Vacation Thoughts
As I sit here, in a motel room my innkeeper tells me was recently built (as in 1940's vs the 1920's) on a 21rst century wi fi connection, I'm thinking about all the contrasts of our trip.
We've seen the bright lights and make believe of Las Vegas and the harsh beauty of the deserts that surround it. In Tucson we saw a B-17 and a memorial to its crew, but my fondest memory was the chance to speak to a bombardier from WW2 and thank him for his service to our nation. His home? 2 blocks from my aparment. I got to see where we spent millions of dollars on a nuclear missle, in the cause of keeping the peace. In Tombstone, we saw how the famous gunfight can be seen through two sets of views. Some still stay that the men the Earps shot were murdered.
Most of all a simple count of license plates from around the country reveals how travelling a thousand miles from home can show you just how small a world it can be. We have counted 37 different US states, 3 Canadian provinces, and 4 mexican states all in this small southwestern state.
Its been a very good trip.
A few highlights:
-The Tournament of Kings. Its like a living b-movie. You eat with your hands while knights joust in silling costumes. You cheer for your knight. We got to sit in the evil Dragon Knight section. Why? Because good is dumb!
-Meeting the B-17 bombardier and hearing him speak of bailing out of the plane, only to spend 15 months as a POW. He looked at a tiny door he bailed out of nearly 65 years ago and remaked: "It looked a hell of a lot bigger at the time"
- Marge, our tour guide at the Titan Missile Museum. She was one of first female missile crew commanders in the US Air Force. She led us more than 105 feet underground to show us where she spent 24 hour shifts waiting for the call to launch that thankfully never came. As a guide she was amazing, but I was most impressed with her quiet proffesionalism.
-Hearing about the OK Corral gunfight from a different point of view. Like most, I had seen the movie, which paints a very sympathetic picture of the Earps and the fight. However, the Clantons and the McLowries saw the Earps as little more than a rival gun who happened to have badges. Both sides produced witnesses to support their version of events.
-Williams, AZ and Route 66. The Mother Road. Main Street of America. The town itself looks like it was dropped out of time, and in a way, it was. When the town was bypassed, much of the traffic and business dropped off. Thankfully the deaths of other towns along the route did not go unoticed and by the 80s when I40 was finished, they fought to keep the town alive. Today, its a mix of the very old and the very new.
We've seen the bright lights and make believe of Las Vegas and the harsh beauty of the deserts that surround it. In Tucson we saw a B-17 and a memorial to its crew, but my fondest memory was the chance to speak to a bombardier from WW2 and thank him for his service to our nation. His home? 2 blocks from my aparment. I got to see where we spent millions of dollars on a nuclear missle, in the cause of keeping the peace. In Tombstone, we saw how the famous gunfight can be seen through two sets of views. Some still stay that the men the Earps shot were murdered.
Most of all a simple count of license plates from around the country reveals how travelling a thousand miles from home can show you just how small a world it can be. We have counted 37 different US states, 3 Canadian provinces, and 4 mexican states all in this small southwestern state.
Its been a very good trip.
A few highlights:
-The Tournament of Kings. Its like a living b-movie. You eat with your hands while knights joust in silling costumes. You cheer for your knight. We got to sit in the evil Dragon Knight section. Why? Because good is dumb!
-Meeting the B-17 bombardier and hearing him speak of bailing out of the plane, only to spend 15 months as a POW. He looked at a tiny door he bailed out of nearly 65 years ago and remaked: "It looked a hell of a lot bigger at the time"
- Marge, our tour guide at the Titan Missile Museum. She was one of first female missile crew commanders in the US Air Force. She led us more than 105 feet underground to show us where she spent 24 hour shifts waiting for the call to launch that thankfully never came. As a guide she was amazing, but I was most impressed with her quiet proffesionalism.
-Hearing about the OK Corral gunfight from a different point of view. Like most, I had seen the movie, which paints a very sympathetic picture of the Earps and the fight. However, the Clantons and the McLowries saw the Earps as little more than a rival gun who happened to have badges. Both sides produced witnesses to support their version of events.
-Williams, AZ and Route 66. The Mother Road. Main Street of America. The town itself looks like it was dropped out of time, and in a way, it was. When the town was bypassed, much of the traffic and business dropped off. Thankfully the deaths of other towns along the route did not go unoticed and by the 80s when I40 was finished, they fought to keep the town alive. Today, its a mix of the very old and the very new.