Home Is Where We Park It:  Blackwater River State Park

Date:  May 5, 2019

Air Force Armament Museum At Eglin Air Force Base – Inside Exhibits

What a beautiful morning to wake up to.  True, with the storm that blew in yesterday the day started out a bit cooler, if you can call temperatures around 68 degrees cool! But look

what a beautiful sky.  This was shaping up to be another fabulous day.  The question now was, What to do?  We’ll flip a coin.  Heads ,we stay put.  Tails, we head out to Milton and discover what it had to offer.  It had to be tails, no matter what, because it was just too nice to stay inside.  Off we went and what we discovered we’ll share in just a bit.

Time now to finish up our visit to the Air Force Armament Museum At Eglin Air Force Base.  Today we’re going inside.  Guess who is waiting for me already?  Wave Hi to 

Barbara who was patiently waiting for me to finish up my outside tour.  I’m coming Sweetheart!

Let’s go inside and discover what is waiting for us.  Again as I said yesterday  I can only present but a small fraction of what is here.  There is just so much to see that it cannot be contained in one blog.  Hopefully, what you see will peak your curiosity enough to motivate you to go and see for yourself.  It will be well worth your time.

Immediately inside the door we discover this massive wall plaque which pays homage to all who have, and will continue to contribute to the development of armaments necessary to insure the freedom of our country.

Moving down the hallway we learn a bit about the development of Eglin Air Force Base and its current mission today.  There is also a 30 minute film which runs continuously throughout the day which presents the history of Eglin Air Force Base.

The next display is an overview of the 96th Test Wing which is currently stationed at Eglin.

The 96th Test Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla., is the test and evaluation center for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, Command and Control systems, and Air Force Special Operations Command systems. The wing provides expert evaluation and validation of the performance of systems throughout the design, development, acquisition, and sustainment process to ensure the warfighter has technologically superior, reliable, maintainable, sustainable and safe systems. .  As Eglin’s host wing, they lead more than 9,800 military, civilian, and contractor personnel providing essential base operating support and services for nine wings and wing equivalents, 10 operating locations, five detachments and 34 associate units. The wing executes an annual budget of more than $568 million.

The 96th Test Wing is organized into a number of  distinct groups.

They also manage the Air Force’s largest fire program, emergency services, explosive ordnance disposal squadron, and supply function.  The wing is also home to the Air Force’s third largest hospital, which services more than 92,000 beneficiaries and operates the Air Force’s only invisible wounds clinic. It is also home to the Air Force’s largest transportation function in the continental U.S.

In addition the 96th manages the Eglin Range Complex.

Let’s move into the main display hall.  At the far end and dominating the entire wall is our country’s flag.

Here are a couple of pictures of the first floor main display hall.

 

 

Dominating the first floor is the F-105 Thunderchief.  It was the mainstay of the Air Force’s fighter bomber force deployed to Vietnam.  It flew more missions against North Vietnam than any other aircraft.

 

It was armed with a 20 mm cannon

and carried a payload of more than 12,000 pounds of ordinance – bombs, rockets, missiles, and napalm

Moving on, the first floor also has a display of smart bombs along with the history of their development.  The GBU-28 also known as a Bunker Buster is the most interesting of them all.

Here is a bit more about the Bunker Buster, with special comments that obviously were never delivered.

On the first floor we also discover a replica of

The first floor is not all bombs and plans and weapons.  I discovered this mural tucked inside the first floor theater.

There is also a full section devoted to Desert Storm.

Now for a quick overview of the second floor. There are displays starting with WW I up to and including the Vietnam War.

On the second floor I also discovered a section devoted to

The second floor also had

Time now to say our farewell to the Museum.  Trust me when I say I’ve only scratched the surface in terms of all that is there to discover.  Make yourself a promise to someday go and discover it for yourself.  You will not regret it.

Now about our trip to Milton.  We discovered two things today.  First,

This is the remnants of an old brick road that was once Florida State Road 1. The old road can be seen running from the Blackwater River in Milton to five miles further east. It runs next to US Hwy 90.

We also discovered a – ready for this – a turtle.  But not just any turtle.   Take a look.

You’ll find this turtle in Veterans Park. It has an American flag on its shell as well as the logos of our various military branches.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  We managed as we always do to find a little something to do.  It made for a wonderful and delightful day.    Thanks again for coming along with us.  We enjoyed your company and hope you will join us again tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  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 not been before

See you on down the road

 

Home Is Where We Park It:  Blackwater River State Park

Date:  May 4, 2019

Air Force Armament Museum At Eglin Air Force Base – Outside Air Park

Decisions, decisions, decisions.  I’m retired so it should not be this hard.  Do we go?  Or hunker down?  Do we venture out and hope for the best?  Or plan for another day?  The issue was the weather report for the day.  They were predicting severe storms beginning some time in the afternoon.  In the end we decided to boldly go where have not been before. And we’d keep our fingers crossed when it came to the weather.  More about how that worked out later.

We had a quick breakfast, scrambled eggs, fried spam, a glass of juice and a couple cups of coffee and tummies were full.  Time to get on the road since we had a 45 minute ride ahead of us.  It was all highway so it went quick.  Soon enough we were there, with there being the Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin Air Force Base.

The facility features a series of indoor exhibits and displays, and an outdoor airpark of 25 restored, historic airplanes, rockets, missiles, and related equipment.  It was conceived in 1974, and in 1976 an old Enlisted Club facility became available and the Armament Museum opened.  By mid-1985, $1.2 million in private and corporate donations had been raised and construction of a new permanent 28,000 square foot building was underway. The new facility was deeded to the United States Air Force and opened to the public in 1985.  Over two million people have now visited and enjoyed this Museum. Numerous significant, military-related ceremonies such as promotions, reenlistments, retirements and meetings occur within the Museum each month.

The Air Force Armament Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to the collection, preservation and exhibition of artifacts and memorabilia associated with Air Force Armament and its platforms of delivery. There are over 29 different aircraft that have found a home at the Air Force Armament Museum  from the WWII era to the present. There are also several hundred pieces of armament to include a gun collection, bombs, bomblets and missiles.  A 32-minute film on the history of Eglin Air Force Base and its role in the development of armament is shown continuously throughout the day.

Let’s go view some of the many aircraft and other items on display.  Let me say right up front, I can only present but a small fraction of what is here.  There is just so much to see that it cannot be contained in one blog.  Hopefully, what you see will peak your curiosity enough to motivate you to go and see for yourself.  It will be well worth your time.

Here we go.  Up front is an aircraft I thought I would never see again.  It is the O-2A Skymaster.  In Vietnam I spent many  long hours in the seat of of one of these doing aerial reconnaissance for the Air Force.  The plane has twin tail booms and a push pull engine configuration with an engine in the front and the rear.  At times the engines would get out of sync and both would have to be shut down and then restarted.  Did I mention this was done while in the air over hostile enemy territory!

Under each wing is a Submunition Dispenser.  They were usually loaded with rockets that were fired to mark the location of an enemy location.  Fighter pilots would do the rest.

Here’s another aircraft near and dear to all of us in Vietnam.  This is the Huey  that was used to move us in and out of field locations.  It never had doors but would have a 50 mm machine gun on either side.  It was one like this that I owe my life to today.

Here’s another aircraft used in Vietnam.  This is the F-11C SuperSabre.  This aircraft was the first Air Force aircraft capable of flying faster than the speed of sound.  This aircraft on display was capable of mid air refueling.

Ok, enough of a trip down memory lane.  Let’s have a look at some other special aircraft.  Let’s begin with an overall look at the outside air park.  There are a total of 25 aircraft on display outside.

This is a rather small but very important aircraft, the T-33A T-Bird.  It is one of the world’s best known aircraft having served with the air forces of over 20 different countries.   It was primarily used as a trainer, transitioning pilots from prop planes to jets.

This is the A-10 Thunderbolt known as the Warthog.  It was the first aircraft designed specifically for close air support of ground troops.  They are still part of the Air Force’s active aircraft fleet.

 Here is one of the most famous aircraft ever built – the B-17 flying Fortress.  They entered combat in December of 1941 against the Japanese fleet but would eventually serve in every theater of combat during WWII.  In Europe it gained a reputation for being able to sustain heavy damage yet still be able to return to base.

Here is certain death from the sky.  The C-130 Gunship.  It had guns located beneath the wings and because of its large capacity it could carry a hugh amount of ammunition.  It could lay down a wide arc of fire or hit a target with surgical precision.

We come now to the SR-71A Blackbird.  The SR-71 Blackbird is still the fastest plane that has ever flown and served an important role in history as a spy plane. Its first test flight was on December 22, 1964 and it was capable of flying at speeds over Mach 3.2 at an altitude of 85,000 feet.

During its 34 years of service, the SR-71 gathered intelligence in some of the world’s most hostile environments. The Blackbird evaded all 4,000 missiles fired at it and, to this day, remains the only Air Force aircraft to never lose a crewmember associated with it; whether in the air or on the ground.The Blackbird was designed to operate at extreme velocities, altitudes and temperatures. It was the first aircraft constructed with titanium, as the friction caused by air molecules passing over its surface at Mach 2.6 would melt a conventional aluminum frame. Its engineering was so cutting edge that even the tools to build the SR-71 needed to be designed from scratch.

Next up is the B-52G Stratofortress.  This was a long range bomber capable of carrying a 10,000 pound payload over 300 miles at 300 mph.  It is the only aircraft in the world using eight jet engines.  It was eventually modified to carry four 50 caliber machine guns in a rear turret and a 50,000 pound of mixed ordinance – bombs, mines and missiles.

Finally, lets end tonight with this the Mother Of All Bombs.   This is the largest ever satellite guided, air delivered weapon in history.  It carries 18,700 pounds of an explosive which is 1.35 times more powerful than TNT.

Ok, we’ll call it a night now and plan on moving to the inside exhibits tomorrow.

About that weather I mentioned earlier, we no more than got home, in the door, and the heavens opened up, and the thunder boomed, and the lightening flashed.  We could not have planned it any better.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  We can now cross another item off our bucket list.  Stay tuned and tomorrow we’ll finish up with the displays inside.  Until then, have a good night and thanks again for joining us today.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  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 not been before

See you on down the road

 

Home Is Where We Park It:  Blackwater River State Park

Date:  May 3, 2019

Hiking – Discovery – Learning

Two of us have adjusted to Central Time, want to guess who hasn’t?  Come this morning, come 5:30 am and Mr. Marti thinking it was really 6:30 am demanded his first potty break.  Oh well, at least he wasn’t doing his business on the rug inside.  Maybe by tomorrow he will know better.

Today we had nothing concrete planned.  We were going to sit back and plan the next several days of sight-seeing.  Which we did.  However, once that was done I got restless and decided to learn a bit more about Blackwater River State Park.

Blackwater River State Park was established in 1967. The park opened to the public on November 22, 1968 and consisted of 360 acres. On July 17, 1981, the park acquired 230 acres from the Division of Forestry. Today, the park contains 590 acres of upland pine forests, swamps, and scrubby ridges and is surrounded by the Blackwater River State Forest.

Blackwater River State Park is considered one of the purest sandbottom rivers in the world, the Blackwater River is in its natural state for almost its entire length. Beginning

45 miles upstream in Alabama, it continues downstream for 13 miles before emptying into Blackwater Bay. The river’s sand bottom, dark tannin waters and contrasting large, white sandbars have drawn worldwide attention and provide the perfect setting for this 590- acre park.

Enough history let’s go for a hike and we’ll begin here.

Away we go!  An easy trail at this point.

First lesson learned on the trail.

Now we learn about the Florida Pinelands.

Onto the boardwalk that leads across the swamp.

Look what we see next!  Really?  Time to watch my step.

I much prefer this sign which I came upon next as I moved across the boardwalk.

A wetland alongside the boardwalk.  Unfortunately, no turtles nor alligators today.

This is the campers beach.  I guess you could call it a beach, the river here is only about two feet deep, the water is rather warm, and the sand is really fine.  A perfect place to either get a tan or stick a toe in and sort of cool off.

Time to move on.  I believe we’ll go down this trail today and discover where it leads.

Off we go, one foot in front of the other.  I wonder where I’ll end up?

I bet someone with an artistic mind and wood working skills could really make something out of this piece of driftwood.

Decision time, right or left?   Since I once again had forgotten my map I really had no idea where either would lead me.  I went right this time.

Steps or roots, I always seem to find one or the other or sometimes both!  Watch your step!

Another discovery on the trail.  The green plant to the left of the plaque is called Yupon which is a true holly and is often used in Christmas decorations.

I finally found the boardwalk and the pavilion.  I still had no idea where I was but that was OK with me.

Next discovery.

The 1982 Florida Champion, recognized as the largest of its species.

Continuing on the trail of discovery.

This I was told was the way out.

So it was!  A sidewalk that lead to a parking lot, then to the road to our camping area.

Back home in the camper area I noticed this.  How neat.  It’s got a really short wheelbase so it can’t be all that long.  I hope to meet its owner in the next couple of days.  I especially would like to hear the story behind it’s name.

Time now to meet another of God’s beautiful people.  This is Jeff.  Later in the day I would meet his wonderful wife and her mother.

Jeff is a Veteran. who lives in Pensacola.   He just bought a trailer and and comes here on weekends.  We spent some time just sharing stories and getting acquainted.  I hope to spend some more time with him over the next couple of days.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Once again it was a wonderful day from start to finish.  As always we did it our way, traveling along, hand in hand, singing our song.

Thanks for coming along with us it was great having you with us.  Join us again tomorrow as we embark on our first sight seeing trip.  Till then have a good night.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  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 not been before

See you on down the road

 

 

Home Is Where We Park It:  Blackwater River State Park

Date:  May 3, 2019

Travel Day – Making It Like Home

Miles:  240

Travel Time: 4 Hours

Weather: Temperature in the mid to high 80’s,  No rain

May 2nd, time to move west.  We were up at the usual time, taking it easy, packing up, getting ready to get on the road.  Another beautiful day to give the good Lord thanks for.

We were leaving a day early not knowing whether we would be able to get into our site when we arrived but we had a plan B just in case.  We didn’t even know if we were going to drive straight thru.  We had picked a midway point thinking we would decide when we reached it if we would go all the way.

All packed up we got on the road knowing at some point we would have to stop first for gas.   Traffic on Route 10 was light, no construction, no accidents to slow us down.  Our pit stop for gas was at a Flying J with dedicated RV lanes for gas.  Sweet!  We were in and out in no time.

We reached our midway point and decided to press on.  I was felling great and besides which we were now in the Central Time Zone so had gained an hour.  This time change sort of threw us for a loop later and in fact a day later we’er still adjusting to it.

Some four hours later we were nearing the end, time now to make a call and find out if we could get in a day early.  We called Blackwater and they told us to come on in they would find a site for us.  This is were the trip got interesting.

Blackwater River State Park as we found out is really off the beaten path and out in the middle of nowhere.  I began to wonder what in the world had I gotten us into.   Finally,

the sign to the park appeared, at last I thought we’re here.  Nope.  4 miles of very narrow, twisty road and then we were there.  Oh, but was the trip worth it.  This is a fantastic state park which is beyond description.  It is just that beautiful.

We’re now settled in for the next seven days at site #4.

It is hard packed gravel, dead level, jacks down just to keep from getting sea-sick, FHU with everything right where you need it.  Great site separation.  Full shade.  Yup Gertrude is out there doing her thing with a clear view of the southern sky.  How can you go wrong for $11 a day!

This is a part of the park directly across from us.

So we’re now home for the next week and loving it.  We’ll take a day to get adjusted, plan what sight-seeing we’re going to do, and discover what trails there are to hike.  Why, I might even look into renting a canoe for a couple of hours.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  It was a fantastic day in every way.  Once again we were on the road making memories for a lifetime.  We are so blessed and give thanks to God everyday for the wonderful life we live.

Thanks for joining us on our journey.  Stay tuned for more coming up tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  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 not been before

See you on down the road