Well, I guess you haven't heard from me for some time now. I was so busy getting ready to leave and then I couldn't write until I got there. You may have a hard time reading this for I am writing this on the train.

So much has happened I doubt if I can remember it all but I'll try. Last Thursday I still had only 7 hours of flying time in but I went out to the airport at 1 o'clock and came back at 6 o'clock. In all that time I managed to get two hours of flying in. We did spins. First he did one and then I did four. Boy are they fun. The second time I went up I did three (I just saw 5 antelope running across an empty spot. We are traveling through pine forests in Arizona. We just left Flagstaff about a mile back). To do a spin you bring the plane into a stall with the motor throttled back. As you come to the top of the stall, you pull the stick all the way back and kick hard on one rudder. This makes the plane fall off sideways and it starts to spin with the nose pointing at the ground. To come out you kick the opposite rudder and push the stick forward. This stops the spin and puts you to a dive which is easy to come out of. The only sensation I have in a spin is when we pull out of the dive. It feels like I have a mud pack on my face. The blood rushes out of my face and it causes a drawing feeling on my face. Well, that gave me nine hours so I went out on Friday to get my check ride but I didn't get one. There were too many guys and they didn't get to me.

Friday evening we were given open post from 7 until 12 o'clock. It was just for the boys who were shipping and it was very nice of the CO to do that for us. The girls gave us a formal dance. I had a blind date with one of the dorm girls and was she cute. I had lots of fun. At the intermission we went to the drugstore for a coke. The dance ended at 11:30. Well I said goodnight and went and signed in.

I got to my barracks and everything was upside down. Our beds were torn apart and the sheets tied in knots. The blankets were thrown up on the rafters in the ceiling and all the chairs were on top of the closets. Well, we got our beds made and then there was a big debate whether we should take our revenge that evening but it was decided to wait until morning. Well, Saturday morning is inspection morning and we knew who the leaders of the group were so we were all set. First we took a hose and got the floor of his room all wet. Then he came out and he got all wet. We shut the water off and then brought the victim to our barracks and proceeded to give him a haircut. Well we chopped two of them up but we couldn't find the other one so we went to chow. After chow we went to the third man's room and pulled his bed apart, tied his sheets in knots and then wet the sheet. We messed up his shoes and then he came in. Well, we gave him a special haircut, a V in the middle of his head. Then since we were in the mood, we took our group leader, nobody liked him and gave him a V for victory.

We turned in our blankets and packed our clothes. We left about 5 o'clock. There are about 80 of us and we have no officer in charge. One of our boys is in charge of us. We are on a troop train and there are three cars of gunners behind us going somewhere here in Arizona. The diner is behind them and behind the diner are two cars full of WACs. We had dinner last night in the diner and then we went to bed. We got out of Texas while it was still light so I got to see some of New Mexico. This morning we woke up about 7 o'clock and we were in Arizona. We stopped about 9 o'clock in Winslow and got out for breakfast. There was a hotel right where we stopped. At first I thought it was the station, but it wasn't. The whole trainload of us got out and went in. The food was good and after breakfast we walked around the place. The lounge room or whatever you call it sure was swell. The floor was made with wooden pegs and the furniture was the Mexican type. They told us it cost a million to build and a half million to furnish. It sure was just like the movies.

We started on and the country was very barren. Just tufts of grass and occasional sage. As we continued, the sage got bigger and then it changed to scrub pines. About this time I stuck my head out of the window and dead ahead was a mountain with snow at the top. It was Humphrey's Peak and is 12,650 feet high. Well, we could see it all morning. As we got nearer, the trees got bigger and closer together. Flagstaff was right at the bottom of the mountain. It is a very nice town. It looks very nice with the mountains as a background. Arizona State is there but it didn't look like much. Ever since we left the town we've been traveling through very beautiful country. The trees are all pines and you can even smell them. It's very hilly and rocky and we keep winding around

I am now writing in bed. We traveled in canyons most of the afternoon and it was very picturesque. You remember what the Black Hills looked like at the Lodge with mountains all around? Well, we stopped in the middle of a prairie that was about 25 sq. miles big. On all sides were mountains and you couldn't see any way out. There was an army camp there and the other soldiers on our train got off. The only town anywhere around there was as big as West Chicago. Those poor guys, I pity them. It seems that all through the South the railroad stations are hotels. We stopped at one of these at noon and had lunch. The place wasn't so wonderful but it was all right. The town was Ash Fork. As it got toward suppertime we began to see large cacti as tall as a man. We crossed the Colorado River and stopped at Needles to eat supper. While we were eating they took the three empty cars off our train and so we just have 4 cars now; two are ours and two for the WACs. After supper we were standing on the station platform and a streamliner came in bound for Chicago. We're at the end of our two cars, so that put us close to the WACs. I stuck my head out of the window and used the deaf and dumb sign language on a cute brunette. She knew it and answered so we had lots of fun. This is the craziest Pullman I ever saw. The seats are real wide, big enough for three people. The aisle is on one side of the car and the seats face each other, and when the beds are made up, there are three decks. Well I drew the top one so I have all the heat, and talk about heat, has it been hot today. A train is the dirtiest way to travel so don't ever take a train anywhere. Well, that's enough for tonight; I'll write more in the morning.

This morning when I got up we were in some town about 80 miles from Los Angeles. One carload of WACs got off here while the rest went on to L.A. with us. We passed through the pretty scenery in the night so I didn't get to see much of it. The ride into L.A. was just like riding from G.E. to Chicago except that we kept going through orange groves and you could see palm trees. When we got to L.A. we ate in the restaurant at the station. By the way we ate all of our meals in Fred Harvey restaurants. The restaurant in the station was very classy. We ate up on a balcony overlooking the main floor. After breakfast we had 45 minutes to wait so we walked around the town and saw what it looked like. They have a few high buildings and they're all concrete. The town reminds me of Chi except that the street cars are attached to each other. We got on a train at about 9:45 and there was a carload of soldiers in the rear of us. It took us about an hour and a half to get to Santa Ana and we went through orange groves all the way.

When we got here 12 trucks with canvas tops, one jeep and two motorcycles and a police car came down to greet us. There was a Lt. Colonel and a Captain to greet us. We rode out to the camp and here we are. The place looks just like Sheppard Field. The barracks are just the same and the layouts are just alike. The first thing we did was to eat chow. After chow we went to a place with tables and filled out forms all afternoon, insurance papers, etc. We then were marched to the orderly room and issued bed clothing and foot lockers. We don't have any sheets but we have two blankets and a comforter. After we got there we went to chow. After chow we had a measles inspection and later a Lt. came and told us what was expected of us. Boy, do we have to be on the ball. I'll tell you what we have to do when I know more. I'll mail this and get bed.

Love,
Rae