"Floobydust" is a contemporary term derived from the archaic Latin miscellaneous, whose disputed history probably springs from Greek origins (influenced, of course, by Egyptian linguists) meaning here "a mixed bag".

Trip summary (Debbi): I have been so busy at work, I don’t get to write much. The Skywatcher’s Inn is a fabulous place, even during a gibbous moon. It’s about 50 miles south of us on a highway that is mostly 75 mph. Sunday afternoon we drove past Benson to Dragoon, home of the Amerind Foundation. This is a lovely little museum specializing in Native American artifacts and archeology of the area. They also have a nice gift shop with a range of items and prices.

In stark contrast, we traveled 3 miles further to an infamous rest-stop/tourist trap best known as the home of "The Thing." If you've ever driven west on I-10, you've been subjected to 175 miles of yellow signs pushing this place. It's the Rock City of the West, but not as cute. Well, we were hungry, and there was a Dairy Queen. OK, hungry and desperate. After our fish sandwiches, we paid our $2 to follow big yellow footsteps through a dirty grungy "museum", past old cars, and a friendly, but scrawny black cat, to… The Thing. Sorry, can't reveal the secret; half the economy of Dragoon probably depends on that place.

We also stopped at Texas Canyon, a very scenic rest stop with vistas of huge boulders and cliffs. We also stopped here in '98 on the way to Tucson, but it was raining that time. On to the Skywatcher's Inn! We checked in, and got a tour by a bubbly enthusiastic female employee. We know the owners, who are very active in the Dark Sky Association in Tucson, and have done a marvelous job with the inn. It is exquisitely furnished and decorated, yet it is not imposing. It is adult and kid friendly, inside and out. The night skies are, of course, the main attraction. We spent a couple of hours on a patio up a small hill from the house with Avery's big binoculars and their HUGE ones. I also set up my camera and zoom lens to attempt astrophotography for the first time.

Among the other guests was a family comprised of Mom, Dad, 3 boys ages 11 to 6-ish, and their adorable adopted Asian 3&1/2 year old sister Jasmin, who adopted me for the duration. The older boys and parents took turns with us on the patio looking for "shooting stars' and gazing at the fuzzy blobs (galaxies) Avery found for us.

On Monday, our actual anniversary, we began the day with our breakfast, prepared just for us. Jasmin and her coloring book joined us. We were able to spy on her brothers and father in boats down on the lake. (In Arizona it’s a lake, in Georgia it would be a pond.) I got out the 205 mm lens and attempted bird photography. I may have had better luck with my next target- the push-up lizard. This little lizard, when it spots you, does push-ups to frighten you off. Maybe the predators are laughing too hard to eat it. I also roamed around the house photographing items of interest like a crystal Starship Enterprise and a bronze DS-9. Avery told them they need a copy of the movie, Dark Star, with the "Benson Arizona" song.

Tombstone: We finally dragged ourselves away, and drove 25 miles to another infamous tourist trap - the town of Tombstone, Arizona. It was about 100 degrees, and dusty, as befits a legendary Western town. It boasts, along with the OK Corral, the world’s largest rosetree, a Victorian courthouse, and several notable saloons. I know it’s not my kind of place when there are more "No Guns" signs than "No Smoking" signs.

Pronounced "Loony-Verse", this is the latest exploration of the congruence of juggling, music and comedy by FKB, with assistance by the Media Lab at MIT. I first saw FKB in about 1978 at BaltiCon (Baltimore SF con), and was very impressed with them then. To compare then and now, if I had wondered then what FKB might be doing in The Year 2000, well this performance was everything I could have wanted. This performance was a very early stop on a world tour. See them if you get a chance.

RE: Raytheon RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile): Yes, I can find unclassified pictures of the missile, but most are either munitions controlled or proprietary, so I still can't send them outside the company. I have found one nice color brochure which I will send you. And, I haven't given up looking.

While we're on the subject of missiles, you may have noticed recent news stories about a recent decision by the U.K. on which missile to equip their Eurofighters with. The competition was between Raytheon, with an updated version of AMRAAM called ERAAM, and a European consortium with plans to develop a missile called Meteor. AMRAAM is the incumbent, with over 10,000 produced, and already qualified for use on Eurofighter. Meteor is just plans on paper right now, and wouldn't go into production until 2010 at the earliest. Of course, the Meteor plans give it somewhat better performance than AMRAAM has now, but the AMRAAM that will be built 10 years from now will also have much better performance. And the issue of ramjet propulsion, which the Meteor will have, has been hyped out of proportion. Yes, a ramjet missile will have greater range than a rocket motor, which AMRAAM has now. But, the rocket motor gives the missile greater maneuverability, especially since the ramjet has to roll just like a jet fighter to keep the air scoop on the outside of turns. And development of a ramjet for AMRAAM is mainly a matter of manufacturing development, since R&D has been done on ramjet propulsion for AMRAAM already. According to Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, the Air Force not only developed and test flew ramjet propelled AMRAAMs over ten years ago, they used them in combat in the Gulf War. The insinuation in the AW&ST story is that the USAF kept it quiet because they didn't want the development of a longer range missile to interfere with the perceived need for the F-22, which, because of its stealth and supercruise capabilities, can get close enough to a potential target to use AMRAAM and survive when an F-15 (or Eurofighter) might not. So, with ten years, and anticipated sales of around 10,000 AMRAAM missiles in those ten years, Raytheon is somewhat disappointed with the decision, but not really hurt.

Another little story about AMRAAM: when the rollout of the 10,000th missile was anticipated last year, the company produced a documentary video, which, amongst all of the test flight video, included clips from the movie, Independence Day. Yes, all of those missiles fired by the F-18 fighters in the movie were AMRAAMs. Someone counted them up: 1500, which is like more than have actually been fired in the history of the production of AMRAAM. But, this video is strictly for in-house use, especially since permission could not be obtained to release the movie footage.