The weather was noticeably better today so we decided to drive about 25 miles north to the thriving metropolis of Bouse, AZ. The town was apparently created to support WW II activities in the area, particularly General Pattons tank battalions. At this point, Bouse is not much more that an intersection of two highways, a community park, and dust. I'm sure some very nice people live here, but I don't know why or what they would do.
An interesting tidbit to the memorial area at the center of town is a description of the CDL. This was the acronym assigned to a 13 million candlepower light mounted on a mobile platform and designed to illuminate and blind enemy troops in defense of canals. Therefore CDL means "canal defense light". This was a top secret project that was tested in the desert area north and east of Bouse, but was never implemented. The training area also provided practice for hundreds of tank trainees who could crash around millions of acres of desert in Arizona and California.
One of the most important members of the desert installation was "Eight Ball", who has his own plaque in the display of memorials to various tank battalions that trained here. Apparently, Eight Ball had a fondness for ladies underwear. To eat, that is.
And finally, another beautiful Arizona sunset, with the moon above:
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