are growing in lakes.  (I didn’t see any alligators.) 

So far, no alligators in the
pecan orchards.... 

The government, once again not one to keep its nose out of things, has begun regulating water in NM.  The pecan farmers are allowed so many acre-feet of water per month.  They flood the trees when they can and the thirsty trees drink it quickly.  Harvest season is late in the fall but I will try to get my hands on a few pounds of pecans at the farmer’s market while we are in pecan country.

Poor Bessie... she doesn't know how painfully
fatal it would be if she DIDN'T get milked!

Admittedly, we are getting a little museum’d out but it was suggested that we visit the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.  Successful farming and ranching in this area involved the building of Elephant Butte Dam.  It took 4 years to build during the FDR days and created an enormous reservoir on the Rio Grande.  The museum is interactive in many ways and you can visit a lot of livestock.  Rob and I were there in time to watch the stockman milk Bessie using the most modern equipment.  Bessie was cool because she got treats while all of this was going on.  I think she felt sheepish. 

You think BESSIE feels sheepish!

There are a lot of interesting exhibits on the animal farm and it was fun!  (Speaking of animals, the larger roadrunner by a few inches is here up on the cliff.)

Las Cruces roadrunner

FORT STOCKTON, TX 9-19-2017

We are camped at Hilltop RV Park overlooking our kingdom from 3,100 feet.  When we first checked in, the sky to the west was evil-looking, like a black atom bomb was going off.  Jim, the proprietor, told us not to worry, those storms never hit his park.  And indeed, it did not.  Leaving ten raindrops behind, the storm said, “Adios” and continued on its way south and east.  Instead, a refreshing, cool breeze swept across our camp offering relief from the heat and humidity of recent weeks.

Don't fly into this.

Sculpture up on the hill in
Fort Stockton

Settlers traveling west to Mexico and California in the transportation-du-jour, horses, wagons and stage coaches, came upon two things here:  hostile Indians and a refreshing water supply at Comanche Springs.  A line of defense to protect pioneers from Indian violence was established and Fort Stockton was one of these.  This was in 1858.  However, this original post slightly south of the current town, was abandoned at the onset of the Civil War.  Two years after the Civil War was ended, Col. Edward Hatch re-established Fort Stockton at its current location and it was occupied by the 9^th Cavalry regiment.  Col. Hatch was a white guy but his soldiers were black, those were the rules back then.  Newly-freed black men were searching for security and stable jobs and the military was one way to obtain both.  The Indians were bemused by the appearance of the black soldiers and called them, “Buffalo Soldiers,” because their dark skin color and tight curly hair was, in their minds, reminiscent of the head of the buffalo.  The Buffalo Soldiers proved themselves with discipline, courage and bravery and made their mark upon history.  By the 1880s, the threat from the Comanche Indians had faded and Fort Stockton was abandoned in 1886.  Three of the original officers’ quarters and the original guard house still stand and some other buildings have been reconstructed on the original foundations, including the kitchen and a barracks.

Guard house - Fort Stockton

Rob in the barracks at Ft. Stockton

Annie Riggs and her piano

Limestone quarried from the nearby hills and adobe bricks (baked grass and mud) were the primary construction materials in the 1800s.  The historic buildings in Fort Stockton that were built from these two materials have withstood the tests of weather and time.  One of these is the Riggs Hotel.  Eight year old Annie Frazier, her dad and mom and six siblings traveled west, arrived and settled in this area in the mid-1800s.  Annie was an independent little wench.  She married a guy named James Johnson and had six kids with him but that union didn’t suit her.  She divorced him, something that was almost unheard of in those days, a pioneer in more ways than one.  Later, she married Barney Riggs and had four kids with him.  That marriage and relationship didn’t go so well, either and Annie divorced him, too.  He was a troublesome person and got himself shot and died without a will so Annie got the estate.  With it, she purchased and fixed up the Koehler Hotel (the cost was $4,750) and opened for business.  She was a shrewd businesswoman and ran a tight ship and they said if you got out of line, she just happened to be packing under her pretty apron.  Don’t piss the lady off, that’s what I’m sayin!’  The 13-room hotel was a big success because it was safe and comfortable.  Cooler than most buildings, it had two-foot thick adobe walls, 14-foot high ceilings and had been built on a piece of higher ground.  The screen doors to the rooms opened out onto a porch of wood planks that surrounded a pretty interior courtyard.  Annie did a lot of the work around the hotel and most of the cooking.  Many of the furnishings (her piano, for example, and an iron bed frame she had purchased in 1900) and the kitchen utensils and implements on display were hers:  the wood stove, a clothes iron, a waffle iron, toaster, butter churn and ice cream maker, among other things.

Reception desk at the Riggs Hotel

Annie bought this electric stove
in 1922.  It still works.

Courtyard at the Riggs Hotel

Rob at the Riggs Hotel

You may want to have your picture taken beside the (second) biggest roadrunner in the world in Fort Stockton.  It used to be the biggest but somebody built one a few inches taller just recently in Las Cruces, NM.  Some people have too much time on their hands.  Anyway, I’ve learned as much as I can about Fort Stockton.  Wednesday, September 20, we move along to Las Cruces.

Lindy likes roadrunners!

Roadrunners like Roberto!