On the way home from Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments, we had a quick drive through Jerome, Arizona, an interesting cliff-side “ghost” town.

While at the FMCA rally, we visited the Titan Missile Museum, south of Tucson, Arizona.

It is the last cold war era Titan II nuclear missile, kept in a deactivated state as a museum. Read more about it on that site, if interested.

They have a warhead in the display area:

More exhibits:

Of course, there’s a gift shop:

A model of the silo, and the red safe with the launch keys and codes:

We did a 45 minute tour of the underground facilities. Here’s our tour guide, and a cutaway diagram:

The access point:

Heading down stairs:

A blast door:

The cableway to the silo:

But first, the control room:

All three levels of the control area (living, control, mechanical) are encapsulated in an air-gapped structure, suspended on big springs, so they can withstand earthquakes or near misses:

Fancy tech:

Control panels:

Punched tape etc:

The stairs leading up to the living areas, and down to the mechanical areas (unfortunately not part of the tour):

The tour guide had a couple of kids turn the keys to simulate launching the missile:

Verification codes:

The launch control panel:

Suits:

Heading along the cableway to the silo:

The door into the missile silo:

Photos:

The missile and silo:

A spring that provides shock isolation to electrical stuff:

Back above ground, a security jeep:

Info signs:

Looking down into the missile silo:

The hole proves to spy satellites that this missile is inactive (plus the silo door is fixed half open):

Visiting this museum was quite a sober reminder of the Cold War that we grew up with as kids, and the fears of a nuclear World War III. Which fortunately hasn’t borne out… yet.

“A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.”

A fun roadside attraction near the KOA we were staying at was Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch, a petting zoo and ostrich farm:

They have a variety of animals to see, pet, and feed. They provide a cup of food, and instructions for each area.

First up was donkeys:

Jenn hand-feeding the donkeys:

The parakeet perch:

Deer:

A high penthouse for goats:

They have a conveyer belt to lift the feed up to them:

Goat kissing booth:

Jenn “kissing” a goat:

Ostriches:

Jenn feeding ostriches:

We were warned; one bit Jenn, drawing a little blood:

More ostriches:

Henhouse:

Feed dispensers:

Chickens:

Sheep:

Goats:

We couldn’t feed the rabbits, as they were full, but we could still look at them:

Ducks:

We never hand-fed our own ducks like that, mainly because we wanted to keep them somewhat independent of humans, but it was kinda fun.

Tortoises:

Rainbow Lorikeets:

Stingrays:

Diving ducks:

Finally, the gift shop:

It was a fun place to visit.