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.