We traveled to Surprise, Arizona with friends just a few days after my 75^th birthday. Yes, you read that right. I just had my diamond jubilee, or as Janet likes to call it my diamond fiesta. I am old. The goals of the trip were simple: get to a warmer place and hang out, watch some spring training baseball, and throw back a few shots of tequila. We succeeded on all three fronts. 

The more times I travel to the desert, the more I like how the sand and cacti make me feel. Early in our stay, we drove northwest of Surprise to get a clearer look at the stars and experience a really cool sunset. Even with the ever expanding lights of Phoenix still in view, we were nearly overwhelmed by the beauty of the desert just before sundown. On our next visit, March 2025, we will drive well beyond the lights.

We decided to catch two ballgames during our time in Arizona. The first had the Royals and Giants in a day game and the Rangers and Reds played at night. The Rangers and Royals share the same stadium and practice facilities in Surprise. It’s a great place to watch baseball with almost all seating relatively close to the field. The mixture of veterans and a bunch of guys trying to make the big club makes the atmosphere different than the one we fans will feel when the regular season gets underway in just another week. 

This is our third time in the same AirBnB. We like it because it is fairly close to the Ranger/Royals baseball park and also has a heated pool and hot tub. Nice living. The house is also located near Luke Air Force Base, home of the USAF 56^th Fighter Wing. Not unlike “Top Gun” it is known as “The Home of the Fighter Pilots”. There are 170 F-16s and a number of F-35s at the base with pilots engaged in proficiency flights from 7:30 am until early evening. Each day during our visit we heard the roar again and again of jet engines as pilots began their runs for the day and then return to base. Now and then F-16s and F-35s fly at relatively low altitude near the baseball field. 

Luke Field is named for Lt. Frank Luke. Lt. Luke was born in Phoenix in 1897 and was the first U.S. aviator to be awarded the Medal of Honor. His career as an aviator was less than six months, but during his relatively few times in the air he was credited with 18 victories, the second most by a U.S. aviator in World War I. He was shot down and killed over France on September 29, 1918. He was 21 years old. Luke Field was established in June 1941 and the first class of 45 students arrived on June 6. They graduated in August 1941 and over the next four years 12,000 fighter pilots were trained. Today’s training is more lengthy and vigorous with many few pilots graduating each year.