Airstream, Armstrong, Ancestors, Anniversary (AAAA)

Airstreams, Airstreams --- All in a Row

Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum

Roger here...  After three days of driving we eventually arrived in the midwest.  East central Ohio was good to us.

Airstream...

Our site at the Airstream "Terra Port"

We intended to arrive in Jackson Center, Ohio before 2:00 p.m. on a Friday so that we could take the factory tour before the weekend.  Due to some "issues" (no hot water, no working bathroom fan), we called to make a service appointment.  They could take us Friday morning, so we changed our schedule and arrived late Thursday afternoon. 

Our free (due to service) full hookup site at the Airstream factory was surrounded by silver.  Airstream trailers and Airstream owners were everywhere!

Dianne and I gathered by a large tree in the Terra Port and made new friends who were also having their trailers serviced --- friends we will probably see again.

We decided that buying an Airstream is much like joining a cult.  Airstream owners seem to be avid enthusiasts of their RVs.  We may need to join the owners' club :-).

The great news is that all of our problems were corrected on Friday morning.  We now have a new circuit board for the hot water heater and our bathroom ceiling fan has been repaired.  We also now know how to operate our awning.  We know that our entertainment system does not operate blue ray discs (no big deal).  We think that a problem with our trailer brake has been solved by sealing the lines to prevent invasive moisture.  At the moment we are fully operational and feel that our early glitches have been solved --- all under warranty.  

Since the service work was done expediently, I was able to go on the 1 1/2 hour factory tour.  I learned quite a bit of new information.  The company founder, Wally Byrum, was in the aviation industry (thus the aerodynamic trailer designs).  He started in the RV industry by selling plans for building your own RV..The gold trailer in the photo above was Wally's.  He led caravans all over the world from this trailer, including one from Cape Town, South Africa, to Egypt.  

Every Airstream product is sold before it is built.  All the trailers are built by human hands.  There are no standardized assembly lines.   There is a backlog of 2500 orders.  Delivery on new orders takes about five months.  A new assembly plant (double the current size) will be completed in a few months.  Business is healthy.

Armstrong...

Since the weekend arrived and the service bays were idle, we decided to stay in the Terra Port for a couple of extra nights.  It was during that time that I discovered that we were only 17 miles from Wapakoneta, Ohio --- Neil Armstrong's hometown.  I also discovered that there was a very cool Neil Armstrong museum in the town.  What!!!?  Purdue graduate, Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was a hero of mine.  I had to go see it.

The museum exceeded my expectations.  It was a chronicle of Neil's life and of NASA's space program up to and including all of the Apollo flights.  A bronze statue of Neil as a boy holding a model airplane greets all the guests outside the museum.

Another bronze statue depicts Neil as a test pilot aviator.  After graduating from Purdue, he attended UCLA where he majored in astrophysics.  He flew jets for the Navy during the Korean War before becoming a test pilot (a very dangerous undertaking).  He became the first non-military man selected to be an astronaut.  He was the first astronaut to complete a space docking.  And, of course, he was the first person to walk on the moon.  He also played in the Purdue All-American Marching Band.

The modern museum had a variety of hands-on activities and visually intriguing displays.  

It also showcased actual artifacts.  The picture to the left shows the space suit that Neil wore when he walked on the moon.

This is one of the moon rocks that Neil collected during his historic voyage.

This was the garb that Neil wore as a fighter pilot in the Korean War, and....

... this is one of the Navy jets from that conflict.









As my exploration of the museum ended, I entered a theatre to see fascinating footage from the Apollo 11 launch.  It was so inspiring to hear and see Neil speak.  It gave me chills. I also learned that the isolation chamber upon the return of the astronauts was actually a modified Airstream.

Before the film, I walked across a darkened catwalk to the theatre labeled the infinity room.  It truly was fascinating, and difficult to photograph.  Using points of light and strategically placed mirrors, the starlike room seemed to never end.

Looking Up

Looking Down

Ancestors....

It was a two hour drive to our next RV spot just south of Dayton, Ohio (an important stop for Dianne).  Our campsite at the Lebanon KOA was spacious, quiet, and somewhat isolated.  Perfect.

The purpose of this stop was to allow Dianne, genealogist extraordinare, a couple of days in Dayton to find my long lost 4th great grandfather.  This was Dianne's second on-site visit to Dayton.  Armed with new clues --- off she went to the Dayton Court House, the Dayton Library, and a cemetery.  Did I really have a fourth great grandfather, or was my family dropped at Wright Patterson Air Force base by aliens (my theory)?

Off to the Records Archive and the Library!

I was the designated dog sitter during this time.  I did not have a car.  The weather was that midwestern hot and humid that I know so well.  What to do?  The Airstream does have air conditioning.

The three of us discovered that old reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air were actually kind of funny :-).

Anniversary...

Our last day near Dayton fell on our 47th wedding anniversary.  I am planning to fix dinner tonight as part of the quiet celebration.  In honor of our years together I am posting some of our favorite photos, thus far, of this year's four-month trip.

Dianne's Teensy Weensy Trailer Tip

What to do when you only occasionally need a larger container but have no space to store one?
I made two of mine do double duty.   When I don't need them for cooking, they live in the bathroom and serve as a caddy for an extra roll of toilet paper.  (It's amazing how fast those RV rolls go empty).   

The toilet paper fits into the smaller container, which nests inside the slightly larger one.  

I have used these containers for making cole slaw and other salad type side dishes.  Here is a photo of another tip, using these same containers: 

The refrigerator is so small that I usually put leftovers into zip-lock bags to save space in the fridge.   However, I don't like trying to serve slaw or similar items from a bag.   The container comes to the rescue by acting as a holder for the refrigerator bag to make it easy to serve from it.   Our storage tanks are so small that I do all I can not to have many dishes to wash!
Our next few posts will be from "Back Home in Indiana." 

Pet Picture of the Day....

Poquita was so happy to see me when I finally returned home after all day at the library that she melted into my lap and wouldn't leave.

Dartmouth, Family, and Points West

Roger here... 

Dartmouth...

 I don't know why, but of all the Ivy League Colleges I have always been most fascinated by Dartmouth.  Actually, my interest in the college probably stems from its ties to the movie, "Animal House."  Back in the day I thought that movie was hilarious.  Animal House was actually filmed at the University of Oregon, but the movie was based on the screenwriter's actual fraternity experiences at Dartmouth.  Enough of that.

During our last full day in Vermont, we decided to take a short drive back into New Hampshire to the town of Hanover, which is pretty much a part of  the Dartmouth campus.

This decorative bridge greeted us at the state line --- a mile later we were looking for a parking place in Hanover, near the campus.

The campus matched my expectations.  Buildings of classic architecture surrounded a large green quadrangle.  The building in the opening picture with the clock tower (which chimes every hour) anchored one end of the large rectangle of grass.  

Notice the 1784 date on this building.

The stonework in this church is interesting.

Most of the buildings that surround the quadrangle have artwork.  We liked this one, as it resembled a cairn.  During freshman orientation, the students are asked to look through the window at the top of the sculpture.  It frames the grassy quadrangle where they will graduate in four years.  Kinda cool.

Family....

In the last post I briefly talked about my grandfather's apple orchard and my cousins that we met there every Sunday for dinner with the Norris family.  While we were in Vermont, one of those cousins (Dennis --- the older brother I never had,  and in many ways a mentor) contacted us.  (In our youth he led us into quite a bit of mischief on grandpa's farm.)  Dennis was an usher in our wedding.  His sister, Beth, was the sister I never had.  Dennis and Joan live in Connecticut.  We figured out a way to meet for lunch in Hanover at a campus village restaurant, Molly's.  We have been close to Dennis and his wife, Joan, for decades, but had not seen them for many years.  This was an unexpected highlight of our trip.

L to R... Dennis, Roger Dianne, Joan

The waitress was extremely patient with us as we lingered before ordering, after ordering, and after eating.  We spent a great deal of time reliving old memories and catching up with the lives of our kids.  It was a special time that will not be forgotten.

We promised not to let so much time pass before getting together again.

Points West...

Reluctantly, it was time to pull ourselves away from New England.  We were headed toward the midwest.  

Our first day of travel was probably very scenic, but all we saw was rain, fog, and roadways --- not a fun drive.  Our expensive RV site (Herkimer, NY) for the night was nothing more than a 3 inch mud puddle.  We requested another site which was granted, but it was not our best camping night.  

It takes a long time to cross some states.  New York is one of those.  Our second night was also in that state, but oh, what a difference.  The Lake Erie KOA in Westfield was a haven after two long days of driving.  This family-owned RV park, across the street from Lake Erie, had all the things we craved after a long day --- full hookups, easy access, friendly staff, good connections, woodland views, and quiet time in the forest.

It also had a hiking trail that we (two people, two dogs) relished in the late afternoon.

We crossed a newly constructed bridge over a small stream that led to a large isolated fishing pond and....

Bandido says, "There goes mom.  Always in the lead."

... an extension of the path that edged a vineyard.

At the end of the trail we had the option of crossing the road and entering a quiet city park that was directly on Lake Erie.

The early evening views were amazing!

When we returned to the Airstream, I walked to the office to order dinner from the food trailer.  Dinner was delivered to our site.  We do not often eat pizza, so this was a treat.

No these are not grapes!  They are delicious small pepperonis.

Dianne's Teensy-Weensy Trailer Tip:

With no pantry and just one small cabinet for food storage --

-- I needed to rethink the pantry staples like oils, vinegars, and spices that I use.  I found a solution on Amazon by buying two sets of plastic jars; one set of 8 ounce, and one set of 12 ounce.  I typed labels and taped them onto the jars.

I also had small plastic containers that I think were intended for beads or something (no idea where they came from), but they were useful for bringing along very small amounts of spices that I might need, but would not need routinely.  Old mint containers were the right size to bring salt.

I have actually reused one of the bottles already.  We purchased some Vermont salsa at the apple cider mill.   It came in a heavy glass jar.  I waited until we used some for a meal, then put the remainder (12 ounces were left) into the tall bottle we had already emptied from the salsa from home.  These bottles weigh nothing by themselves, and their square sides are a good use of space.   The uniformly-shaped jars pack much better than a mis-match of heavy store packaging would be.

  In fact, in my very tiny dorm-size refrigerator, they sit two deep in the door shelves, for those items requiring refrigeration:  




Pet Picture of the Day...

I hate and love this picture.  I hate it because it accentuates the natural frown that aging has plastered onto my face when I am resting.  It makes me look like I am in a bad mood.  I am not!

I love it because it proves that Dianne's dog loves me, too --- when she is not around.