Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:   NOMADS Project, New Hope United Methodist Church

February 5, 2020

Temperature 26 going up to a balmy 42 Degrees

Baby It’s Still Frigid Outside

Too Cold To Work

Yep, that was the temperature outside (on the bottom) when we awoke at 6 am.  Inside is the top temperature.  It’s hard in these conditions to get Graybeard warmed up.

We’re back to the way we lived when we were in NJ.  Before we actually got on the road.  All our cold weather clothes and jackets are back out.  Glad we kept a few.

We have the heavy curtain up in the front isolating the cockpit area.  We have one small heater sitting there.  The flames alone foster warm thoughts.  We have another small heater in the bedroom.

We have another curtain blocking the draft from the entrance door.  Even with the storm windows in the door it is hard to keep a draft out.  We also have the vents in the kitchen and bathroom blocked off.

We’re still good on propane so we’ll definitely run the furnace with abandon tonight.  This is supposed to be the last night of low twenty degree temperatures.  I sure hope so since this is not at all to my liking.

What did we do today?  Not a whole lot because of the cold.  We finished installing the new sink.  Put some locks on doors.  Cleaned the church kitchen.  Did a bit more landscaping.

Tonight being Wednesday it was once again

pot luck supper time.  The crowd is small but the conversation is always lively.

There was enough food to go around.  Baked ziti, rice and chicken, rice and ground beef, fruit salad and a few desserts.

Just a few things from around the church hall.

I found this so beautiful.

This one so true.

This one a reminder to me that despite the cold and uncomfortable situation I find myself in I am truly blessed beyond measure.  Truly, God is Good All the Time.

That’s it for our day on The Road of Retirement.  If you’ll excuse me I’m going to dive under a pile of covers and hibernate until the temperature goes back up to seventy degrees – or until I have to go to work tomorrow.  Whichever comes first.  As if I didn’t know.

Thanks for checking in with us today.  Could you perhaps at the least send some warm thoughts our way.  Catch you tomorrow.  When we thaw out.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:   NOMADS Project, New Hope United Methodist Church

February 4, 2020

Temperature 46 Degrees

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Making Progress, Taking On New Projects

That temperature is not a typo.  It’s down right cold in these parts.  As I type this it is around 8 pm and we are already in the 30’s.   No fun at all.  Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do but tough it out.

We are two days into Week Two.  Where do we stand?

Remember the little tractor that couldn’t that became the little tractor that could?  Once again it is the little tractor that can’t.

We’ll change it back to the little tractor that can just as soon as we install yet another new tire on the front.

In terms of our landscaping project.

Progress is our middle name.  Honestly, it absolutely amazes me how much is accomplished by a team of people every member of which has some physical issue.  We’re like the walking wounded each of us with back, or knee or sometimes both issues.  Some have even more physical problems.  Yet, no one complains, every person just pushes through it and does what needs to be done.

Once upon a time there was an active Boy Scout Troop that met at the church.  Several years ago the story goes they just up and left.  They also left all of their stuff behind.  Today we cleaned out the room where it was stored.  Some of what was left behind will be sold for scrap.  Some will be picked up the local district Boy Scout office.  The rest will go in the dumpster.  The good thing?  There were several cast iron skillets as well as dutch ovens that were left behind.  So, Barbara finally got the cast iron skillet she has been wanting for a long time.

The floor at the entrance way to the all purpose room was a bit weak.  Upon further investigation the floor underneath was found to be rotted.  Part of the team tackled the replacement of the underfloor and then new tile..  They’ll finish this project tomorrow.

I was part of the replace the vanity and sink team today.  The old sink used to just sort of hang on the wall.  People and kids were constantly leaning on it, causing it to sag and thus not drain properly.  The answer?  A vanity with a sink.  We got started late on this one today and will finish it up tomorrow.

That brings our day on The Road of Retirement to an end.  Once again the water is off.  Hoses are drained as are all the filters.  Another two days of this frigid weather and we hopefully will once again be above freezing.  Of course, according to some people in places of high authority there is no such thing as climate change.  Goes to show what they know, about climate change as well as a lot of other things.  They are clueless.  Ah well we still have each other and we still continue to enjoy our life together and we continue to travel along, hand in hand, singing our song.

Thanks for joining us again.  I hope wherever you are it is a whole lot warmer.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.  If, that is I decide to crawl out from under the covers!

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:   NOMADS Project, New Hope United Methodist Church

February 3, 2020

Temperature 55 Degrees, Winds SW at 30 to 40 MPH

Bracing for the Deep Freeze

309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group – The World’s Largest Boneyard

Tonight is the first of three nights in which temperatures are supposed to be at or below freezing.  We’re talking about temperatures in the 20’s.  Not at all what we signed up for that’s for sure.

Outside water is off and hoses are drained.  So are Wesley and Fredia.  Our tanks are empty.  We’re on internal water.  Curtains are up.  Heaters are in place.  Cabinet doors are open so heat can get to all the nooks and crannies.  I believe we are as ready as ready can be.

Enough about the weather let’s go sightseeing.  Today we’re going

on a bus tour from the Pima Museum.

All aboard.  We had a full bus.

 

We’re off to Davis Monthan AFB home of the

309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group – The World’s Largest Boneyard.  It currently contains over 4,000 aircraft and aerospace vehicles on some 2700 acres. With the area’s low humidity in the 10%-20% range, meager rainfall of 11″ annually, hard alkaline soil (often referred to as Mexican Concrete), and lack of hurricanes and tornadoes allowing the aircraft to be naturally preserved for cannibalization or possible reuse, Davis-Monthan is the logical choice for a major storage facility.  

There are of course a few negatives, such as

various critters that like to live in and around the aircraft which makes removal of parts often very interesting for the crews that do so.

When an aircraft arrives at the storage facility

• All guns, ejection seat charges, and classified hardware are removed, along with clocks and data plates.
• Each aircraft is washed on arrival . The washing is especially important for aircraft that have served aboard aircraft carriers or in tropical locations where they were subject to the corrosive effects of warm, salty air.
• The fuel system is protected by draining it, refilling it with lightweight oil, and then draining it again, leaving a protective oil film.
• The aircraft is sealed from dust, sunlight, and high temperatures. This is done using a variety of materials, ranging from “spraylat” (a white, opaque, high-tech vinyl plastic compound sprayed on the aircraft) to simple garbage bags. With the white coating, interior temperatures will usually remain within 15 degrees of the outside ambient air temperature.
• The plane is towed by a tug to its designated “storage” position.

During our tour we were fortunate to actually see the process in action.  This is the first black coat being applied.  After this will come the white and final coat.  We were told that this has to be done every three years.

Before we actually go on the base

Now for the storage facility itself.  The first road we went down was Celebrity Row. Here you find all different kinds of aircraft.  Sorry, my memory is not what it once was therefore I can’t really tell you which is which.

Here we have an Air Force Stealth Fighter.  Can’t see it?  Oh, I forgot you need special glasses to see it!

Acres of C-130’s

Lots and lots of helicopters.  Here you can plainly see the final white coating that is applied to aircraft in storage.

Maybe you need an engine.

Sometimes, for instance during the Vietnam ‘war, aircraft are pulled out of storage and put back in active service.  More recently in 2015 a B-52 was returned to service after being in storage for seven years.

As a result of the SMART Treaty 

Three hundred sixty-five B-52s were flown here.  The bombers were stripped of all usable parts, then chopped into five pieces by a 13,000-pound steel blade dropped from a crane. The  guillotine sliced four times on each plane, severing the wings and leaving the fuselage in three pieces. The ruined B-52s remained in place for three months so that Russian satellites could confirm that the bombers had been destroyed, after which they were sold for scrap.

Another role of AMARG is to support the program that converts old fighter jets, such as the F-4 Phantom II and today the F-16, into aerial target drones.  A most expensive drone if you ask me.  But, I guess all those new pilots do need something to shoot at during practice.

More often rather than putting aircraft back into service they are stripped for parts to help maintain active aircraft.  This section of the facility is where the nickname Boneyard comes from.

How about that a smiley face.  

They also have their own version of a flea market here.

Well, I hope I have given you a new view on old aircraft and the important part this facility plays in keeping our current fleet of fighters, bombers, helicopters, etc. in the air and in good repair.  I so enjoy tours like this and the information I gain.  I admit it I do indeed have an insatiable curiosity that keeps me always on the lookout for interesting places to visit.  If you haven’t been here yet it deserves to be on your bucket list of places to visit.

Our day on The Road of Retirement has drawn to a close.  Time to find a few more blankets for later tonight.  I already told the team when the temperature goes below thirty degrees I hibernate until it goes back up to seventy.  They were not impressed.  I guess that mean they expect me to show up for work tomorrow regardless of the temperature.  Oh well.

Oh, how did I feel after eating my first Sonoran Hot Dog?  Ready for a second!

Thanks for checking in again.  We look forward to having you travel with us and we enjoy your comments and questions.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:   NOMADS Project, New Hope United Methodist Church

February 2, 2020

Temperature 71 Degrees

Insane Weather

Pima Air and Space Museum, Continued

The weather here is absolutely insane.  Today we are at 71 degrees with clear blue skies and bright sunshine.  Tomorrow, oh boy here we go.  The weather report says during the day it will only be in the mid 50’s but by nightfall we’ll be down in the – ready for this – the 20’s!  Moreover, the big chill is supposed to last for the next three days.  I want to know who I can talk to about this.  If I didn’t have a commitment here I’d be out of here in a heart beat.

We’re pulling out blankets and curtains and heaters – all the stuff we haven’t used since the early days in NJ.  We trying to conserve propane since we’re going to need the furnace for a few days.  We just have to hang tight and make it to Thursday and we should be alright.

Enough of that nasty stuff.  Let’s go sightseeing again.

The Pima Air & Space Museum, located in Tucson, Arizona, is one of the world’s largest non-government funded aerospace museums. The museum features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres on a campus occupying 127 acres. It has also been the home to the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame since 1991.  There is also another museum within the museum, namely the 390th Memorial Museum which will we visit sometime soon.

Once again rather than try and show everything that is here – which would be impossible no mater how many blogs I posted – I’ll try and present some of the more unusual things I found.

I call this the peek a boo helicopter.  See that unusual thing sticking up above the rotors?  The mast mounted sight allowed the helicopter to take a peek for targets without rising above the tree line or a hill top.  Might slick don’t you think.

I believe I’ve found a way to get my rig over those big hills.  This is the Skycrane Heavy Lift Transport that is still in service today.  It can lift up to 20,000 pounds so maybe I have to rethink lifting my rig.  Definitely a Class B.

How do you teach new recruits to be bombardiers?  This is how.  The AT-11.  A bomb bay replaced the passenger space and a transparent nose featured a bomb sight for training future bombardiers.

I believe you could call this the little plane that could.  When I stood next to it the wing was even with my nose.  This one is small and compact.

Tight quarters to say the least.  Also, very basic and simple.  Yes, it was home built.

 

A whole lot bigger.  This is the B-24.  It served on almost every battle front, it was produced in greater numbers, delivered more bombs and was flown by more allied crews than any other bomber during the war.

The biggest one of all.

The B-29.  It carried more bombs higher, farther and faster than any other bomber of WW II.

Now how about this.

Now, we’re going to move to something totally different.

Eric Firestone, who owns and operates Eric Firestone Gallery in Hampton, New York, approached longtime New York arts writer and curator Carlo McCormick with an idea: Contemporary art on retired aircraft — new canvases for the artists and new lives for rusting planes.  The result, take a look.

Since I don’t have an artist’s bone in my body I’ll offer no comment except to say they were unique to say the least.

If you have never been to the Pima Air and Space Museum it definitely deserves to go on your bucket list.  We figured it out and I spent over 10 hours here and still didn’t get to see it all.  It is awesome and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to visit it.

Then there was lunch and I finally was able to get my hands on a special kind of hot dog that I’ve wanted to try for a long, long time..

It’s the middle one, the Sonoran Dog

It is a bacon wrapped hot dog with pinto beans, tomato, grilled onions, mayonnaise, mustard and jalapeno sauce.  Believe me it is delicious!

Another day on The Road of Retirement has come to a close.  The Super Bowl is in the books and finally we had a game worth watching.  What a come back,  KC looked like they were completely out of it but they never gave up.  A lesson for all of us.   Time now for us to rig for cold weather.  We just keep telling ourselves, all we have to do is make it to Wednesday and the temperatures will start going back up a bit.  But a bit is better than nothing.

Thanks again for checking in with us.  Hopefully, no more missed blogs from this point forward.  I just couldn’t get myself in gear last night.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!