BarkellWH -> Tucson/Oro Valley Interlude (May 12 2015 18:01:28)
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Marta and I have been in Oro Valley, about 10 miles north of the center of Tucson and the University of Arizona, for over a week now. We have leased a short-term apartment rental for the entire month of May, as we want to see what life is like in Oro Valley and Tucson. We definitely want to anchor ourselves in Arizona, the only question being where. Last year we spent a month in the Scottsdale-Phoenix-Tempe area, but thought we ought to give Oro Valley-Tucson a chance as well before making the final decision. Tucson has a couple of real gems to recommend it. The first is the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum. the term "museum" is something of a misnomer, as it is really a large complex that combines elements of a zoological park, a botanical garden, and a museum. Featured are flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert, overlapping both Arizona and Northern Mexico. It has been in existence for decades but gets better each time I visit. Very professionally run. The second gem is the Pima Air and Space Museum, adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and its "Bone Yard," where thousands of military aircraft are stored. The arid, high desert environment and hard rock under the desert floor are perfect for storing aircraft without the threat of corrosion and disintegration. Stored at the Bone Yard are all sorts of aircraft, some being kept in good condition in case they need to be reactivated, some cannibalized for spare parts to keep others running, and some that will be sold to foreign governments. The Pima Air and Space Museum may not be the equal of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, but it comes close. there are the usual World War II aircraft displayed: a P-51 Mustang, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, and the B-29 Super Fortress that enabled the U.S. Eighth Air Force to reach and bomb rail centers and fuel depots, and to conduct area bombing of cities, throughout Germany with P-51's flying fighter escort, as well as to bomb Japan from the Mariannas, and finally to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the war. The gem within a gem at the museum is an SR-71 blackbird. The SR-71 was developed to take U-2 reconnaisance capabilities a giant step forward. Originally developed as a single-seater called the "A-12" at Groom Lake (Area 51) in Nevada, it finally ended up as the Sr-71, a two-seater developed and tested at Palmdale, California. The two-man crew consisted of the pilot and the operator of the technical reconnaisance equipment. It is the sleekest, most magnificant machine one can imagine, capable of flying at an altitude of 85,000 to 90,000 feet at three times the speed of sound. It has been completely overtaken by satellite imagery and is no longer in use. We'll be here another three weeks. We like the high desert environment. the temperature is always about five or six degrees cooler than the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the desert is lush with growth--mequite, palo verde and the like, as well as cacti. Cheers, Bill
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