My sister lives in a really great area with lots of cool stuff to do. Every day we went on to at least one museum or on a trip.
My sister only lives an hour from Tombstone where the famous shoot out at the OK Corral occurred between the Earp brothers and some villains. Turns out that Wyatt Earp had a brother called, Morgan, so my Morgan's interest was sparked by this fact.
As usual, the girls got themselves into a little trouble. But we managed to
get them out.
Asarco Copper Mine and Mineral Discovery Center
My sister lived a couple of miles away from an open pit copper mine.
We had never seen such a big hole.
It was a couple of miles wide and nearly a mile
down.
The tour took us to an operating open-pit copper mine. We saw how the land was excavated, the massive machinery that mills the earth and extracts and processes the minerals, and the reclamation process designed to restore the landscape.
 The trucks wear through these tires in 3 months. |
 This truck is retired, they now use trucks twice this size |
Titan Nuclear Missile Site
Thankfully the missiles have been dismantled, because my sister's house is only a mile away, basically at ground zero. It was fascinating yet frightening to visit the site.
This museum is a National Historic Landmark because it displays the only remaining Titan II missile that wasn't dismantled after the Cold War ended and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty took effect. For more than 20 years from the mid-'60s to the mid-'80s, the United States had 54 Titan II nuclear warhead missiles at various locations, all ready to be launched from their underground silos on a moment's notice (launch to an altitude of 47 miles in just 2½ minutes). Except for the propellants and nuclear warhead, the missile and it's huge launching arena are just as they were years ago. Underground, we walked through the 200-foot long cableway to the silo containing the Titan II missile and saw the launch control center. Above ground, we got another look at the missile through the glass covering where the massive 750-ton roll-back silo door is partially open.
|
 Morgan has his finger on the launch button in the missile control room 
|
We did manage to spend some time at home and let the cousins enjoy each other. Spikey was pretty good with her cousin, Shayla. But their different personalities are beginning to show. Shayla is very quiet in her mischievousness, whereas Spikey is a play by play announcer. In the car, when Rhyana got bored she yelled, "I pinching Shayla." to make sure we knew why Shayla was screaming. Shayla adores her big cousin Morgan because he protects her from feisty Spikey.
|
|
last updated 24 sptember 1999
Back
to Desert Trip Page
Back
to Home Page