1. Home to Holt, FL Summer 2014

1. Home to Holt,  FL

 

 

On Tuesday May 27 we left home to begin our trip. Jackie wanted to change bedding, towels etc. so we didn’t leave until the early afternoon.  We drove to Chiefland, FL which is about 110 miles from home. We took SR 44 to SR 19 north of Crystal River SR 19 has very little traffic. Here is a picture of the typical traffic. Many bugs (see the spots on the windshield) make the ultimate sacrifice while playing on the road. We are overnighting at the Chiefland RV Park.  Got a pull through site so I didn’t have to unhook the car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So tomorrow we will see our niece and her husband who live in Crestview FL.

Thursday May 29, 2014.

Arrived in Holt FL and our campground.

 

 

 

After we got settled we visited and had dinner with our niece and her husband yesterday.  Today, May 29, there is a big weather system hovering over this area and westward to New Orleans & Baton Rouge and we had some heavy rain last night. The weather system is going to hang around for the next couple of days so we’ll call it liquid sunshine and go do some sightseeing. We decided on visiting the Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin AFB. They have both indoor and outdoor displays and since it was rain really hard, like a frog choker, we started indoors first. What follows is just a sample of the pictures that I and Jackie took. If you click on the following link it will take you to Shutterfly where all the pictures are available.  FL   https://jackbarbic.shutterfly.com/6971

Before I forget, you can click on any picture to enlarge it.

The museum has planes, missiles, weapons and even a replica of one of the atom bombs dropped on Japan.  Here is  a Panorama of part of the museum.

 The F-105 Thunderchief  had a Gatling gun in it’s nose. I had thought the A-10 was the first aircraft to use it but I think the A-10 was the first plane that was designed specifically for ground support using the gun.

There was a Weapons Display Vault that had a treasure trove of various devices that guns guys would trade their souls for.

I thought this 30mm Revolver gun was unique
 











Here is Jackie with “The Fat Man”……. Yeah, yeah, I know you don’t see me in the picture. The Fat Man I’m referring to was the atom bomb dropped on Japan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was much information about WWII available for those that took the time to read all it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How about the “Bombardier’s Oath? These WWII guys were very special people!

After a while the thunder stopped and it was time to look at the planes outside.  As you drive on to the museum grounds you go passed several of the planes. It’s best to walk around, you get closer that way.

How about starting with the fastest  one? The SR-71

From the front,                                                                                                                  and the back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The B-52 entered service in 1954 . It still is in active service having served in Desert Storm. Besides being able to drop more bombs than any of Saddam’s troops could stand, 70,000 lbs, it also can be fitted with cruise missiles. The B-52 has been the longest-serving bomber U.S. military history.I was standing under the SR-71 when I took this shot of the B-52.

Here is a notable C-130, which has been a workhouse for the Air Force, hauling troops & supplies all over the world. Many countries  bought these aircraft and Australia recently used one of theirs in searching for the Malaysian airplane that went missing. This particular plane was modified as described in the following picture. At least one of the plane, as modified, was known as “Puff The Magic Dragon”.

 

 

 

 

 

 I’m putting too many pictures in this but I have to include this next one. It is a B-47.

Way back in time, like 1964, when I was a kid engineer I started working at Pratt & Whitney. The company owned one of these plane and was using it as a flying test bed for the JT-8D engine that powered the Boeing 727, the MD-11, and some of the B-737s. The plant in East Hartford, CT has an airport on site that the plane flew out of. The Engineering was just off the air strip and before the company had the GE engines rebuilt, it was always exciting to see it take off. The engine created a lot of smoke as it accelerated down the runway, using just about all of it before it lifted off the ground. On hot days it wasn’t much higher than the third floor of the building as it struggled to gain altitude. Sometimes we would give a little cheer.  Ah the memories from the good old days.

So, how ending this first installment with a BANG?

According to the info this is the GBU-43 MOAB. Now the AIR Force definition of  MOAB is “Massive Ordnance Air Blast”, however, it better known by its nickname of “Mother Of All Bombs”. 

There are many more pictures on Shutterfly, if you like planes, ejection seats, missiles, trainers, etc. follow the link.

https://jackbarbic.shutterfly.com/6971

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomoka State Park

    

Tomoka State Park, near Ormond Beach Fl                        10/6/13 to 10/12/13

We finally got some free time, five days, Monday through Friday with no doctor appointments or other issues to keep us at home. So, I made reservations at Tomoka State Park which is a short distance away in miles (about 66 miles) but is a world away with respect to our daily lives.

      

                         




The sites are range from small tent sites to sites capable of handling larger motorhomes. Since ours is 32 feet we found several sites that would work.

  

There is archaeological evidence that the Timucua people were here as far back has 1100 to 1300AD, predating the European founding of St. Augustine. So they were probably waiting to be “discovered” by Ponce de Leon in 1513. The people in this area had a chief named Tomokie and the park has a statue at the north end.

There is a camp store where besides supplies you can rent canoes. There are docks and vwery comfortable veranda where Jackie & I spent time relaxing, looking at the salt marsh, Tomoka river and reading from our Kindles.

                                              

Taking a ride north of the park we came across the remains of a sugar mill.

                                       

One day we took a ride along AIA to look at Anastasia State Park for a possible place to go camping. Along the way we found a campground on the beach in Flagler Beach. We stopped and walked around. Looks like we will be doing some camping here.  We need to check the calendar for next week with no appointments.

                                    

                                           

There was a turtle nest on the beach. It was marked with stakes and orange tape.

One item of interest at Anastasia State Park was the trees. Here are a couple of pictures that show how they bend away from the water. The two explanations I know are that they bend away from the salt spray or it wind cause them to bend.

CR 4011 leads to the park from Ormond Beach. We found many scenic roads, mainly due to how the branches of the Live Oaks, that lined the road, grew to over the road and in some places formed a canopy. Some of the limbs are the base for other plants like ferns and of course no self-respecting live oak would ever be caught with some Spanish Moss clinging to it.

Another place we visited was the Bulow Plantation Ruins.  Land for the 4675 acre plantation known as Bulowville was purchased in 18521 by Charles Wilhelm Bulow. When he died two years later, his son John inherited the plantation and built a sugar mill. Between 1823 and 1836 Bulowville was the largest sugar plantation in East Florida. In 1835 and against Bulow’s objection the plantation was occupied by the military. Major Benjamin Putnam and a company of men coverted Bulowville into a military fortress.  Refugees from the Seminole War came there. It is believed that the plantation  was burned down by the Indians after Bulowville was abandoned by the soldiers on January 23, 1836.

The sugar mill then………..

  

And now………………………………….

Today there is very little left of the plantation home.

There is canoe rentals and access to Bulow Creek.

                

Here are some photos of a pond near the house, a visitor building and some trees that looked interesting.

There was a small garden with examples of the crops that were grown on the plantation.

 

As usual the time slips by too fast and tomorrow we will be heading home. However, today was another fun day. We met with a couple from motorhome club, the National Untied Travelers, more commonly known as “The NUTS”.  Did some sight-seeing, had lunch at a restaurant on the water and a great time. We will be together in the near future at our first rally of this season starting November 7.

There are more pictures on my shared site at: https://jackbarbic.shutterfly.com/6402

Still On The Road

Although the caravan ended August 6, we are still on the road. After leaving Maine we visited friends in Vermont. We then made a couple of stops in New York state and spent two weeks in a campground near Ashtabula OH.  We visited Jackie’s cousin, my sister and their husbands.  When our stay was up at the campground we drove to my sister’s house in South Euclid OH where we left the motor home in their driveway and the four of us took the car to Sun Prairie WI, the town where my brother, his kids and grandkids live.

While there we went to Oshkosh to the Experimental Aircraft Association museum. What a wonderful collection of aircraft. More pictures are at: http://summer2011jb.shutterfly.com/pictures/3428

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On the way back we stopped in Auburn IN. If you like automobiles, the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum is a stop you will enjoy. It’s kind of like walking around car heaven.

The museum is housed in the only remaining original factory building.   

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The cars are well maintained, a reflection like this can’t be seen in a car with a dull finish.

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There are more pictures at: http://summer2011jb.shutterfly.com/pictures/3674

Tonight we are in a campground near Ashland KY where we have been visiting some of Jackie’s relative for the past several days. Tomorrow we head to the Roanoke VA area for a few days, then we will visit our niece in the Florida panhandle. After that I guess we have to head home, should arrive there Sept. 29.  We started this trip on May 30, it will be a little sad to be off RV Time and back to the real world.