A Mission and A Missile

Feb 18/16 Weather 83 today, not as hot as the sky is overcast.  Good for riding without getting burnt to a crisp.  There are two sites we are visiting today that are  extremes to each other, peace in a Mission and war in a Missile.

White Dove of the Desert

 Mission San Xavier del Bac, also know as the White Dove of the Desert was founded by the Catholic in 1692; although the current church was built between 1783 and 1797.  Still pretty old for North America, in fact it is the oldest European structure in Arizona.  Beautiful.  The amazing thing is that today it is still being used for its original purpose of administering religious needs to its parishioners, regular masses and weddings and baptisms are held.   Extensive restorations are on going and they have been using the original mortar recipe that includes water and cactus and sand.  A visit here feels very peaceful.

entering into the church, splendid old wooden pews

look how small the side doors into the church are, Billy is 6 foot

About 20 miles south in the town of Green Valley is the opposite attraction.  At the Titan Missile Museum, we take a  journey through time to stand on the front line of the Cold War.

in 1961 Nuclear War was a threat

Titan II Missile = decommissioned

This preserved Titan II missile site, officially known as complex 571-7, is all that remains of the 54 Titan II missile sites that were on alert across the United States from 1963 to 1987. Did you know there were 54?  18 here in the Tucson area, 18 in Wichita Kansas and 18 in Little Rock Arkansas.  Able to launch from its underground silo in just 58 seconds, the Titan II was capable of delivering a 9-megaton nuclear warhead to targets more than 6300 miles (10,000 km) away in about 30 minutes.  All sites were decommissioned, and this site is a National Historic Landmark.    "Peace by Determent" was the United States plan.  Scary..... the tour takes you down into the silo's where 4 man crews staffed the missile and were on alert to launch the missile/nuclear bomb.  The sites had a longevity of 20 years!!!  We left here thinking what could have been, and thankful it did not.

The Command Center to Push the Button