Now on Bbc News, the travel show. I am on a Coast To Coast Trek across the south of the usa, exploring the places that have grown up along the Sunset Limited train line. Myjourney started in the unique Port City of new orleans, and continued across from louisiana to texas, and one of americas most distinctive national parks. This is the rio grande. Welcome to the border this week, as i continue my journey along the rail route, but off the beaten track, i find out how close we came to the end of the world. Three, two, one, release. You and i have just started something that we cant stop. And discover a wonderland conjured from the imagination of a groundbreaking artist. I literally microwaved a microwave while it is microwaving. Im the only one in Human History that has successfully pulled off this accomplishment. This is americana, but not as we know it. In the middle of the west texas desert, you can walk for miles and miles before you come across anything resembling a homestead, or civilisation. This is one of the most remote areas in the country. And then, you come across this. Ive got to be honest, that is the last thing i would imagine i would see in the middle of the desert. You cant actually buy anything here its an artwork but that doesnt mean people dont come for miles to see it. Like these two, who have driven eight hours from dallas. I think it is a really interesting social commentary on branding, and i think its very ironic to have it here in the middle of the desert. And the fake Prada Boutique is just a foretaste. We are on the outskirts of an unusual oasis of art in the once anonymous Ranch Town of marfa, that began life as a railroad stop. And Marfas Transformation is largely down to the arrival in the 1970s of a leading artist from New York, the late donald judd. With this Space And Freedom he created one of the worlds largest installations of contemporary art. That an artist from new York City at the height of his Career Left New York, he thought it was a harsh and glib environment that did not support artists or their art, and what he created has inspired this whole other group of artists, writers, film makers, musicians to come and have a life here. The artists live and work at the museum, they have a studio space. Jenny was one of those budding creative pilgrims, so impressed byjudds work, she moved from New York to marfa with her young family. Then there are these concrete blocks, judds first works here, met with bemusement by many locals. Some of the jokes were they look like culverts or cattle pens, and there was scepticism at first, but the local people who have come and walked on these pieces have a sense of belovedness towards them. Back in the towns main drag, i decide to get a local� S Point of view. This used to be a mechanic shop, and blacksmith shop. This lot, now its a big Art Gallery and studio. As i quickly discover, the Saloon Bar Owner is not your average joe. This self proclaimed cowboy Out Of The Box is a bit of a southern dude, and he knows it. You want a beer . Id love a beer. Tell me whats the story of this town . Youve been here for more than 30 years . Or the first time you came here was more than 30 years ago. How has it changed . Marfa was just a small town, kind of dying, there were more Mom And Pop shops back then. And the thing that change this town was what . It was art that changed the town. You could say it saved the town. Marfa never had a 5 star restaurant, or New York or asian food, different types of food, things like that, we didnt have nice hotels. Initially, it was a culture clash, and the locals werent too keen on the new breed. They butted heads, they didnt like it, very prejudiced against one another, and now theyve learned to coexist, and its getting better and better and will continue to get better and better. There seems to be a bit of a marfa effect. Tai is now a feature film actor, and model. What kind of roles are you playing . All i can play is myself, im just myself, i play tai mitchell. And he seems to be having a ball doing just that. Every weekend there is somebody from some different culture, continent, anywhere from the northern realm, south america, australia, asia, africa, europe, just everybody comes here, so i get my Culture Fix without ever having to leave home. I think you could finish this game off in a moment. Where did the black go . You sunk it. You were very polite, i didnt even notice i put the black down by mistake time to leave the remote expanses of texas behind and continue west, through the arizona desert, following the train route. So here we are, tucson, arizona, one of those Place Names i heard so often, but never thought i would actually visit. It owes its existence to the train line, which transformed this isolated Frontier Post into a major urban centre. And they are proud of their Rail History here. Is that a bell . Can i ring that . Sure, go ahead. Yeah . Bell rings wow, that is a slice of history. Just in that noise, that sound. Its beautiful. But theres more to this area than meets the eye. This is a typical arizona landscape, vast Desert And Mountain ranges. But what the state is less famous for is something that could have changed the course of history in a momentous way, and its right beneath my feet. An intercontinental ballistic missile complex, one of only two in the world open to the public. Now decommissioned, but for two decades, capable of delivering a Nine Megaton nuclear warhead to targets more than 10,000 kilometres away. Thats 650 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on hiroshima. When we get to the bottom we will be about 35 feet underground, on whats considered level two. Yvonne was a Crew Commander here in the 1980s. If youll take a seat there. Am i going to be in charge . I am going to sort of let you be in charge. She took me through a simulation of what would have happened if the president ordered a strike. After a complex series of checks and verifications, it all comes down to two people turning a key. Three, two, one, turn to the right. Four, three, two, one, release. You and i have just started something that we cant stop. There is no Oops Button down here. Its quite chilling already, as youre talking about this, as those sirens and alarms go off. You just saw and heard everything that the crew would have seen and heard if they had ever been ordered to launch their missile. Its really kind of silent. Three, two, one, turn, give it a turn when it is green. Why do you let people in to witness the simulation . Whats the purpose . This site is a national historic landmark, and that designation is given to historic sites that have so influenced the american psyche as to have had an impact on almost everyone in the united states. Theres no way to call this missile back, theres no Destruct Package on the missile. Its that feeling in your gut, when were going through the sequence, its chilling, so Cold War sites, they can drive the necessity for Peace Home almost better than anything else. Yvonne leads me through the complex to get a look at the missile itself. This is the Nerve Centre of the missile site. All right, so we going to be going inside the Launch Duct now and when we go in, watch your head. 0k. And were going to be standing directly underneath the missile here. Thats incredible. Its so, so high up. 103 feet. 103 feet, and you can feel its power and, you know, in a scary kind of way. And have you ever talked to a counterpart of yours who was doing the same thing on the soviet Union Side . Ive actually yes, ive actually had the opportunity to meet one former soviet crew member. He came with his son to tour the museum. So they brought him into my office, just really nice guy, and as he was shaking my hand, he said thanks for not launching. And i couldnt think of anything to say but thank you for not launching. I mean, this was. It was just we were both so grateful to have the opportunity to meet each other, and in peace. And you are two Human Beings who personally could have easily have led to. Right, either one of us. The destruction of the world. Yes, either one of us. And on that apocalyptic note, i continue my exploration west, where the Nightmare Scenario of Titan Ii Mutates into fa ntasy. Crossing the Arizona Border into the californian desert, and where the Hollywood Dream for a select few became Reality Palm springs, the home of classic americana. Well, hello, ken. Hello, welcome to Palm Springs thank you so much. Sheltered from the elements by these enormous mountains, the town of Palm Springs became a Desert Playground for the Rich And Famous in the � 40s, � 50s and � 60s. They couldnt go anywhere in hollywood without having people photographing them and people wanting their autograph and. Ken was part of this exclusive world as he ran a Luxury Resort Catering for Hollywoods Millionaire celebrities. Everybody in the Film Industry would come here because they had privacy, by and large. They built homes here, they bought homes here, and so thats where we got the Movie Economy and we had everybody from Bob Hope to sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and all those people, they were all super nice and. So you met Elizabeth Taylor then . Oh, yeah. Elizabeth taylor was a sweetheart, yeah, she and barbra streisand. By the mid � 60s, Palm Springs had more Swimming Pools per capita than anywhere else in the world. But over the years, as more people were drawn to the glamour, Palm Springs lost its cachet and a new generation of Dream Makers took over and none so original as kens son. Youre going to see when you come to our Carnival Itll become pretty apparent. Itll be pretty apparent, will it . 0k. Oh, you wont miss it. Here it is. Wow look at that that is astonishing. Welcome to the wacky world of kennyjunior. An artist whose work is now luring sightseers away from frank sinatras old house around the corner to see this Fantastical Creation instead. What do you think is more interesting, this place or frank Sinatras House . This. This place laughs Kenny Irwin junior� s robots. Ken senior likens his sons worked to michelangelo, and has become his proud patron. Do you know what these mean . Do they mean anything to you . Well, everyone of them means is some kenny has created a unique sculpture out of material that would be in a landfill. Yeah. So he uses tons and tons of material that would be in a landfill. Hes recycled and made it into great Works Of Art. Where is kenny . Hes out here. Kenny . Wheres kenny . Uh chuckles hes behind you kenny i think this is kenny. Thats the man this is astonishing. Your father has told us a little bit about whats going on here but could you take me on a little tour . Yeah, absolutely. Yeah . Fantastic. And youve made every single one of these pieces, obviously. Yeah, made them all by myself. And over how many years . Ive been working on my art for id say at least the last four decades, since ive been living and breathing. Really . Yeah, i wasjust born an artist. On these four acres of land, kenny has used 1000 tons of recycled stuff to create 350 Works Of Art so far. Heres the hockey bot. And what is that . Its made out of refrigerators. Made out of refrigerators yeah. Right theres the robo bear, its made out of an air conditioning compressor, and that is santas wagon up there. That is astonishing. What are the reindeer made of . Everything basically everything is made of everything. Is made of everything yeah. And that is the what bunny . This is the mongolian Easter Bunnys mobile throne. Im just reading this this is one of the worlds only two microwaved microwaves . That is correct. This is a genuine microwaved microwave. I literally microwaved a microwave while it was microwaving. Im the only one in Human History thats ever successfully pulled off this accomplishment. Shall i ask a silly question . Why . Why not . Both chuckle again, its or why not world in a why world and these are the kind of things that i do with my art. This why not attitude runs throughout kennys work. He tells me hell make Art Out Of any unwanted item. Its a mind boggling spectacle. A mishmash of Household Items painted in bubblegum colours and a whole host of themes, some religious kenny converted to islam while at college. This is the Gorilla Bod here and the look out, its behind the gorilla bot. As this thing grew and grew and grew, and obviously its very tall, and you are overlooking your neighbours houses and lawns. What do they think . Well, they love it. They bring me stuff to make my Art Out Of. This neighbour over here, well, he bought one of my Microwave Artworks its a microwaved laptop for 1500. 1500 . Yeah, and he gratefully displays it in his Living Room and brags about it. And theyre fans, every one of your neighbours fans of your work . They love my work. In fact, just about the entire town of Palm Springs knows about it. People come from germany, japan, the uae, france, india all different places, telling me they came here just to see this. Where do you think this fits in, where you fit in, even, to contemporary america . I dont know where i could fit in. I dont think it fits in anywhere really to speak of. How we got men on the moon and how well get men on mars or people on mars isnt going to happen by how things fit in with other things, its going to happen by how things that have been never been done before is how its gonna happen. At christmas, the whole place is lit up. And kenny has big plans for the future, too he wants to build a 300 Acre Theme Park based on his designs. He reckons once investors and engineers are on board, he could have it built in ten years. In the meantime, we will have to settle for a ride on this. I physically cant get in this of course you can fit in there youre not that big im not that big at all. Do you think Grown Ups should be riding around in these, too . Absolutely, there is no excuse not to. Kenny, theres only one problem, right . What, whats that . We are on this thing and theres no one to turn it off. Does that mean we are on this flight forever . Well, in theory, that could happen. Time to leave this garden of dreams behind and head westward to americas so called city of dreams, los angeles. Its the final stop on the Sunset Limited train line, which i followed here all the way from new orleans. They call this one of the last great Railway Stations in the us, and it marks one end of a line that created the hugely important artery carrying Cargo And Passenger traffic from Coast To coast. And i tell you what, its absolutely beautiful. Like a church. And this is one reason why so many people make the trip to the californian coastline for its beautiful weather and beaches. This is it finally the Pacific Ocean new orleans seems an eternity away. So with 2000 miles under my belt, having travelled Coast To coast, i kind of realise its difficult to talk about a single shared American Dream when this country has become so diverse. Travelling off the well worn tourist trail, ive discovered such different communities, each with an independent spirit, colourful history and a unique story to tell. All of which go towards what it means to be a modern american. Hello there. The last day of august was rather cloudy and cool with spots of drizzle across Eastern Areas. Best of any sunshine towards the west. Indeed the next few days of september are looking pretty similar, often cloudy, occasional drizzle in the east. A little bit of sunshine at times, particularly across more sheltered Western Parts. For wednesday its a rather cloudy picture again. The thickest of the cloud across eastern coasts where we will see Light Rain or drizzle. But through the afternoon we could see quite a bit of sunshine for scotland, maybe Northern Ireland for the western fringes of wales and into the southwest. But it will be breezy across the channel. Certainly around the North Sea coast. That will take at the edge off the temperature, highs here around the mid to upper teens. Further inland a little bit warmer where you have the sunshine. Across Central Western Scotland in particular we could see temperatures reaching around 21 22 degrees. As we head through Wednesday Night it stays mostly cloudy so for england and wales, a bit of cloud continuing for Eastern Scotland then it will trundle its way eastward although some Western Parts of scotland, Northern Ireland could stay clear. It will be fairly cool under clear skies where we have the cloud and the breeze, 11 14 degrees. Very little change for thursday and friday. An area of high pressure still sitting on top of us and bringing this North North easterly airflow. Itll bring a lot of cloud again into northern and Eastern Areas in particular. Further west that you are, a better chance of seeing some sunnier breaks of course, temperatures in the sunshine reaching the low 20s. Otherwise its mid to high teens in the cloudier spots. For the weekend, signs of change with an area of high pressure beginning to break down and moves eastward which allows this area of low pressure to slowly push in from the atlantic. Thats going to bring in increasing breeze and also the chance of showers or even longer spells of rain, particularly for part two of the weekend. Saturday doesnt look too bad. Looks like it will stay mostly dry. Variable cloud, light winds, with some sunshine. The winds will start to pick up across southern and western areas as that area of low pressure arrives by the end of the day he could start to see Showery Burst Of Rain Arriving here. Temperatures, low 20s in the brighter spots. Mid to high teens across the far northeast. Into sunday it looks like we will see a band of Rain Start spreading across the country that could be quite heavy. Followed by sunshine and heavy showers. Welcome to Bbc News im david eades. Our top stories. President Biden Issues a forceful defence of the chaotic us withdrawal from afghanistan ending americas longest war. We succeeded in what we set out to do in afghanistan over a decade ago and we stayed for another decade. It was time to end this war. The taliban take the spoils of war american uniforms, american weapons left behind in the rush to get out. Now it is ended and the worst of ways. And it will live long in memory here in afghanistan, in america and far beyond. Rescue operations continue in louisiana