Shake-down cruise #1, state park with electric hook-up only
I learned all about the dump station & the process. Yay. I also learned the important fact that I can go 7 days using only the water in my fresh water tank. Good to know.
Chester only really has 3 places to eat and 1 or 2 or 3 of them were closed every time I was hungry.
This park is super peaceful, beautiful and well cared for. Great place to Chill.
Shake-down cruise #2, commercial campground with full hook-ups
Yay, paint-ball & putt-putt golf. Humans packed in here like sardines. Many campsites appear to be permanent residents. I do like the full hook-ups, don’t have to drag the trailer to the dump station every so many days and it’s not necessary to be as conservative with water.
This place is a diesel pick-up truck convention. I’ve never seen so many other than in a dealership. Makes a gas engine truck driver feel a little less than adequate.
The best part of being here is that I’m close to St. Clair, MO. It has the Lewis Café (pies) and Bootheel BBQ (huge pork steak), both great places to eat.
This is the start of my first true RV trip and the start of this adventure.
And an adventure it was. I-64 to Louisville, through Louisville at rush hour (no big deal), then to I-71 and onto I-75. So far routine driving getting used to pulling the trailer. On the interstate I’m getting about 10 MPG when not using the A/C. I’ll try A/C another time.
The adventure began when I decided to pay attention Mr. Garmin (GPS) and follow the purple line on a shortcut to I-75. It immediately took me down a narrow, winding, up & down two lane backroad. Of course, no where to pull over much less turn around. After 10-15 minutes I came out by I-75 at a truck stop. I’ve been on the road about 7 hours at this point and am getting tired. I must have been because I continued to follow the purple line. Kincaid Lake is really out in the boonies so I expected a certain number of backroads.
So I’m flying (35-40 MPH) down this twisty road, as I round a turn all of a sudden I see a small child in the middle of the road. I was able to stop just fine. The child is a little girl approximately 2 years or so old. She won’t/can’t tell me where her home is and will not come with me off the road. While I’m flagging traffic a man comes down from the last house I passed and says that he thinks she belongs at the next house down the road so he heads to it. As the little girl sees the young man the first man finds at the house she goes running toward him. He picks her up and all is well (until next time). Whew!
Mr. Garmin wants me to turn on this little road now, but I’m wary now, so I stop in the road and size up the situation. The route looks OK on the GPS, so I decide to make the turn. Well maybe I should have been a little more wary since the name of the road was “Hog Back Ridge Road”. I couldn’t make the next turn because it was 90° up a steep grade and over a set of railroad tracks. No way could I do that since I would hang the trailer up on the tracks (can’t you just visualize a black & white silent movie about now?). Well I finally came out on a highway where I stumbled upon a BBQ restaurant, (really?, I’m certainly close to the edge of the earth). They gave me some better directions and I finally rolled into the park after dark. It’s quite interesting backing this trailer into a campsite next to another trailer in the dark. Luckily the couple next door was happy to help.
Aug. 19, 2017
Took off on the bike to sample some roads. In a word, ‘Fantastic’. Made a loop on Hwy 159 to Hwy 22 to Hwy 10 & back to 159. These highways are a never ending series of ‘S’ curves with elevation changes thrown in for good measure. The roads are in excellent condition, 2 lane striped and look to have been re-paved within the last year or two. It seems that I really don’t have to go out looking for the back roads for excitement, the highways are as twisty as the back roads in northern Jeff County, MO.
Aug. 20, 2017
After reading a little bit in ‘Off the Beaten Track Kentucky’ I decided to ride up to Newport to check out the world’s largest cast bell and have a bite of dinner. Newport is a port town across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. The ‘World Peace Bell’ weighs 66,000 lbs and was cast in France because they had the only furnace big enough to melt 100,000 lbs of bronze in one batch.
Newport reminds me of Chattanooga. The northern edge along the river is home to the aquarium, river front park, arts district and entertainment venues. I talked with one lady who was headed for the walking bridge which goes over the river into downtown Cincinnati. I believe it’s probably twice as long as the Chattanooga bridge. There has been considerable rehab in the area going for 10-12 blocks to the south. It’s pretty with lots of very old classic private residences.
As far a dinner goes, Pompilia’s was interesting. Going there was like being in a restaurant on the Hill in St. Louis. It was an old place featuring authentic Italian cuisine. Apparently it was celebration night for several tables of customers. Every now and then one would burst into song – loud song. Part of the reason was, as I overheard one lady say, “If nothing else we can drink wine”. And drink they did. The fettucine alfredo with chicken breast was very good and will continue to be for at least two more meals.
Aug. 21, 2017
I decided to skip the partial eclipse (Ginny and I experienced a full eclipse while we were in Charleston, SC in 1970) and ride over to Maysville, KY via Hwys 159, 22, 10 & 9. Maysville is another river town, but much smaller than Newport. But like Newport they have put considerable amount of time, money and effort into restoring the downtown area. They even have a working high school, in its original building, three blocks from the river. The 1800’s era commercial buildings and huge residences downtown showed the great amount of concern that the locals have for their town. I pulled the bike over and asked a pedestrian to recommend a good restaurant. He suggested Chandler’s. Since Chandler’s was a restaurant that I had read about in ‘Off the Beaten Path’ I decided to try it. After parking the bike and removing my gear I walked across the brick street to Chandler’s. The menu was posted inside the windows and, though a little pricey, I decided to try it. My wallet was saved the strain since it was Monday and they were closed. I then talked with a fellow motorcyclist who clued me in on some of the better roads in the area, including their ‘Tail of the Dragon’ which he called ‘Tail of the Salamander’. I complemented him on how nice the downtown area looked. He informed me that they are on their 8th build over a 10 year period. He then suggested the pub on the corner of the next block. I’m glad he did, O’Rourke’s Pub served me a really great pizza. My fridge is starting to get full of leftovers, I might have to stay in for a few meals.
Met Caeden & Mary in Lexington, KY for the weekend. It sure was nice to see familiar faces. We has a great time taking both a walking tour of downtown and a driving tour of the fantastic horse farms. Part of seeing the sights is sampling the sights. Alfalfa’s for breakfast.. Lussi Brown’s Coffee. Saul Good for dinner. Kentucky Chocolate and Boom & Crank (it’s actually a homemade ice cream joint) tested the limits of our waistlines. Jax had a really good time making friends at two different dog parks. The dog parks here mimic the horse farms – huge.
I had a nice route mapped out through Augusta and over the Ohio river via a ferry then up to Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati. When motorcycle riding it’s always smart to check the weather forecast. I did and it says 100% chance of rain most of the day. So I changed the route and drove the truck instead. I have wanted to re-visit Jungle Jim’s International Market ever since Ginny and I discovered it during a driving trip to see Caeden in Atlanta. This place is amazing and huge, they also have a second location now. The name really means international, foods and ingredients from all over the world. Exotic meats, fish, spices – you name it. It also has a bakery to die for. We stumbled across ciabatta bread for the first time here. It was love at first bite and I’ve been hooked ever since. I had to buy some more and they didn’t disappoint. Also picked up a loaf of cinnilicious (cinnamon swirl) bread, black forest honey, plantain chips and Rosti swiss style hash browns - look out breakfast.
The Eastgate shopping center is something to behold. If you’re into shopping, or eating, this place will keep you occupied for days.
By the way, thanks WeatherBug, it never did rain. But if I had brought the bike I couldn’t have carried all this stuff back so I’m good.
Sorry that I have not taken that many pictures recently. I get so involved scoping everything out and, of course driving, that I forget. I’m going to do better though.
Moved the trailer to Westgate RV Campground in London, KY. I learned another thing about RV living this morning, when it’s time to break camp and hook up the truck & trailer and it happens to be pouring down rain, you do the necessary things in the rain! While it was only 134 miles, Hurricane Harvey’s leftover rain fell in buckets on all but the last 15 miles or so. Then I was stuck in traffic for an hour and 15 minutes on I-75 due to a fatal accident just south of London. The entire trip took 5 ½ hours. The trailer pulled well though I was concerned about the gusty winds that came with the rain.
London, KY is a small town of only 8,000 people, but the traffic and noise from the traffic is crazy. I visited Wal-Mart on Saturday, from the amount of traffic you might have thought it was Christmas Eve, just nuts. I drove around just checking the place out and I encountered the traffic everywhere. Of course, the tractor trailer traffic from I-75 and from the Wal-Mart distribution center just west of town contributed, but I have no idea where everyone came from.
Since it rained all day Saturday and I couldn’t ride I chose to check out Flea Land. Advertised as being one of the largest permanent 365 day per year flea markets in Kentucky, how could I possibly miss that? Well for those of you reading this who were familiar with Hoods/Rouses Discount store over the years can identify with the jumbled up mess that I encountered. But the place is huge. As it turns out yard sales, garage sales & temporary roadside flea markets are everywhere (especially on Sundays). I drove by pastures and home sites where anywhere from 1-10 10’ x 10’ canopies, pick up truck tailgates or benches were set up and merchandise was spread out everywhere. They are a menace to traffic. It was an interesting day.+
Well the rain stopped and it was a beautiful sunny day with a high temperature supposed to only be in the low 70’s. I had a riding loop stored in my GPS so I headed out to Middlesboro, KY via the backroads. Other than just riding my interest was to visit the Glacier Girl museum at the airport in Middlesboro. Glacier Girl is a completely restored WW II P-38 fighter that was saved from an icy death on a glacier in Greenland. It was one of a flight of 6-P-38’s and two bombers that were being ferried to England in 1942. They ran low on fuel and ditched on a snowy glacier. All of the pilots and crews were rescued, but the planes were lost. The P-38 that came to be known as Glacier Girl was found one mile from the landing spot and 264’ under the ice. The story of the flight, ditching, rescue and then the search for, and recovery of this aircraft along dedication of all of those involved in it is inspiring. As it turns out I didn’t research the story far enough, Glacier Girl no longer lives in Middlesboro. There is a great display at the airport, but Glacier Girl was sold to an individual in Texas due to the enormous cost of maintaining such an artifact. Glacier Girl still flies at air shows, Oshkosh and others and even returns to Middlesboro from time to time. There are great YouTube videos of its flights after being restored, here’s one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLc1z0yOXCw. Listen to those engines struggling to run at idle, just waiting for the chance to fly and then how smooth they sound under power.
My route through the mountainous coal country was fantastic, the curves and elevation changes just kept coming. I was surprised about how good the roads were considering how many coal carrying trucks must run on them every day.
It seems like the weather (rain) knows when I am ready to hitch up and move to the next campground. I noticed a low tire on the trailer a couple of days ago and when I checked it sure enough instead of 80 PSI it was down to 25. That could be real trouble on a trailer so I called a tire shop on London and headed straight for there instead of the interstate. For $20 and 1 hour they found and removed a screw from the tire, put in a boot and I was ready to go. Quite a bargain. By the way it finally quit raining at Knoxville.
So on to the Toqua RV Campground in Vonore, TN. This gated campground is in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains territory and it is fantastic. They were gracious enough to put me in campsite #1, by the entrance which may not seem that great. But it was a pull-through site (no backing), full hookups and on a slight rise in case it rains. This is a beautiful site on Tellico Lake with only 40 or so campsites and it is quiet and peaceful even on weekends. It’s neat, clean with super friendly and helpful staff. I could stay here a while considering all that and the fact that it is only 30 miles or so to the Dragon and the rest of the Smokies.
Tail of the Dragon - most motorcyclists have heard of this little 318 turns in 11 mile stretch of road in the Smoky Mountains. You can check it out here: http://tailofthedragon.com/. I have wanted to ride the Dragon ever since I first heard of it. So I headed out around 10:00 AM after waiting for the day to warm up a little, it was only 60 degrees when I left. I decided that I would make the eastward pass just riding, no stopping for photos, in order to really get the feel of the ride. All I can say is – Yahoo! Actually after spending considerable time on the roads in northern Jefferson county MO I was quite prepared for the Dragon, except for the fact that for 11 miles you are constantly in a turn of some kind and usually either going up or down the mountains. There are one or two gentle sweeping turns out of the 318, but most are tight, including hairpins, usually followed the next half of the ‘S’. Even though trucks (though no tractor trailers) and campers (if you are crazy enough) certainly are allowed on the Dragon, after all it is TN Highway 129, there aren’t many and you have to anticipate encountering them. The one variable(s) on the Dragon that mere mortal riders cannot actually practice for no matter how many times you they ridden it are the – speed demons! The Dragon is an 11 mile long race track that many death defying drivers (there are a lot of sportscars out there also) challenge every day. When one or a group of them come flying up behind you it’s best to notice immediately, not panic and move right to let them pass. And pass they will no matter what part of a turn you are in. No one wants to be the rider that causes a crash. Another couple of things, while there are small pull-off areas here and there, basically there are no shoulders on this road and it’s narrow. All of that said I encountered all sorts of vehicles out there, Honda Goldwings with a passenger and pulling a trailer, all sorts of trikes, dual sport bikes, Porches, Alpha Romeo, Corvettes and everything in between. What a trip! I loved every minute of it.
After having lunch in Robbinsville, NC I headed out for my westerly photo pass. Only after putting my rain jacket on over my riding jacket though, it was cold up there in the mountains. As it turns out stopping to take a photo is a dicey maneuver too. These turns are so tight and, in spots, riders are coming fast and furiously that visibility is limited so it’s best to get off and back on the road quickly and cautiously. Did I mention that most of the pull-offs are quite small?
On the way to the Dragon I noticed a turn-off to the Foothills Parkway so I made a mental note of that for the return trip. The Parkway seemed to be a little tame though after the Dragon. I checked on the GPS and found that Happy Valley Road connected with several others and they all ran parallel to the Parkway for half the way. Great little roads, just like a mini-Dragon. After reaching the town of Walland, I turned around and took the Parkway all the way back to TN-129 and then to the campground. Yahoo again!
Well exactly what’s next after the Tail of the Dragon? The Cherohala Scenic Skyway that’s what. It starts in Tellico Plains, TN and terminates in Robbinsville, NC. You can read all about it here: http://www.cherohala.org/ . Forty-three miles of sweeping turns and elevation changes that never stop. There are many scenic overviews and pull-offs for taking breaks and photos, including one at an elevation of 5,300’. My rain jacket stayed on all day again, chilly. Most of the speed demons must have stayed over at the Dragon today as I was only passed a couple of times. The Skyway is a much wider, gentler road than the Dragon great for sightseeing. It was a great day, even riding TN-360 the 30 miles back to the campground was special.
After overloading on the Dragon and Skyway I have taken a break from riding for a few days to rest up. During this time the wind and rain from Hurricane Irma swept through the area. It was my first time to experience a thunderstorm and high winds (predicted 50 MPH) in the trailer. I felt surprisingly secure during storm. I also took a couple of days to visit Caeden and Mary in Chattanooga. Chattanooga is only 80 miles or so away from the campground. It’s great to have someone to play ‘Peanuts’ with.
As you all know my other vice is ‘Ham Radio’. I have neglected this hobby over the last couple of decades, A lot of technical advances have happened during that time that I have only read about. One of my intentions is to catch up with as many of those advances as possible so I’m getting started. It seems like that the word ‘digital’ is tacked on to practically everything these days. Ham Radio is no exception. In many cases adding the word is just a marketing thing, but in Ham Radio real digital stuff is going on. There are about 10 new digital modes of communicating being experimented with. Conversation and information is converted to digital signal streams and sent over the airwaves between Hams. It’s all quite interesting. So far I have contacted Hams in France, Paraguay, Cuba, Canada, Venezuela and Argentina, as well as others in 15 US states using digital modes.
Currently I am using a small remotely controlled motor-tuned antenna just clamped to the tongue jack on my trailer. It’s kind of a minimal antenna. As you can imagine it’s difficult to erect any kind of larger antenna in a campground that I will only be staying at temporarily. So I’m on a quest to find a design that I can build, deploy and knock down easily that is still is an efficient and effective antenna. Oh yeah, it needs to be practically invisible too! Yea!
I almost forgot to mention that I visited the Muscadine Festival & BBQ cook-off in Sweetwater, TN today. Not exactly a wild and wooly affair, but it was fun. Apparently Muscadine grapes are a big thing around here, who knew? I have never tasted a Muscadine grape so I purchased a small box of red ones, they also have green. For grapes they are really big, some over an inch in diameter. I’m not crazy about the taste. They have 3-4 seeds, big ones. The skins are quite thick, kind of crunchy and sour. The saving grace is the meat inside, it has a good, sweet flavor. It kind of tastes like the meat of a Concord grape. Maybe they make good wine, but who wants to peel a grape in order to eat it? BTW, they had grape stomping at the festival, but I got there too late. Darn
I set out on 130 mile loop south through the Smokies without any agenda of things to see, just to ride and enjoy this great part of the U.S. Of course I didn’t think that this would be my last ride in the Smokies, I’ll explain in a minute. When exploring new territory, surprise, quite often you stumble across new places and things. Like Ducktown, as you can see from the photos, it was a ‘Quacking good place’. The Ocoee River happened to be on my route. Wow, Caeden was telling me some time ago about the Ocoee. There are stretches that are purposely flooded from time to time for Olympic white water kayaking competition. The photos show areas of the River with very little water flowing and other areas with massive amounts of parking and lots of water. I watched several kayakers trying their hands at navigating through the boulders. There TVA dams everywhere in the rivers so they can raging water whenever they want.
The final leg of the loop took me through some Federal land. My research showed some very twisty roads there and I found that to be true. My riding style (?) isn’t nearly aggressive as some years ago so I was surprised that my rear tire tried to slide out in the middle of a turn. The turn was tight, but I certainly didn’t expect that. So I figured that I just didn’t see something slick on the road. That conclusion was scrapped a few turns later when the same thing happened. Now I’m really out in the boonies, probably without cell coverage and I hadn’t another vehicle for miles, so I really didn’t want to crash. I slowed down to grandmother speed and continued on (apologies to all grandmothers out there). When I stopped to take photos of the Hawassee Baptist church I took time to check my tires. Well duh, good move. The rear tire was shot. It is worn below the wear bars, but even though there was no cord showing, no doubt this was the cause of the sliding rear end. The next 30 miles back to the trailer were kind of spooky, but safe. So the other trips I had planned for the coming week will have to wait for another time. Motorcycle tires are very specialized and can’t be picked up at the corner tire store. I ordered a set from a Honda dealer in Chattanooga and they’ll be waiting for me when I get there.
While passing through Maryville, I stumbled upon a really cool restored theater.
An advertisement for the Scots-Irish Festival in Dandridge caught my eye, but I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to drive 70 miles for the experience. I decided ‘oh what the hey’ and was glad I made the trip, Dandridge had a lot to offer: three Pipe & Drum Corps, Highland Games demonstrations, sheepherding dogs show, kilts galore (if that’s the sort of thing you’re into), Scottish and Irish dancing, and interesting foods. I really enjoyed the Pipe & Drum Corps competition, they put on quite a show. There is video of one of the groups playing as well as presenting the colors at the opening of the celebration. For those of you who love to pig-out on haggis, Scottish eggs and shepherd’s pie this is the place to come. The Scots-Irish heritage is a big deal in Dandridge, there were tents dedicated to the genealogy of the various clans staffed with people to help with searches.
I have seven videos of the festivities, but the travel website that I am using will not allow uploading videos as long as mine. So here is a link that will take you out to them:
http://1drv.ms/f/s!AozoOHpTkrvKgaho2_8p-6qD6ZrRpA
You'll probably have to cut & paste the link into your browser to get it to work.
A side note on the Scottish & Irish dancing videos: the five girls dancing are all sisters.
Today was the move to Holiday Travel Park in Chattanooga. I am really looking forward to this move because #2 it’s only 80 miles and #1 I’ll get to hang out with Caeden, Mary and of course Jax. What can I say about this part of my adventure, we did all kinds of things: Chattanooga Bluegrass Festival on the river downtown, attended the kite flying festival put on by the kite club, drove down to Dalton, GA for the Prater’s Mill Country Fair (chicken-on-a-stick and 5 kinds of fudge!), playing cards and a lot of just hanging out and eating out (a lot).
My tires were waiting at Southern Honda right on schedule. I’ve been toying with the idea of changing the front sprocket on the bike from 15 to a 16 tooth which will gear it up slightly. Southern Honda couldn’t seem to find one through their distributors so I tracked one down and got it shipped in. They installed it for me and what a difference. The bike is more responsive and I am not always looking for 7th gear.
Oct. 17 was my move to Charleston day, but I noticed that the Chattanooga Hamfest just happened to be on Oct. 21st. One of the things I want to do on my journey is visit all of the Hamfests that I can. So there is only one thing to do “reschedule’, I’ll leave on the 23rd. The other great thing about this is that Mary Ann and Shannon are coming to visit Caeden and Mary the same weekend. I don’t know if “Nooga” can stand it or not, but all of us will be in the same town at the same time. Needless to say we had a great time, I made it to the Hamfest and we went to Rock City, Point Park, the riverfront and lots of restaurants. Have you noticed that ‘restaurants’ seem to be a common theme?
Due to the delay in getting the sprocket my riding outings were somewhat limited, but did get to ride Signal Mountain and the River Gorge highway and a couple of trips south into Georgia.
As you might imagine leaving Chattanooga was difficult. The next stage of my journey will take me to Summerville, Charleston and Savannah, places where Ginny and I lived and visited. There are a lot of memories there. I feel like I will be tying loose ends by going there, it’s kind of a strange feeling. I will also be stepping away from family for time. For that I am very sad, even though I know I can come back any time. Certainly I will see everyone again in St. Louis at Christmas.
As I said leaving Chattanooga was going to be emotional, as it turned out the weather would make it even more difficult. A monster amount of rain was moving in from the south so I broke camp and hooked up the truck and trailer the night before leaving. All I had to do in the morning was disconnect the water and electricity. It started raining while I was doing that and by the time I pulled the downpour began. What is it with this rain business when I get ready to leave a campground? Should I be getting a message? This was going to be a long drive of approximately 430 miles which is equivalent to about 1,000 since I was going through Atlanta. Well the downpour didn’t stop for 160 miles. I got about 50 dry miles coming into and through Augusta, but then the off-on rain continued all the way to Charleston.
During the drive I came to a conclusion. You know this is another learning opportunity I told myself. Well from here on when I am getting ready to move out and the weather forecast shows that I will be driving through rain, I will extend my stay and stay put until the weather clears. I just don’t need the stress of pouring rain, Atlanta road construction and Atlanta traffic all at the same time.
Actually I came to two conclusions. The second one is: no more two-lane road short cuts. I saved about 40 miles of I-20 & I-26 driving, but I had forgotten how slow South Carolinians drive on two-lane roads in the rain. Just stick to the Interstates when pulling the trailer.
My first order of business was to visit our old hometown of Summerville. We had been back twenty years or so ago and knew it had grown and changed (not for the better). I must have driven around for an hour or so before I got my bearings and even knew where I was. I stopped in the visitors center and talked with a lady who had lived there since 1976. When Ginny and I left in 1972 the population was about 5,000. Today it is over 50,000. The only saving grace is that the city fathers got old town Summerville put on the national historical register. It is still beautiful, as you can see from the photos. The trailer park where we lived is now a cluster of hotels. Sleep Inn now sets exactly where our trailer was parked for three years. I took a photo of St. Johns Catholic church. We attended this church on the day it was dedicated in 1969.
The growth of the Charleston area is almost unbelievable. The Navy base is now a container ship seaport, Charleston AFB joint use airport is still joint use, but is now called Charleston International, Boeing has a huge presence there, as does Bosch. Volvo is building a manufacturing facility up I-26 from Summerville, I understand they have decided to double its size from the original plan. There are new highways (like I-270, I-255 & I-170) everywhere. Traffic is non-stop and doesn’t seem much different from Atlanta. It’s just horrible.
Sometime ago I used Google Earth to see what remained of the 792nd AC&W Radar Squadron where I was stationed. When we were last here most of the buildings had been razed, but the radar towers, less the radomes were still there. Now there are buildings all over the site as well as parking lots. I went by the site and as you can see from the pictures the North Charleston Utility Department has its headquarters there. The radar towers are gone and all is lost to history.
Here is some information about the squadron:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Charleston_Air_Force_Station
When I arrived at the 792nd I was assigned to the Statesburg Gap Filler radar site until it closed in 1970. I performed maintenance there 3 days per week on temporary duty as it was 90 miles from the main site. When I was on-call I also serviced the Gap Fillers at Georgetown and Parris Island. I loved to go to Parris Island (not). After closure I was reassigned to height finder radar service at the main North Charleston facility until discharge in 1972.
The photos of the AFB show C-17 transport planes in the background. When we were stationed there Charleston had the first operational unit of the new C-5 transport, lovingly called ‘Fat Albert”. It was the worlds largest aircraft at the time.
I don’t mean to turn anyone against Charleston. If you go to the real Charleston, the one downtown, you will be transported back in time. It is still lovely, the Battery, the houses on Rainbow Row, Meeting St, S. Bay St, all of the wonderful architecture is there and being preserved and restored. If you go to this Charleston you will never regret it. Go in early March when all of the flowers are in full bloom, visit the plantations – Boone Hall & Magnolia, all of the gardens and, of course, old town Summerville..
I chose to take the bike into old town Charleston. I can park it just about anywhere and based on how much the traffic situation has worstened in the rest of the area I assumed that it was was bad on the peninsula also. I was pleasantly surprised though, there were lots of open parking places on the street even though quite a few people were downtown. This part of Charleston, thankfully, has not changed much. Some buildings are undergoing restoration and that's a good thing since the storms blowing in off the Atlantic are quite fierce at times and many of these building are well over 200 years old. The Battery and Rainbow Row are as beautiful as ever. As is most of downtown. The City Market was packed with people buying up on local treasures of all types.
Something that has changed since we lived here is the conversion to the Navy base into a container port. The really big ships can get in here now, including cruise ships. There was a Carnival ship in port.
Of course no trip to Charleston is complete without a side trip to any or all of the islands. The houses on Sullivan Island and Isle of Palms are amazing as you can see from the photos. I can only imagine how much constant effort it takes to keep them and the landscaping all looking like a magazine cover.
On my way to Isle of Palms I paid a visit to Patriots Point on Sullivan’s Island. The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, destroyer USS Laffey and diesel submarine USS Clamagore are moored there and available for touring. Caeden and I toured the Yorktown the last time we were there. The number of aircraft and displays is increased and is a very worthwhile way to learn about the sacrifices made in WW II, Korea and Viet Nam.
It became obvious to me soon after reaching the hanger deck that some people really do have a lot to learn. So I’m looking at a beautiful Navy F-4U Corsair and I happen to be wearing my USAF cap at the time. As I was reading the biography of the pilot I noticed two couples standing off to the side talking. I guessed that they were in their early 40’s or so. When I finished reading and turned to move on one of the women turned to me and asked “Is this like the aircraft that you used to fly”. I was shocked. I didn’t know how to respond to her question. Thoughts ran through my mind, “I’m honored that I appear as one who could have flown a plane such as this in combat”, and then “oh my god, do I actually look like I am 91 years old”. Considering when in history World War II happened I would have to be at least 91-92 years old to have flown a Corsair. And then I became sad that this 40 something woman had absolutely no idea when World War II took place and how few service personnel are still alive today. The look on her face showed that she was sincere with her inquiry and she wasn’t poking fun or being demeaning just naïve. The Air Force didn’t exist as a branch of the military until 1947, before then is was the Army Air Corps. I found it to be a funny, but disturbing encounter. By the way, my answer to her question was hardly eloquent, I just replied ”No, I was in radar maintenance”. It would have been a very steep uphill battle to bring her up to speed.
I really don't know how to write this entry about Savannah. Old Town Savannah is difficult to describe in words, being there and seeing the architecture, landscaping and, of course, the Live Oak trees which are everywhere is the only way to do it justice. The best time to visit Savannah is in March or April of the year as the azealeas and wisteria are in full bloom, and the temperature and humidity are good.
Like Charleston, Savannah has added a huge container seaport since we visited it in the 70's. We met our friend Beverly from Summerville there a few years ago. I wasn't aware of the container port, we we walking along the riverfront downtown and I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked toward the river and here a couple of hunderd feet way was one of those monsterous container ships sliding quietly up the river. The word monsterous doesn't these ships justice either as it towered over the buildings on the riverfront.
Savannah is certainly a tourist town, 14 million visitors last year, but they have made it easy to get around. Everything from free east/west, north/south shuttles, rental bicycles and all kinds of walking, carriage, and tram guided tours. I'm sure that I missed seeing a lot of what Savannah has to offer, after all I only had a week to cover it all. One thing that I made special effort to visit was the 'Mightly Eighth Air Force' museum. Here's a link:
On Dale's recommendation I read the book ' Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' which was set and about Savannah. I found that there was a narrated walking tour based on the book. The guide, who was very knowledgeable about the book,was made a living as a free-lance writer. It was an interesting 2 hour tour which took our group of five to most of the houses, parks, and other establishments of importance in the book.
One of my goals while on the road is to see/visit as many lighthouses as I can. I am intrigued by lighthouses as well as the sometimes impossible locations where they are built. Lighthouses in the SE United States are mostly built on islands with beaches and not craggy rocks with the Atlantic splashing high overhead. Not that there is anything wrong with islands and beaches, but those settings are not as dramatic as those anlong the coast of Maine or Washington. Sometimes I wonder how cool it would have been to be a lighthouse keeper and live at an isolated lighthouse.
Here is a link to the Tybe Lighthouse and museum:
http://www.tybeelighthouse.org
After climbing the 176 steps to the top of the lighthouse and realizing that the Keepers had to lug oil in jugs all the way up there to keep the light lit the idea of being a Keeper didn't seem quite as cool. The historical group that restored the buildings did a fantastic job. As I entered the upstairs of the main Keepers house (there were 3 keepers) I flashed back to living at home with my parents on Lemen Road in Waterloo. While our house wasn't nearly as nice the upstairs floorplan was identical to the Keepers house. That was cool.
I intended to visit Fort Pulaski on the way back from Tybee, but found that the leftover rough weather from the recent hurricanes in Florida had badly damaged the bridge to the fort. It is also built on a island so there was no access.
I spent several hours trying to find a good spot from which to take pictures of the seaport. All of the island directly across the Savannah River from the seaport is made up of parcels owned by businesses and were gated, so no access.
More photos of beautiful Savannah. Many of the photos were taken while on a walking tour based on the book 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'.
When I left Savannah I dropped down to Jacksonville, FL in order to catch I-10 west. The drive to my next stop, Picayune, MS was a little long plus I wanted to stop and visit the U.S.S. Alabama in Mobile, AL. So I made the decision to live on the edge and stay one night on the parking lot at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on the west side of Pensacola. It was good decision and a short drive to Mobile in the morning.
Ginny and I visited the Alabama when we were stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi. At that time it was still in the Gulf and not in Mobile Bay. I still remember driving out over the marshland and seeing this grey mountain on the horizon and that it just kept getting bigger the closer we got. A World War II battleship is an amazingly big boat. I can't imagine how it even stays afloat.
The Memorial Park on Mobile Bay is very nice and there are many films running at various places on the ship explaining what you are looking at. The U.S.S. Alabama is an awe-inspiring sight that is also humbling as you sit inside a 12 inch gun turret or climb stairs down to the engine room. This is another place that can only really be appreciated by being here.
I must say that it was hard to contain my excitement when I saw that there as an SR-71 Blackbird on display. It wasn't so very long ago that this was the most super-secret aircraft in our inventory. Not only was it one of the first stealth aircraft, but it was one very fast Blackbird. Who knows the real specs, but there was a newspaper clipping in the museum where the pilot describes a quick little run over Libya. The mission's purpose was to document the damage after our bombing run on Quadaffi. Imagine making a sweeping turn over Libya at 80,000 feet and Mach 3.6 then pushing the throttles forward and watching the anti-aircraft missles coming after you as they run out of fuel and fall away. A beautiful and flawlessly performing aircraft designed by Kelly Johnson at the Locheed-Martin Skunk Works. Here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Johnson_(engineer)
After leaving the U.S.S. Alabama I traveled on to Picayune, MS. I haven't been to see my Aunt Tiny Sweet and cousins, Susie and Eugene in a very long time. Susie told me that her dad,my Uncle Eugene, helped to build the Sun Roamers Park. He was in the excavating business and had a shop close to the park.
This was a short stay in Picayune and with all of the catching up I completely forgot to take any photos. Of all the things to forget. I apologize to the family and will make sure to get this way again and fix that. For a flashback of earlier times I did upload a couple of photos from 2004!!!
Susie and husband Eddie have several Satsuma trees in their back yard. Satsumas are great tasting little oranges, mandarines actually, that look like tangarines. It turns out that they are ripe right now and they sent me on my way with a big bag of them. Thanks, I really like Satsumas.
Now on to Texas. My plan is to stay overnight in a parking lot again in Beaumont, TX. The drive is a little long all the way to Ingram and I have to go through both Houston and San Antonio. The parking lot overnighter worked well the second time. I guess it's all a matter of where you park.
Two words to the wise to all of you how decide to travel I-10 through Louisiana. Drive slow as the road will beat you and your vehicle(s) to death. The second is even if your GPS says that there is a BBQ restsurant just off the highway in Grosse Tete, LA don't believe it. The place is now 'The Yumm Box' for soul food. I tried it, next time I will pass by. Just sayin'
Wow I like this park. Johnson Creek RV Resort is combination RV park and working pecan farm. When I registered they must have pegged me as a possible troublemaker because they assigned me to the very first camp site at the front of the park. Everyone coming or going drive right past me - to keep an eye on things no doubt. That's ok since I only have one neighbor, on the drivers side of me. Just pecan trees to the rear and passenger side. Across the street there is a pasture with a bunch on miniature horses. They don't bother me and I don't bother them. It's very peaceful.
The park owners actually are quite accomodating. They gave me permission to run a long wire antenna (about 225') out over the tops of several pecan trees. It works really well. I suspect that there aren't many parks that have anywhere near the number of trees that this on does, especiall trees that I have access to.
Apparently if you own land outside the city limits in TX you MUST have a very imposing looking gate for access to that land. I only snapped a few, but building entrance gates must be a growth industry in TX.
As you can see from the first photo 'Willkommenn', there must be a German thing going on here in Fredericksburg . It's true the Hill Country of Texas was settled by German immigrants. Many of the towns were founded and settled by Germans, some examples are New Braunfels, Gruen (green), Boerne (Burney).
Heck they even have the world famous Schlitterbahn Water Park. I'm not sure from what part of Germany that was brought from.
Any way one of the first things that you notice are the buildings and houses in the main part of town. They are substantial stone fortresses, all of them. It appears to me that the early immigrants to this area were the guys who decided that they didn't want to build castles on mountains in Germany anymore. The buildings are built from large blocks of limestone, square and rectangular. If you look at the outside and then inside you will just the other side of the blocks, 12-14" thick. I really like the variegated coloring from almost bright white to light brown and gold.
It’s a tourist town with lots of shops, microbreweries and restaurants. There’s a very large outdoor market place that’s decorated for Christmas now, but is probably a very active vendors market at other times.
Ginny and I visited Fredericksburg on the bike some years ago when we were staying in Leaky. One attraction that we skipped was the National Museum of the War in the Pacific. Admiral Nimitz grew up in Fredericksburg. There are three different parts to the museum. I spent over three hours in the main area and I was overwhelmed by all of the information. The other two areas will have to wait for my next trip through.
Here the link to the museum: http://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/
One of the rides that Ginny and I enjoyed when we were here before is known as the ‘Three Twisted Sisters’. It’s 96 mile loop through some great examples of Hill Country scenery on Texas Hwys 335, 336 & 337. We were staying in Leaky (lake ie) then which was at the intersection of 336 & 337 and we completed the entire ride. I whimped out this time, taking only 336 & 337 because the route from Johnson Creek RC to the loop added almost 100 miles. So I can only call it the ‘Two-Thirds Twisted Sisters’ ride. I did however, pick the two twistiest sisters. Ha
If you want to get a feeling for the ride, here's a link (regrettably I didn't take the video): http://youtu.be/xWMMX3A77S4
I was looking for somewhere to walk instead of down the roadway from the RV park. The Guadalupe River runs through the middle of Kerrville. They have a small dam that creates a kind of infinity pool look on the river and have made a small park around it. It’s a really nice place with several bridges that cross into the downtown area Arts district. I was in good company, a lot of people come to this park to walk, picnic and fish.
I decided to hop the Amtrak in San Antonio to come home for Christmas. San Antonio is over 60 miles from the RV park so I will have to leave my truck somewhere safe for a week. A scouting run to the Amtrak station seemed like a good idea in order to locate some long-term parking. As much as I want to like it I’m just not sure about all things Amtrak. First I find out that the station is only open from 9:00 PM until 7:00 AM. So it was closed when I got there. AND there is absolutely no parking anywhere near the station. I did find a parking garage that is only a ½ mile hoof down the street. So I’m set for parking.
Well after the grueling 60 mile drive and hunting for parking it seemed appropriate to stop at the Cycle Gear location in San Antonio. After all I just pass right by it and it’s Christmas.
After all of the driving and hunting and shopping a guy gets hungry. I also just happen to be driving by Rudy’s BBQ in Boerne. Since we went to Rudy’s with Caeden and Mary in Austin we have kind of made it a rule never to pass by without stopping. Oh man they have some really good BBQ and unlike KY, TN, SC, GA they have great turkey as well as brisket. So I loaded up for the long trek back to Johnson Creek. It’s a wonder I could stay awake after all that tryptophan.
I stumbled across a 15 mile side trip called the Willow City Loop which strangely enough starts out close to Willow City, TX. It’s a scenic ride on a private road through privately owned ground that showcases more of the Hill Country hills and.canyons . Well 15 miles doesn’t even get the engine warm so I combined the Loop with another side trip to Enchanted Rock and Llano. Enchanted rock is the Texas equivalent to Australia’s Ayres Rock only this one isn’t red. It is kind of cool and I was able to see people climbing up it, but that was out of the question for me. Motorcycle boots are for riding not climbing mountains.
Here’s a link: http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/enchanted-rock
No offense to Rudy, but there actually is an even better place for BBQ in Texas. The place is called Cooper’s BBQ in Llano, pronounced Lano. Ginny and I had the experience of eating there once before. When we got there lunch hour was just winding down so there was a short line out front. So we dismounted, stripped off all the gear and headed on over to order. Well the guys in line quickly educated us to the Cooper’s Way. You stand in line outside which winds its way toward a huge BBQ pit, when you get to the pit the pitmaster opens the lid and you just point out which chunk of which meat you want and tell him how much of it you want. So you have to make up your mind brisket, turkey, pork, goat and I’m not sure what else. The pitmaster lops off a chunk, puts it on a tray and hands it to you. Now you get to go inside where the meat is trimmed and weighed and pick out your sides and drinks. Simple right? It is, just different. The thing is that the BBQ is fabulous, I’ve never had better. Well it turns out the Cooper’s Way is still in effect. I couldn’t tell that the place had changed at all in 10 or so years and thankfully neither has the Q. Here we go again, load up for the long ride home.
I decided to give my butt a break and take the truck over to Wimberly, Tx home of the Wimberly Glass Works and Jacobs Well. Wimberly Glass Works is a wonderful place where artisans blow glass into the most beautiful pieces of art. I just love this stuff. Wimberly Glass is a similar place to the ‘Third Degree Glass Works’ on Delmar in St. Louis. One of the things that I like about this place is that they have a gallery for spectators to watch pieces being made. It is fascinating. While I was there a team of three made a water pitcher and ‘Blue Ocean Flame Sculpture’. I told one of them that if I was a whole lot younger and actually had some talent I could really get into the glassblowing thing. Dale, Kevin and I had fun making glass paperweights at Third Degree some years ago.
Here's a link: http://wgw.com
Next I took a short nature hike to Jacob’s Well, a 140’ deep artesian spring. If you look really close at the photos you might see some of the fish in this beautiful clear water they were everywhere. I can imagine a Native American or two visiting this place of the centuries.
Here’s a link: http://www.co.hays.tx.us/jwna.aspx
When we were here 10 years ago we met some other riders stopped at a wide spot in the road outside of Leaky, TX. We talked for a while and they told us about a good spot for breakfast in Bandera. We were headed to Bandera so we checked it out. Well what do you know it’s breakfast time again, I have a motorcycle and I’m in Texas so off to Bandera. The Old Spanish Trail restaurant is a throw-back to a much older time when the stools at the lunch counter were saddles and John Wayne ruled the roost. The entire back wall of the restaurant is a tribute to John of photos from every movie and stage of his life. The food was good too. As I pulled into a parking spot in from the OST I noticed that people were setting out lawn chairs along the street. Sure enough Christmas parade!
OST is a very popular stopping place for motorcycle riders. There was a group of 12 Harley riders at a long table next to my booth, mostly made up of couples. As one leather clad lady got up from her place at the table I noticed a breast cancer patch prominently displayed on her vest. It said ‘Screw Breast Cancer’. Obviously that hit home for me. Certainly I don’t know her story, but I thought about how easy it is to muster up that kind of attitude if you’ve never been diagnosed or even the first time. And then I remembered how much more difficult it is the second time around. Good for her no matter, I wish her well.
The food was still good. Texans are a pretentious bunch though, I had a ‘smoked bone-in pork chop’ that seemed to taste a lot like HAM. Just as I finished eating the parade was starting so I took a bunch of photos. I wound up the day by taking a very long-cut back to the park. Just can’t beat it.
The weather has taken a bad turn. 25 degree nights and SNOW. But the temperature does return to the 60's during the day so I'll make it. The snow did get me off my duff and find my next destination. Jan 1, 2018 off to Tucson, AZ. If I find snow there then it's on to San Diego.
I made a loop of about 80 miles for today. The first leg follows and criss-crosses the Guadalupe River on TX Hwy 30 through Hunt, TX. The Guadalupe is very important to the economy around here. There are so many rental cottages, resorts, restaurants and RV parks along the river. It's quite picturesque and with all of the small dams slowing the flow it's great for kayaking and swimming.
I also took quite a few side roads out and back. I say out and back because a very high percentage of the roads in STX are dead-ends. There are critters of all sorts so I snap a photo once and a while. It's funny how I can pull up to take a photo and the animals are interested in what's going on. Many of them come over to the fence. I guess they think I've got a bale of tasty hay stashed on the bike somewhere.
I bit off a little more than I should have on the ride today. I had actually set this loop up to be taken by truck because it's 225 miles long. But it's supposed to warm up into the high 60's so I just went for it on the bike.
Pedernales Falls SP was a bust though since it was closed for a 'Public Hunting Day'. I don't know exactly how that works, but like I said on the photo, "I hope everyone is ok".
Hamilton Pool turned out to be a real treat. What a cool swimming hole in the boonies. It's a 1/4 mile trek from the parking lot to the Pool and it's pretty rough going. I guess they really don't want very many visitors done there because on the way there is a large 4 sided information kiosk with one side dedicated to the 12 different kinds of posionous snakes that call the Hamilton Pool area home. From the very well traveled path it was obvious that this is a popular place. They do allow swimming and even provide life jackets since there are no lifeguards. I asked a ranger what the average traffic on a typical summer day and he said that since the line would go from the Pool out the parking lot and back down the highway they started taking reservations a few years ago. They now only allow 140 cars in the parking lot at one time. He also said that it didn't make much difference since people still lines up to be the next one in.
One thing I thought curious, when walking the path which follows the downstream out of the Pool there were many still areas where the water is pooled up - I saw no fish at all. Completely the opposite of Jacobs Well where there were many fish of all sizes, The water is so clear you can see them. The water was clear at Hamilton Pool also, but no fish. Jacobs Well does not allow people to swim there. Hmmm
I was happy to return to the trailer tonight. This winter time getting dark early business is for the birds. I rode the last hour or so in the dark which is not normally any kind of issue for me except that it gets cold. I checked the thermometer when I made it back - 50 degrees. Yup - frigid and my rear is really tired. Coffee and recliner coming up!
I had the opportunity to be passing through Comfort, TX around lunchtime so I decided to find a good place to eat. Dale and Caeden make it a point to support local easting establishments as much as possible and avoid the chains. It makes sense and I have made that my policy too. So I checked the GPS and drove around a bit until I came by the Cedar Creek Inn restaurant. There were 6-8 dirty pick-up trucks setting outside that looked as though they belonged to some hard working ranchers. Probably pretty good chances to get some decent food here.
Yep they had a nice little buffet with all the usuals plus catfish. The owner was very personable and came over to talk, obviously I wasn't local so he asked where I was from, etc. Since I had my USAF cap on the conversation turned to the military. He asked if I ever heard of Dick Cole. Well I hadn't so he went in in the back of the restaurant and returned with a large piece of foam board with a bunch of photos and newspaper clippings on it.
Well Lt. Col Richard Cole just happend to be Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot on the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in World War II. Comfort is his home town, he still lives there and he just turned 101 years old. A genuine Doolittle Raider of all things! I you have ever watched the official footage of the B-25's taking off from the carrier U.S.S. Hornet the very first one was the Doolittle/Cole aircraft. The airplane was not designed to take off from a carrier and was just barely moving when it left the deck, it's amazing that they all made it into the air. There was a section in the War in the Pacific Museum in Fredericksburg about the Doolittle Raid and Raiders. I was just there a couple of weeks ago. Here is a link:
http://www.doolittleraider.com/raiders/cole.htm
One of the pictures on the page was taken in this restaurant. The kids were right, you just never know what local flavor or history you might learn about when you venture off track.
I hopped on Amtrak in San Antonio for a ride to St. Louis. This is the first time I have been back since the house closing in August. This return trip from San Antonio to St. Louis finally completes the trip I started March 12, 1968. We had a 10" snowfall in Waterloo the night before which made the trip to the USAF recruiting office in Belleville almost impossible. I was to leave for Lackland AFB, San Antonio with 10 other recruits that day. Dad drove Ginny and I to the office. We were very late, I thought that I was really in the dog house on my very first day. Well I wasn't, but the other 10 recruits were taken to Lambert Airport and put on a plane to Amarillo, TX for Basic Training. What to do with me? The recuiter drove me to Union Station in St. Louis (they were still running trains out of there then) and put me on a one-way trip to Lackland on the train. For someone who had never been away from home and who had gotten married 7 days earlier it was a very, very long trip.
I certainly was excited to be back home and be with everybody. Dale and Murray were gracious hosts who put Caeden, Mary, Jax and me up for the week. They also hosted Christmas Eve dinner for us including friends and relatives. Unfortunately this was another time that I got caught up in all of the going-ons that I forgot to take many pictures. I thoroughly enjoyed the time with everyone and really hated to leave.
I've been absorbed in all of the newness of being a full-time traveler and haven't truly realized how much I miss everyone back home and what a loss-filled year 2017 was. Ginny's passing was a blow to us all. Nothing is the same except that, for those of us who are left, we still have each other.
Tomorrow, Jan 1, 2018, I will leave Ingram, TX and head for Tucson, AZ. It is actually too cold for me here, 24 degrees with a wind chill of 15. This will actually start a new chapter in my travels as so far I have been re-tracing and reminiscing many of the areas that Ginny and I traveled in the past. We never drove through New Mexico or spent time in Tucson though. I don't know how to express how I feel right now. I'll push off tomorrow and see what 2018 brings. Happy New Year to everyone.
While I was anxious to leave the cold weather in Texas behind it really was tough to get up and break camp on January 1 - the temperature was 20 degrees with a stiff wind. All went well and I headed out okay.
After running a few miles on I-10 I noticed that the truck seemed to be working harder thatn usual. So I started to watch everything more closely. Then it dawned on me that I was climbing. I switched the GPS display to show elevation. I started at the camground at about 1,700 ft above sea level. By the time I reached Ft. Stockton, about half way to El Paso, I was at 3,500 ft. Yep a slow 1,800 ft climb and the truck knew it.
When I reached the Davis Mountains panick started to set in pretty quick. All of the vegetation was getting iced up. The further I went and the more elevation I gained the worse it got. A cloud bank had settled on the mountain top. The visibility went down to about a quarter of a mile and the ice load on the plants got heavier and heavier. I had no idea how bad this would get or how long it would last. I had the CB radio on to listen to the truckers even they were surprised to see ice. As I started to reach the next peak which was about 4,500 ft the sky began to lighten up a little. As soon as I popped over the peak and reached the western side of the mountains out came the sun and in less than a mile the ice was all gone. No disaster today.
The rest of the way to El Paso was uneventful. My GPS lead me right to the Wal-Mart I had picked out to spend the night and a Cracker Barrel for dinner. 479 miles behind me with 320 to go tomorrow.
That 320 miles went well. The desert of New Mexico and Arizona is stark though I was surprised to see quite a few very large pecan orchards. I thought that they were all in Texas.
I made it in to the Diamond J RV Resort on the southwest side of Tucson middle afternoon greeted by sunshine and mild temperatures. Actually by the time I finished setting up camp the sweat was pouring off me.
In years past theaters were some of the few places with air conditioning. People would go to see theaters as much for the cool air as for the movies. I suspect residents of Tucson did the same expecially considering summertime temperatures here. I snapped photos of some of the older theaters. There are two streets in Tucson that resemble Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis, the Fourth Street 'Magic Mile' and Congress Street 'Entertainment District'.
Here's a link to more and higher resolution photos:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AozoOHpTkrvKgawSME7lM5pdgwDUVQ
The Pima Air and Space Museum, located on the Davis-Monthan AFB, is a great place to go if you are any kind of aviation buff. They have aircraft from the ranging from the dawn of flight all the way to our space programs. I expecially enjoyed the fully restored B-17 and B-29 that live in hangers along with many other aircraft from World War II days. The docents who narrate the walking tours were super knowlegeable and shared many stories about the individual aircraft. There are very few examples of many of the aircraft on display here that are left such as the B-36, B-47 and B-58. I was here for six hours and I didn't even make it to the Space hanger. I depleted my phone battery about half way through the day or there would have been even more photos.
Here's the link to high resolution photos:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AozoOHpTkrvKgaxlKZffZ5y3Hk-plw
And here's a link to the museum, if you want to see more:
It’s easy to be overwhelmed during a visit to the Titan II Missile Silo Museum. Seeing this facility and realizing what the reasons were for its existence and then thinking about the results if it were ever used is actually terrifying. Built during the height of the Cold War with Russia, the fifty-four Titan II silos spread out around the country were ready to respond to any nuclear attack on the United States. On command, the fifty-four Titan II missiles would launch within 58 seconds and twenty minutes later fifty-four targets would be vaporized. The Titan II program was never developed as an offensive weapon system. Its purpose was to provide ‘Deterrence to Aggression’. The U.S. policy used to deter aggression was called ‘Mutual Assured Destruction’ or ‘MAD’. If the Titans were ever deployed it would only be after an attack was launched upon us. In twenty minutes the world as we know it would cease to exist. Of course, the policy was effective.
The engineering involved in this type of program is overwhelming as well. All fifty-four silos were built and placed on-line in 30 months.
Heres the link to high resolution photos:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AozoOHpTkrvKgaxm2IQopjzKhuAfRA
And here's a link to the museum, if you want to learn more:
http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/