5 March

Ah well, a very interesting day.
I got up later than normal, as I knew I would not be able to get into the USAF Academy until nearly 9. After normal preparations, then breakfast, I packed and did a little organisation and then went out to the car – and found it was fifteen degrees – nearly ten below in Celsius. The car was covered with snow but did start straight away after I had checked out. The wipers removed the snow from the windscreen and the heater melted the snow on the back window but – no washers! The water in the bottle was frozen and did not flow (and didn’t until I was in Utah late in the afternoon.
I arrived at the academy at 9 and went into the Visitors Centre. The lady on the desk wanted me to watch the introductory film, so I did but after that I was straight off to the chapel.
[Aside: some of you may not be aware that I was associated with the chapels at RAAF Williams from 1952 until 1999. From the early 1960s I was in the choir, from the middle 1960s I taught Sunday School, in the late 1960s I ran the Sunday School and the Youth Group and then from the early 1970s I did lay preaching at St Andrews and then the Chapel at Pt Cook. From the late 1970s I was also the Treasurer, until the 1990s. All this time ministers came and went, but I stayed. At some times there was only mum, myself and one or two others. At one stage I was the only minister for a few months, despite being a civilian. Consequently I have a real affinity with the RAAF, the chapel(s) and associated personnel.]
I walked ot the chapel and took some photos. As I finished, some cadets were complaining about positioning some equipment and the difficulty of getting materials, when they could have just gone to the hardware store (not Bunnings or Mitre 10, but Home Depot). I mentioned that it seems to be the sae the world over. By this time the lady working in the chapel to supervise visitors had arrived. I purchased a booklet on the chapel and she outlined the structure of the physical chapel. I mentioned some of my history with the RAAF Chapel(s). Then a chaplain appeared and I introduced myself to him and we chatted. He had been in the music industry, selling Lowry Organs and had visited Australia (and nearly got a music industry job there). After, he became a chaplain. I mentioned about the chaplains I had known, including Russell Simmonds and Erskine Sweetman (and his work in WWII with the altar which ended up at RAAF Laverton). Then the lady (Lydia) showed me around the entire chapel, past the public areas and through the Protestant Chapel into the Jewish Synagogue, past the Buddhist area and into the Roman Catholic Chapel. She explained the significance of each part of the Roman Catholic chapel and the image cadets had made from photos taken of the shroud of Turin. Then it was through the Muslim area, finishing at the Lutheran area (used mainly at Easter). Then we discussed the roles of chaplains and the difficulty of working with young people, usually away from home for the first time, in a very structured society and having to behave in certain ways in different situations. It does seem that the problems which apprentices faced in the 1960s are the same as cadets face at the current time. I thanked her very much for the tour and then returned to the Visitors Centre and had a quick look around before heading off.
It was then a quick trip up to Denver (refuelling along the way) and then a left turn onto Interstate 70 and an interesting drive through the Rockies. Perhaps the most interesting thing was not being able to clean the windscreen because the water in the washer bottle was still frozen. The temperature along the way dropped under ten degrees Fahrenheit, there was snow falling and the traffic moved very quickly. It was difficult to see at times, as the snow falling was dry and wouldn’t help clean the screen. I stopped for lunch at a place beside the road – most of them are in the canyons and so have little flat space. I took the opportunity to pour some water over the screen, wiped it clean and then back on the Interstate it got filthy and cold immediately (the sand and grit dumped on the road by the snow ploughs gets thrown up and most cars DON’T have mud flaps). Going through the Eisenhower Memorial tunnel was interesting as I couldn’t see the edge of the road or the lines in the middle – but I negotiated it without giving the truck driver next to me a nervous breakdown. Then on the descents I saw a lot of notices about brake failure – but if drivers used the correct gear, they didn’t need to use brakes at all. The only time I had to was because a driver in front pulled out from the slow lane, then braked in front of me.
As I left Colorado, the mountains had shrunk and the vegetation had also shrunk. It reminded me very much of the alpine country in Victoria. Then came a sign – be careful of eagles on the road (presumably eating road kill) which reminded me of country driving in Australia. Then at the first rest stop were – pit toilets, with the typical large vent pipes. Except that I was driving a Pontiac on the wrong side of the road, I could have been at home.
After forty miles I stopped at the Welcome Centre – more homely for Utah than the other states so far, but with good and relevant information nevertheless. I had arrived at 5 so didn’t stay long, and it was closing as I left.
It was a short drive before I turned south to Moab, where I had planned to stay the night. As I travelled down the road, the scenery became far more interesting. I took some photos as a taste of the next few days. In Moab, I saw a Super8 Motel and decided I would stay there if it had a laundry and cost less than US$60. I enquired and found out it was $54 (belonging to the RACV, affiliated with the AAA), they did have a laundry and the clerk was informative about the Arches National Park. I decided to stay two nights, booked in and unpacked, did the laundry, packed up souvenirs to post home (it will cost a fortune, I think) and did the normal computer work.
I will sleep in a little tomorrow, but not too much, and plan to see Canyonlands and the Arches National Parks during the day, then move on the next day.
One thing I had seen before and forgot to comment on: there were a number of advertisements for retirement villages. The format of the signs was the same and I only glanced at the first few. It read “A new vacation every day” but at a quick glance I read it as “a new vacancy every day”, implying a high turnover but truth in advertising. It took me a few opportunities before I saw the real wording.
By the way, if the photos inside the chapel are not too clear, it is because they were time exposures hand-held. However they should still convey the impression of grandeur.