NATIONAL NAVAL AVIATION MUSEUM

Saturday, October 29 – We headed out early this morning bound for Kinder, LA, and the Coushatta Casino RV Park. After about three and a half hours of driving, we filled up at the Indian Casino gas station for $3.58, the lowest diesel price we've seen in quite awhile. We then pulled back to the campground only to find out they are FULL. What the heck! That's never happened to us before. The reason, we found out, is this weekend is the Annual Coushatta Pow Wow.

Well, we considered dry camping in the casino parking lot, but we wanted to watch some NCAA football and didn't want to run the generator for hours. So, we headed down the road to our next intended stop, Livingston, TX, and the Escapees Rainbow's End campground. That made for an eight hour driving day, which is way more than we like to drive in one day. We were on back roads and there just wasn't anywhere to stop.

We settled into site #68, and will be here until Monday morning so we can get our annual inspection stickers for the MH and Honda. We walked around the park to see what's happening. We ran into our friends, Marc & Joyce. The place is fairly crowded. I guess people are on the move to the South to avoid those cold temperatures.

As promised two blogs ago…After the air show, we headed across the parking lot from the Flight Line to the National Naval Aviation Museum. Again FREE admission and an amazing museum. There is so much to see, it is impossible to see in one day. The hundreds of aircraft on display have all been restored to original condition.

Fat Albert
 

Looking down at one section of the Museum.

There's just about every naval aircraft ever flown in combat, aircraft you can sit in for a picture, flight simulators, a huge display of aircraft carriers, and so much more.

The Navy/Curtiss Aircraft was designed during WWI as antisubmarine aircraft. It was a long-range patrol flying boat. The wing span 126'; length 68'; height 24'; max speed of 85 mph.

One of the most amazing displays is the Blue Angel Atrium where four jets used by the Blue Angels are suspended from the ceiling flying in their famous close formation. You get to see up close that eighteen inch separation of formation flying they are so famous for.

PB2Y-5R Coronado was outfitted as a flag transport and shuttled high-ranking officers. In August 1945, the aircraft and its crew flew to Guam, the forward headquarters for Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, and soon embarked Nimitz's deputy, Rear Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, for the flight to Tokyo Bay to attend the formal surrender ceremonies ending World War II.

Coronado is the HUGE one.

The World's First Operational Jet-Powered Fighter…Me-262 which flew in 1942. Tope speed 540 mph.

"Long-nose" version of the F11F Tiger that was flown by the Blue Angels during the period 1959-1958. It was the last Grumman-build aircraft flown by the famed U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron.

Treasures of Lake Michigan…a stunning underwater recreation of salvaging aircraft found in Lake Michigan. Using special lighting, they made the planes look like they were still underwater. Just an excellent display!

With its distinctive green and white paint scheme, the latter color on top of the aircraft applied originally to early model helicopters to make the occupants cooler in the days before air-conditioned compartments, the helicopters that fly as “Marine One” are among the most famous aircraft in the entire world.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first President to employ an airplane for travel while in office, the use of a helicopter for short-distance travel first occurring when President Dwight D. Eisenhower climbed aboard a Bell UH-13J Sioux with its “fishbowl” cockpit for a flight in 1957.

This VH-3A served during the presidencies of Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.

On 1 May 2003, the aircraft made history when President George W. Bush was a passenger during a carrier arrested landing on board the flattop. In so doing he became the first sitting chief executive to trap on board an aircraft carrier. As is customary, during the time President Bush was aboard the aircraft, it was known as "Navy 1."

Of course, we all remember the famous banner that was his back drop onboard the ship.

The Navy's Last Flying Boat…SP-5B Marlin. Its height is over 32' and wingspan of some 118' entered service in 1952. In addition to antisubmarine warfare missions, SP-5B marlins supported Operation Market Time, monitoring shipping traffic in the water off South Vietnam.

Can you find Marsha in this picture?

There is just so much to see in this museum that Marsha couldn't snap the pictures fast enough. If you are EVER in this area, this is a MUST see! Remember it is all FREE!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

CLOUDS…WHO CARES?

Thursday, October 27 – Soaking up more sun on the beach! We tried to get Bella (our cat) to give it a try.....nothing doing! She was scared to death and wanted to go back home...NOW! She prefers to sit in the window of the MH and watch the ocean from there.....scare-dee cat!

She wasn't sure of the sand.

This is the closest we could get her to the water.

We had a friend that joined us for most of the day. He entertained us with a dance every so often.

We try to sample local cuisine in the different areas we visit, so while at the beach we decided to go out for a local fish dinner. Marsha Googled for the best seafood restaurants in Bay St. Louis, and we chose CUZ'S Seafood Restaurant. This is a family owned establishment. They specialize in fresh fish, shrimp, crawfish, crabs, oysters, gumbo, and over-stuffed po'boys. Paul had the Trout basket, and Marsha enjoyed the Shrimp basket. Both were delicious.

Friday, October 28 – With the sun coming up over the water,

it appeared to be another gorgeous day.

Hold on…what is this? Threating skies?

Fine, we will make the best of it. So what does one do on an overcast day…clean pine needles, of course.

We cleaned 2,000 pine needles just in a short hour and half. Although we cleaned 6,600 needles. Now each pine needle actually contains three needles. So Marsha has some 21,000 needles at an average of 16" each to make her future baskets. She is in heaven…but…she now has to wash them all and let them dry for at least two months. Wonder if she can hold out?

We took another ride today along the water to see how progress is going after the last hurricane and the big tropical storm they had last month. Looks like they are getting some of the beaches back in shape.

Yesterday we saw a little restaurant called da Little Café. It claims to have New Orleans style Beignets. We said, "What the heck let's give it a shot." WOW…they are in every way as good and just MAYBE better than the ones we had at the famous Cafe Du Monde in the French Market. We each had one of their loaded hot dogs…excellent!

Since this is our last day in Bay St. Louis, we decided to see if we could break even on our initial investment of $20 each at the casino. Our final total…Marsha $31.73; Paul $1.67. Not too bad for three days of sun and fun!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

ALONE ON THE BEACH

Wednesday, October 26 – After a nice three hour drive, we arrived in Bay St. Louis, MS. We are staying at the Silver Slipper Casino Campground. They now call it Beachfront RV Park. We've stayed here in the past. It is located right across the street from the beach. We are approximately 150 feet from the water.

Looking at the rest of the park. Not too many here yet but Earl, Security Guard, told us they are filling up for the weekend.

Our trip through downtown Mobile was uneventful. Paul was a little nervous remembering the tunnel under Mobile Bay that we had to travel. Guess he's getting more confident driving the MH in traffic and through tunnels. He commented that it was easy.

We did have a minor scare. Our GPS directed us down a road toward our final destination when suddenly Paul went crazy. There was a railroad crossing directly in front of us that was impassable.

We would have definitely dragged bottom and probably gotten stuck. Look what happened to others who tried.

We should have known trouble was ahead when we saw this sign.

We stopped and unhooked our car. We backed into a nearby fire station to turn around. A neighbor lady came out and said that crossing has been the scene of many mishaps. Trucks get grounded there frequently, she informed us. They have to block the road, stop trains, and tow the trucks off the tracks.  YIKES!!!

So after turning around, we backtracked to the main road and found the correct route to the campground. Be aware of those GPS directions and be prepared!

After setting up at the campground, we walked across the street to the beach and enjoyed the sun for a few hours.

We have the beach to ourselves.

There actually were people here at some time or other. During our walk, we passed this cute "sand fort." Can you see the little guns sticking up in the middle of the fort? Good imagination!

Marsha is standing where the water begins. Look how far out the tide is. Can you see Paul?

As we walked in the water we saw tons of bait fish. It was a hoot to watch them swim away from us. Some were in such a hurry, they jumped out of the water.

One observation. We are only about 150 miles west of Gulf Shores in Foley, AL. Here in Bay St. Louis, MS the water of the Gulf of Mexico is much warmer. We easily walked into the water and even mentioned we would be able to go swimming. It's not as warm as it is in July, but one could comfortably go in without freezing. Maybe Paul will give it a try later in the week.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

THE SOUND OF FREEDOM

Tuesday, October 25 – Well, all good things must come to an end. Today is our last day in Foley, AL.

This adventure was NOT on Paul's “Bucket List”, but it should have been! Another MUST SEE! We spent the morning at the Pensacola, FL, Naval Air Station watching a practice session of the Blue Angels. AMAZING!!! And it's FREE! The Naval Station is the home for the Blue Angels and they practice several times each month. The shows are open to the public. Be sure to check their website for practice times if you are ever in this area.

The show started at 8:30 a.m. We were there a little early to set out our folding chairs for a front row seat. We did get one of the last spots, but being an air show it really wasn't necessary to be seated in the front row. They do have bleachers set up for those that prefer that type of seating.

The main thrill of these pilots is the ability to fly in VERY CLOSE formation!

They fly only 18” apart and at very high rates of speed. They twist and roll; loop and turn; and all in very close formation. While four planes are twisting overhead, two more Blue Angels are performing close to the ground. They head toward each other at very high speeds (approaching Mach 1) and roll on their sides at the last second missing each other by inches. Pretty scary!

They pull tremendous G-forces by sharp turns and zooming skyward in vertical climbs. They fly upside down in close formation, and join up in what's called a “delta” formation with all six planes flying in close formation.

The Blue Angels have flown over 10 different aircraft in the team’s 65 year history. Originally, the team flew four aircraft in the signature “Diamond” formation and expanded to six aircraft to showcase both the diamond and solos high performance capability as well as the precision formation flying taught to all Naval Aviators.

Today, the squadron flies the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet and the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules. When the squadron receives a F/A-18 Hornet from the fleet, which are at the end of their carrier arrestment functionality, we make a variety of modifications, including removing the nose cannon to install a smoke-fluid system, inverting a fuel pump, installing a stop watch and adjustable constant-tension stick spring, as well as the world-wide recognizable paint scheme.

Landing…The leader is in #1.

The show lasts about an hour and by the end many watchers (including Marsha) are exhausted by their own adrenalin rush. The excitement is overwhelming! A GREAT show! We visited the Naval Air Station Pensacola also, but we will tell you about that in the next post.

We almost forgot to tell you that once in awhile the touristy part of our personality comes out. We had to go see the "World's Largest Octopus."…Really?

Some final pictures from the beautiful beach at Gulf Shores.

Oh yea…Cotton is a huge crop down here. The pictures looks fuzzy but there is just so much cotton on the plants. It is hard to tell one plant from another.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!