trip

Launching a Titan Missile isn't that hard

SAHUARITA, Ariz.--I've just emerged from the bottom of a Titan missile silo, and I think I now understand a little bit more about what it took to be one of the people responsible for pushing the buttons that could have started World War III.

I was at the Titan Missile Museum in this tiny desert town near Tucson, as part of Road Trip 2007, my tour around the Southwest, and it's quite the experience.

They take you deep, deep underground, into the guts of a thermonuclear weapon launching facility, and you even get to push the button. … Read more

Airplanes and more airplanes in Tucson

TUCSON, Ariz.--I've just finished my tours of the PIMA Air and Space Museum and the Arizona Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility here, and boy have I seen a lot of airplanes.

I'm visiting the two facilities as part of my Road Trip 2007 around the Southwest. They are basically side by side, and house approximately 300 and 4,300 planes, respectively.

At the Air and Space museum, it's a mix of military, NASA and civilian planes, including an SR-71, the plane that brought the hostages home from Iran in 1981, plus many others.

At AMARG, … Read more

So many 747s, so little access

MARANA, Ariz.--I was driving down Interstate 10 today, on my way from Phoenix to Tucson, where, as part of my Road Trip around the Southwest, I am visiting the airplane boneyards of the Pima Air and Space Museum and Davis Monthan Air Force Base's famous Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), as well as the Titan Missile Museum.

But as I was driving along I-10, I noticed a whole bunch of airplane tails rising above the low trees. This instantly reminded me of last summer, on my trip around the Pacific Northwest, when I discovered the Japan Airlines 747 pilots training facility. … Read more

I love that dirty water--and that Facebook lawsuit

Tomorrow morning, I'll be heading from New York to Boston to sit in on the dismissal hearing for the lawsuit that social networking site ConnectU has filed against current Silicon Valley darling Facebook. It's a long-running drama that goes back to when the founders of both sites were students at Harvard, and no one's entirely sure how it's going to turn out.

I'll have a story on the subject on News.com very soon. In the meantime, here's what some other news outlets have been saying in the weeks leading up to the case: … Read more

Double Rainbow over Tempe

TEMPE, Ariz.--A double rainbow! I've been hearing about them for years, but the closest I ever came to one was eating some ice cream.

But this evening, while returning to my motel from dinner, there it was. OK, the second rainbow wasn't complete, but it was definitely there. So, I'm giving it credit. After all, have you ever heard of a "One-and-a-half rainbow?"

To be sure, maybe this is a common thing in Tempe, where I'm visiting on my Road Trip around the Southwest, but I hope not. If so, chalk it up … Read more

Meteor Crater a sight to behold

METEOR CRATER, Ariz.--Don't call this a hole in the ground. It hurts the guides' feelings.

Instead, call this the best-preserved meteor crater in the world. And to look at it, how could you think anything else?

About 50,000 years ago, a 150-foot-diameter chunk of rock slammed into the Earth about 26 miles from what would eventually become Winslow, Ariz., pulverizing the ground and leaving this 4,100-foot-wide crater. It is a sight to behold.

I flew over it once, on a flight from New York to San Diego, and I thought, holy cow, what is that?

Now, … Read more

EV-DO card saves the day (for now)

TEMPE, Ariz.--One of the things I've found on my Road Trip around the Southwest, and on plenty of previous travels, is that motels are a terrific place to get a good, free Wi-Fi signal.

Most often, motels provide better Wi-Fi than pricey hotels, and that's something I've been railing away at for some time, hoping that I can make a small dent in those establishments' arrogance towards their paying customers.

So when I pulled into this city just south of Phoenix Sunday night, I was pleased, but not surprised, to discover that my room would have … Read more

Griffin iTrip StationFinder (iPhone App)

Have you ever been on a road trip trying to find a good radio station only to sift through tons of static before finding anything? With Griffin iTrip StationFinder for iPhone, random radio scanning is a thing of the past. To find the music to fit your mood on the FM dial, just touch the state you're in followed by the city to get a list of FM stations right on your iPhone. We would have liked a small description of each station along with the genre to get a feel for what we're choosing, but knowing which … Read more

When heavy rain comes to dry land

WINSLOW, Ariz.--I'm standing on a corner in...

Well, if you're an Eagles fan, you get the picture.

Actually, I've just arrived in this town near the Meteor Crater--which I'll be visiting Sunday for a story and photo gallery for my Road Trip around the Southwest--after a long day on the road, and much of it was spent navigating through a heavy rain storm.

At first, it was odd that the outside temperature was dropping precipitously from the high-90s into the 70s and then the 60s.

But then it started to rain. A notable … Read more

Ridiculous motel 'vacancy' sign policy

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.--If you ever happen to be in need of a room for the night, and happen to come across a Saga motel with "vacancy" illuminated, don't get your hopes up.

I was in this Route 66 town Saturday night on my Road Trip around the Southwest, desperate for a bed, and discovered that I had been dumb enough to think that I could easily find one, despite this being a July Saturday in the closest city to the Grand Canyon. Oops.

But at last, after checking several other motels, I wandered up to the Flagstaff … Read more