Mustang?
A mustang is "a small and hardy wild horse", descended from animals brought to America-to-be by the Spaniards. Fortunately No 1 and No 3 sons did not try to ride one. Their Mustang was slightly more controllable ...
... but big and soft-top.
Two sons have been on a 1000 mile road trip to the USA and sent the fbbs a vast electronic album of pictures - including many of the Mustang. The "lads" had a splendid holiday but with a more serious purpose at the end, as we may see.
But, for some strange reason, they did not spend hours watching buses and trains in the cities which they visited. But a few snippets will appear in mini blogs over the next couple if days.
So they started their trip in Las Vegas.
... quite a lot!
How's that for a modest billboard? And then there were the casinos ...
And Richard refused to accept any payment, not even postage; which came to ...
... and general Nite Spots.
Their main excursion was to here ...
... the Hoover dam; with picture taken from the relatively new bridge.
They did drive over the top of the dam and it was, indeed, spectacular.
Such were not frequented.
Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, during the Great Depression, it was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over 100 lives.
Here it is in the 1940s.
The Grand Canyon is very big indeed.
It was a bit misty of the day of their visit so fbb had made use of some stock photos which may be of a different bit of this big ditch.
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River. It is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet).
The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. The surrounding area is contained within the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
The problem is that you cannot grasp the scale of the thing from a photograph.
They didn't go to this bit!
You can go down in a helicopter, with prices from £366 per person ...
... but it is still hard to take it all in. No 1 son proffered the opinion that it is too big for a human brain to cope with even if you are standing at the top on the edge.
It is encouraging to see that these intellectual middle aged (?) men, one a senior academic and the other a well respected computer genius ...
... stimulated their brain cells with some challenging mental activity.
And so to bed ...
... under the silvery beams of the rising moon.
They were!
Just one more thing; it's just the sort of hotel you might expect to encounter Columbo.They didn't. They slept without interruption as they weren't in L.A. ...
... Yet!
Tomorrow we will actually sample some public transport in 'Frisco. It is way more interesting than casinos in Las Vegas.
The Tale Of Two Tanks ...
... and a memorable act of kindness.
A few days ago, fbb received this email.
I believe you collect tank wagons?
Clearing out my loft I came across these.
I expect you already have them, but if not you are welcome to them.
Let me know if interested and I can post o you.
Richard.
The wagons are not particularly valuable, although one site offers the pair at £28; but elsewhere they are cheaper, especially without their boxes. 
They are both Hornby Dublo three rail models, i.e. with metal wheels, and probably ...
... they date from the mid 1950s - although accurate dating is difficult as Hornby kept similar wagons in their range right until the company's demise. The silver-grey Esso version was available in two rail with plastic wheels (red box) ...
... whereas Royal Daylight was superceded by Mobil as the "red" tank wagon.
fbb is really grateful to Richard as both will enhance the old man's collection.
Maybe someone has got an R60208 ...
... (a recent Hornby tank wagon) that they don't want?
Next Mustang blog : Wednesday 2 Apr
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