Day 71 - 3/28/14 Disc Golf / Bike Ride / Camper Serviced

My goal to keep busy played out with going to one of the most difficult Disc Golf Courses.  It is west of Tuscon on I10 called The Rock in Marsna.  I played this course the last time I came through Tucson.  

This time I was ready for it but I can't say I played a heck of a lot better this time vs last.  

I feel my game has hit a plateau.  

After playing today I realized that I am not taking the time to think about how high or low and how much left or right I should throw.  I often play two games at the same time by throwing 2 discs from the tee to the basket and sometime I play the best of two.  Playing by ones self doesn't bring out my competitive side to try harder to do better either.

There are a number of baskets on the top of knolls like this one at this course.  You often have to putt uphill.

I was the only one in the park for a long time having started early.  There are a number of Road Runner Birds here doing what they do best running around.  I asked this one to stop so I could take its picture.

I threw the disc on the 17th tee and a woman came jogging on the trail around the course.  She had an unleashed dog with her and when it saw me it gave me it's full attention slowly moving forward toward me growling.

I yelled to her if she could call her dog.  My attitude is that any dog that growls is one that is not happy and could bite.  Most woman who jog or hike alone have dogs for security.  

She calked the dog and put the leash on it and I thanked her.  I explained that I have been bitten and as the saying goes "once bitten twice shy".  

She explained she joggs there often and usually doesn't meet anyone.

The last basket ends on the edge of the very large drainage ditch.  The tee is on the far side/left of tree.

Yes I missed the basket and went into the drainage ditch.  My second disc fell short and I stayed out of the ditch.

After my round of disc golf I decided to ride my bicycle around the perimeter of the park on the dirt roads.  My first true test of the new bike.

The bicycle worked fine and I was glad I replaced the one that was stolen.

I moved on to my afternoon goal of going to a Chevrolet Dealer to have the oil changed and tires rotated.  I had this service done once before on the trip in San Diego.  

View through the Chevrolet cut out on the back of the chair in the customer waiting room.

This will be my last service before I return home.  I only have one more month left on my trip.

While waiting for the camper to be serviced I grabbed the computer printer from the camper and brought it in with me to the waiting room, as I have not had AC power for some time and I had a College roster submission I needed to print and mark up and then send in.  I printed the documents,  I will mark them up and then take a photo of my changes and signature and will email it back.  As an Adjunct Professor teaching a course on the road I worked out all the things I would need to do on the road before I left and it had worked well.

If I didn't go to the car dealership for service I would have found an outlet at some other place.  In fact the McDonalds that is close to the casino has some booths with outlets I could have used.

I was thinking tonight that I have 2 weeks before I go to La Jolla to see son Clayton's family, wife Dana and my granddaughters Madison & Taylor.   Clayton will be coming, or expected to to be coming home from his Marine deployment.  Denise will fly in and join me there as well.  

So, I need to think about what I want to do with my remaining time in this greater southwest area.

Day 70 - 3/27/14 Titan II Missile Silo / Pima Air & Space Museum & Meeting Colonel Bushong

Titan II Missile Site Tour:

There are many who live now that did not live during the Cold War and how close we came to war with the Russians over the Cuban Missile Chrisis.

For those that remember please excuse my brief synopsis for others.

When Russia put Sputnik satellite into space in the early 1960's there was a world power shift that allowed the Russians to deliver a nuclear attack via rocket, where before this could only be done with dropping a nuclear bomb from an airplane.  When Russia took and put these nuclear missiles in Cuba, we had the crisis that was a standoff that resulted in Russia removing the missiles.

The United States went with a strategy of mutual distruction, where if the Russians were to attack the US with nuclear missiles we would ensure a nuclear response that would distroy their country too.  Even though the US may not survive we would assure they wouldn't either.

We are not talking of the type of bombs that we dropped on Japan to bring a quicker end to WW II.  These new bombs were 100 times more powerful as they were Hydrogen Bombs.

These bombs would totally distroy 1000 square miles.  The US built 8 sites around Tuscon, 8 more sites in Arkansas, and 8 sites in Kansas.  They were called ICBM's for intercontinental ballistic missiles.  

Under a treaty with Russia all sites were taken off line and missiles removed and warheads rendered safe & the Russians did the same.

One site south of Tucson became a museum with a training missile for show, but they had to leave the hatch open with plexiglass for the Russians to see that it was no longer an avtive site via their satellite.

So, this is the site I toured today.

They never hid these sites as the goal of the mutual distruction theory was the other side needed to know we meant business.

Model of Titan II missile.  I will not get into the missile technology and the missiles before the Titan II.

The tour starts with a movie on the background and history I have tried to cover above.

This is a picture of how the underground facility was designed.

Our tour took us down into the control room for the site.

This is a picture of one of the steel doors that secured the site and protected the solders inside to give then time to send out their missile in less than 1 minute.

Here we are in the control room and our guide Tom who used to work in a missile silo took us through the sequence on turning the key to launch the missile.  One woman I out tour got to turn the key.

Looking into the missile silo you can see the missile.

After coming out we looked down the silo  at the missile.

I am sure glad I was recommended to go to this historical museum site.  If you get to the Tucson area make this a stop.

What made this tour special was that our tour guide Tom had a great personality but also worked I'm one of these.  He is now a volunteer for the museum to give tours.

Pima Air and Space Museum:

I crowded my day with another landmark museum in Tuscom after getting an early start at the Titan Missile Museum.

When I arrived before noon there was a long line of visitors looking to pay to get in.

I was told to include the optional tour to the "Boneyard".  This is at the adjacent Davis-Montham Air Force Base.  This is an area where older airplanes are stored (more on this below).

With well over 200 airplanes on exhibit, 3 Hangers, a Space Gallery, a Memorial Museum, and acres of outdoor parked aircraft.  There are hours of things to see and do here.

This is a professional museum with everything well displayed and marked with volunteers that work throughout each building.

Some giving yours.

If you don't have time or have mobility issues take the extra tram tour where a guide will drive you around the many acres an will explain the aircraft,

The 390 Memorial Museum was special to me in that I lucked out meeting Colonel Richard B. Bushong USAF, Retired as he volunteers on Thursday.  

Colonel Bushong is a 91 years old WW II Veteran where he was a pilot on the B-17 bomber.  His career kept him in the Air Force into Vietnam where he flew F-4 fighter jet.

Colonel Bushong sat in front of a B-17 giving his talk.

He captured the audience with real stories of his service during WW II.  

He was 19 years old when he enlisted and took his pilot training.

He was 20 when he had his first mission flying over occupied Europe from England. 

Originall he flew as a co-pilot but due to losses of aircraft and men he became a pilot.

He was injured and in the hospital when his crew was shot down and lost.  He told me he survived because he was lucky.

The numbers were staggering.  About 4200 B-17 were shot down.  He says wing to wing this would cover the distance from Tuscon to Phoenix on I10.

The losses of crews (Airmen) is also something that deserves note.  B-17's had 10 member crews.  1/3 died, 1/3 were captured by being shot down.  1/3 survived and went home.  Crews were told they only had to fly 25 missions, but he is quick to point out that it wasn't already true as he did 29.

He explained all 10 jobs on the B-17.  There was a chin gunner in the nose of the plane. This was also the bomber. The pilot & co-pilot on the upper level.  Behind them was the navagators who also manned guns.  Two side gunners who in early models did there jobs with side doors open.  A lower ball turret gunner, a tale gunner, a overhead gunner and the radio operator.

The pilots had heat from the engines but other crew did not.  They were issued wire under suits and plugged in. As he explains the precursor to electric blankets.  He said later models has plexiglass on the side gunners so it made their environment better.

There were 3 missions where he lost the engine that heated the pilots cabin and it frosted over inside the windows.

Colonel Bishon was so interesting to listen to when explained that the B-17 flew daytime precision bombing which made them vulnerable to being hit my air shelling blasting around them and fighter plane attacks.  The Brittish bombed at night with B-29's that carpet bombed cities.

He did say the German fighters soon learned to attack from the front at about 10:00 to 2:00 as they had so many guns and they were successful shooting them down.  There was one fighter group the ran into used to come at them in a roll shooting all the time to make themselves a harder target to hit.

70 years ago today he flew a mission in a B-17.

He has written 2 books and I bought this one.

The Boneyard:

My bus tour of the Boneyard at the Air Force Base across the street was at 3:00, the last one of the day even though I arrived in the am.  

The Davis-Montham Air Force Base is charged with being a holding place for unused aircraft.  The service that owns them decides their fate, but basically there are two general areas at the base.  The first is where parts are scavenged to keep aircraft running.  The second are aircraft that are mothballed for possible reuse, including selling to our allies.  Of course it also means the scrap aircraft that have no future usage. There is also rendering bombers useless because of US / Rusdian agreements. They do it in the open so Russian satellites can watch and confirm what is being done.

There are hundreds of aircraft of all different types and sizes.

Engines stand ready for reuse.

There are so many airplanes that this side tour was impressive.

 

Day 69 - 3/26/14 Kartchner Caverns / Tuning the Bike / Dan's Campervan

First I was very sad to hear of the two Boston Firefighters that died in the Back Bay fire this afternoon from the famed Engine 33 that sits across the street from the Sharaton Hotel on Boylston street housed with Ladder 15.

Condolences to their families and loved ones and BFD for their loss.

------------------------

I was up and out of the casino parking lot and at McDonalds and today I planned a trip to Kartchner Caverns about 50 miles east of Tuscon.

Tourism is big this time of year here and I didn't have reservations, so an early arrival was in order to ensure my trip is not wasted.

It just happened that I caught this photo when the sun was in just the right spot so the shade aligns on the bend in the wall.

I arrived and there was an opening for the next 1.5 hour tour at 10:20 am.

They do not allow cameras on the tour but if you are willing to wait from time to time the Friends of Kartchner offer special photographing tours.

A bit of geology is in order.  This area of the country was the Great Basin and under the ocean.  Layers of limestone sediment formed then land lifted and volcanos formed and the limestone slid off the volcanos. With fresh water lakes now water drained through the limestone cracks.

To the left is the volcanic material (dark colors at the top of the mountain) and the lower hills to the right is limestone.

There are two major caverns.  One under each of these hills/mounds.

There is a river that feeds one and there was a small access between each.

In 1974 two college students found the caverns by exploring a sinkhole on the Kartchner's land.

They kept it a secret for 14 years (4 years from the owners).

I took a tour of the yellow area.  There is another tour for the red area.

When the State of Arazona took it over they took their time opening it to the public to do tests and planning tour routes.  

The tours are handicaped accessable and they have air locks to control the temperature and humidity.

Well worth the trip.

-------------

I stopped at a Tucson park upon returning to check out a disc golf voirse there & tune the new bicycle.

It was very windy here this pm so tossing discs was not practical,  The disc golf course is around the edge of a ball field.  For a course it is not that good bit would be a good course for maintaining skills.  The new bike needed adjustment in the brakes and wheel alignment.  The derailers both work ok but may need adjustment in the future.  I put 2 miles on it on the recreational trail at the park.  The bike is ready to go.

-------------

Here is Tucson FD at an accident on one of the city streets. 

This was the third accident I saw today in Tuscon.  The other two were this am on I19 about a mile apart from each other.

Sunset at my overnight spot in Tuscon

And a few minutes later a completely different look.

---------------

Dan & 1989 Campervan:

At sunset my neighbor in a campervan too in the parking lot came over to check out my campervan.  His is a Dodge chassis with a raised roof like mine but no overhang in the front like mine does.

I showed him that my campervan has a pull back bed but I use it for storage and stay in the rear.

We started sharing about staying at casino parking lots that we are self contained.  I showed him and discussed my use of Wag Bags (see separate blog post) rather than having to find a dump station.  He liked the idea but thought the guy on the other side of him living in a regular van may like the idea.  I told him that Walmart sells a similar bag system and stool for holding the bag.

Then he shared things to see around here.  I think I will stay another day to see a few.  Not sharing what they are so you can check tomorrow's blog to learn about them.

Dan is a retired truck driver from Tennessee.  Wearing long sleeve shirt, jeans, and cowboy hat he is average height and weight with longer hair.

His wife died in 2007 and he retired after she died and did this travel thing to the southwest in the winter with his pickup truck.  In 2009 he bought the vintage campervan. 

For 5 years he comes out and stayed where he can parking for the night.  He been doing in the same places so long he knows the workers at the places he stays.  Like me he leaves the casino for the day and back to park for the night.

He says his small camper like mine fits in a regular parking spot provided he backs in over an open space as he has a storage rack that hangs off the back on the trailer hitch.  I have the bike rack where he has the rack.

After talking to him I have figured out living this way.  He uses florescent lights and I have upgraded to LED to get better long usage of my campervan battery between charges.

I have not charged my camper battery since last Friday am when I was in Cottonwood and I stop have nearly a full charge.

I have not taken on water since the same time and have a half tank left.

This is my 6th night so I know I can go at least a week between charging and taking on water.  This is an experiment for me to see how long I can go without water and charging.  I wish I could do the same with gas but I move arm round a lot.

Day 68 - 3/25/14 Biosphere 2 & Lightening Disrupts Disc Golf / New Bicycle

Today I decided to head south to see the Biosphere closer to Tucson.  I have been here before but has been over 10 years and it is an intriguing place.  3 years ago it was taken over by the University of AZ.

So if this is Biosphere 2 what is Biosphere 1?  

Biosphere 1 is our earth.

The concept makes me feel small and listening to the compelling evidence about what we have and continue to do to the environment makes me feel weak, in that my grandchildren will have to deal with a greater environmental mess than what we see today.

The Biosphere experiment was a success in many ways.  People who thought they had all the answers at the time had many but learned a lot more from the mistakes and failures.  

The facility now is a learning & teaching facility and is in need of maintenance as the previous owners haven't done anything to keep it up.  It is a huge complex with a lot of moving parts to keep it running.  They maintain many ecological environments inside. The glass structure above.

This is the living quarters and research lab section.

This lower part of the picture below is simulating the Pacific Ocean.  They are looking for money to convert it to the bay of Baja ocean environment to conduct experiments.

The green upper section is a savanna environment.

This section below is a tropical rainforest.

Each of the ecological environments are places for research to be done.  One example is a project that is trying to figure out what will grow in norther AZ lava rock.  They grind up the rock and conduct experiments on what can and will grow.  The goal is to learn how to grow plants on land as one day we may need to.

Below is a desert environment.

This is one of two lungs for the Biosphere.  When you have a closed system as they did when 8 people spent 2 years inside pressure from the sun expanding air they needed a place for it to go as it was a closed system.  This lung will go up and down to accommodate the pressure change during the day.

Outside of lung.

One thing that happened during the closed system with 8 people in it was the oxygen level fell to a point (16 %) that oxygen had to be pumped in for them to survive.  They found out that curing concrete absorbed carbon dioxide and the plants couldn't convert enough to oxygen.

We do only have one world.  Now we face fracking for natural gas.  I am leaning on the side that we don't know the long term affects on our one world and big business looking to make money will drive the direction.  Once done we can't put the fracking cracks back together.  

Disc Golf:  I drove to a disc golf course in Tucson.  I previously played when I first came through here over a month ago.  I played until the 10th basket when the darkening clouds gave up a bolt if lightening that was only a 1/2 mile away and I was not taking chances.

I then went to Walmart for food for the night and to look at bicycles again.

I found a bike I had not seen in other stores and bought it.  The 26" bike is basic and at $79.00 at Walmart it works for the rest of my trip.  It is 18 speed vs 21 but that is ok with me.  Has kick stand too.

I still need to get a mirror & flashing rear light for safety.

Bought two U shaped hardened steel locks.  One to lock the rear wheel to the bike frame and the other to lock the bike to the bike rack.

While st Walmart in Tucson here is a rainbow from the storms that affected my game that was now passing to the east.

Nice sunset view of the mountains to the north.

Storm over and color fun sunset.

Off to stay at a local casino for the night.