Tucson Adventure - Day 6

[Composed: July 11, 2023, High in Tucson: 105°F]

Shira and I wanted to expose the kids to a bit of native history, and we figured Casa Grande Ruins National Park would be an ideal way to do this. The ruins are relatively close to Tucson and impressive to set your eyes on. The site is also relatively small, which given the insane heat, was a blessing for us. The kids were able to check out the small musuem, explore the ruins and then return back into the AC of the building to watch a well done video about what they had just seen. Afterwards D and I did some additional exploring while the other kids lingered in the museum and checked out the gift shop.

On our way back from the ruins we were hoping to stop by the delightfully named Rooster Cogburn - Ostrich Ranch. This quirky site offers folks a chance to feed a bunch of different types of animals, something the kids would have enjoyed. Alas, the ranch is only open on the weekends this time of year. To add insult to injury, on our way back from Casa Grande we caught sight of the Aircraft Boneyard in the distance. Even from the highway the place looked like fun. But alas, trekking around an outdoor museum in 105°F wasn't a sane idea.

We stopped at an outlet mall on the way home to pick up some supplies and we happened to come across a toy store there. J, C and D were delighted to pick up packs of Yugio cards, which had been a game they were playing thanks to a deck J had brought. They were all psyched to have a fresh set of cards to play with and the three kids spent the afternooon locked in Yugio combat. Earlier in the trip, I tried to listen to J as he explained how Yugio was played, but he immediately lost me. I kept turning to D and C and remarking: wait, if you guys don't know how to play Yugio, then how do you know what the heck J is talking about? My guess is that the gameplay is similar to Pokemon so that C and D could pick up Yugio quickly enough. I can't remember ever a topic being discussed by young people that seemed so tremendously foreign. So this is what it feels like to be old, eh?

After shopping we got in some pool time while Shira took T and G to get haircuts. They both came back looking gorgeous. I was especially impressed with G who wanted a dramatically short cut. It takes serious courage to try a new look and G crushed it. We're so proud of her.

In the evening, we went to dinner with Aunt Gina and her side of the family. We'd just seen Aunt Gina at my mother-in-law's funeral so it was a treat to see her again so soon and under happier circumstances. The kids loved playing with R, and it was fun to enagage in some adult conversation. I'm hoping the Tucson crowd will make it to DC where we can reutrn the favor of showing them a good time.

If you look at the pics below you'll notice a shot where D and J are wrapped in blankets playing chess. How cute, right? Not exactly. A few minutes before D had seen a massive spider in their room, and noped the heck out of there. Either he had the room, or the spider did; they weren't going to be roomates. J being supportive, joined him as they made camp in the living room. After a couple of false alarms, I eventually squashed Mr. Spider (and and no, it wasn't the massive creature who shares our bathroom; he's fine) and D and J could return to their accommodations. It was a spirited and adorable encounter.

Tucson Adventure - Day 5 - Afternoon

[Composed: July 10, 2023, High in Tucson: 106°F]

After a fun morning of exploring some of nature's most amazing gifts, it was quite the contrast to visit a site that nearly destroyed it all. Tucson's Titan Missile Museum was exactly the kind of place we wanted to take the kids: it was unique, offered a fascinating view into history and most importantly, was air conditioned.

Classifying the Titan missile Museum as a 'museum' sort of misses the point: for about an hour, you get up close and personal with the actual hardware that stood ready to destroy millions of lives, and most likely be a part of the cascade of events that would have resulted in wiping out humanity. It's humbling, to say the least.

We started off the tour with a short movie and then marched together as a group out to a hatch and down a few flights of stairs into the missile silo. I wasn't sure how the kids were going to react with visting this site, but generally, they all enjoyed it. Once in the missile control room there are two seats: one for the captain and one for an assistant. The person leading the tour selected one kid to be the captain and asked C to be the assistant. C doesn't love being the center of attention, but managed to more than do her part.

We got about a 45 minute description of both the historic context as well as the operation of the missile. If anything, it was too detailed. Ultimately, we simulated a launch with C doing her part to turn the key that "launched" the missile. She couldn't wait to get home and tell her parents that her Uncle and Aunt had given her the job of killing 12 million people on the other side of the globe.

The missile and attached silo really are a marvel of engineering. Built in the 1960's with only the most primitive of computing technology, it's amazing to consider what the engineers of the time pulled off.

The docent talked at length about how mutual assured destruction, if you launch, then we launch, then we all die and how it helped keep the peace for decades. I find it remarkably naive to stake all of humanity on (a) the presence of sane leaders of two nations, and (b) the assumption that there's no non-state actor who would benefit from these two nations destroying each other. And yet, it worked. Or rather, it works. Gulp.

For a secnod, put aside crazy leaders and wacky terrorists. Perhaps the scariest thing we learned during the tour was the role of the butter fly valve. A disk of metal, about the size of a dinner plate, is all that stood between the two main rocket fuel components. That valve had to operate with a 100% success rate. A malfunctioning value would mean that the fuel would mix and the rocket would go. Once the fuel mixed there was no abort procedure. All of humanity rested on these devices not opening prematurely. Again, gulp.

After the museum, we made our way back to the house where the girls took a swim and I dragged the boys out to do some bird watching on one of the nearby trails. Even with the sun going down, it was easily over 100°F. Still, kicking around with D and J was an absolute joy. We snapped pics of birds, collected up rocks and caught a sunset. Shira told me the girls had a great time in the pool, and splitting up the group gave everyone a break from each other.

Tomorrow we hope to explore another neat historic site in the Tucson area; though this one is far less likely to give anyone nightmares.