Well, we set a new record this morning, we were actually on the road at 8:30 am.  All because we wanted to get to the Antique Boat Museum as early as possible.  So one, two, three the car was hooked up.  Then down to the gas station to fill up which proved to be a wise choice since after this everywhere we looked the price was at least 8 cents more a gallon.  Who would have ever thunk that the little town of Lyon Mountain would have the least expensive gas.

Of course, we had to stop for breakfast.  The fast and quick was McDonald’s which just happened to be on our route.  In no time, tummies full we were back on the road again and heading west.

The route was an easy one, the roads themselves were in great shape.  There was no traffic just the usual silly stuff, slow to 30 mph for a town of 4 houses, then back to 55 mph, then back down to 30 mph and so it went mile after mile.  In due time, though, we reached our destination

They have a grass field off to one side that is reasonably level and there is no one here but ourselves.  Sweet.  Here is another picture of the winery which has of course a wine tasting room that was open to 8 pm.  Want to guess who discovered that!

Here though is the real reason we pushed to get here as quickly as possible.

In the coming days, I’ll be sharing with you our visit to this museum and the boat ride that we took.  It was an awesome experience that made for a wonderful day.

Right now, however, I’m beat and need to get some sleep since we’ll be on the road again tomorrow.  Thankfully, tomorrow will again be a short trip to the campground in Wolcott, NY.  Once again, however, we need to get there as early as possible since we have some errands to run in the area which much be completed before 2 pm in the afternoon.

So for now I’ll bid you goodnight and say thanks for coming along with us again.  Our day was super in every way and we hope yours was as well.  For now a closing thought for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till 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

Today was another laid back day with no where to go and things to pack since tomorrow is a travel day.  A bit cool when we awoke this morning but the promise of a nice day was there.  It definitely turned out to be that once again.  According to most folks in this part this weather has been quite unusual in the sense that there has been to rain at all.  Indeed, things around here are dry as bone.

I took my time and began to get things in order for tomorrow.  Adjusted the tire pressure on Little Graybeard.  I checked under the hood to make sure all looked in order.  Not much to check there, though, since they designed this car in such a way that you have to wait until it falls apart before you would know something is wrong.   Then I took pity on it and completely cleaned it out.  I also rearranged things inside in the back and in the trunk to make room for the new screen house my sister gave us.  The screen house will  definitely be put to good use especially when we get to our winter quarters in Florida.  Thanks again sis!

Next I turned my attention to Graybeard.  Checked everything under the hood and found all in order.  Removed the tire covers.  Put away all the little odds and ends we put out when we set up.  Dumped and rinsed the tanks.  Lubricated the tow bar and fittings.  Checked the batteries and sprayed all the terminals with anti corrosive spray.  All in all, we are in good shape for tomorrow.

Back inside I decided, let me check on the Walmart where we are supposed to stay tomorrow night.  Well, how about that they no longer allow overnight parking!  Ok, plan B which was, well I didn’t quite have one yet.  What’s in the area?  Hey, right up there in Clayton, NY is the Antique Boat Museum.  Could we?  How many hours of a drive

is it from where we are?  How many hours on Saturday to the RV park in Wolcott?  Wow, it’s only about 3 hours for each leg!  Since I really wanted to visit the museum here was our chance.   Course correction, Antique Boat Museum here we come.  Made even sweeter by the fact that there is a Harvest Host location we can stay at for the night that is just minutes from the museum.  Can’t ask for anything better than that.

Well, I’m so far behind on blog postings with so much yet to share.  Over the next week I hope to get caught up on all that we’ve done in this area of New York.  I’m not complaining, though, because the time I would have spent on blogs was spent doing something so far much better, spending time with family.  Visiting with my mom was priceless.  My time with my sister and her husband just as priceless.  What can I say about my sister, she is so special to me.  I look forward to the visits we have and the time we get to talk on the phone.  My life is so much richer because of her presence in my life.  We’re leaving here with many wonderful memories.  And we’re leaving here I’m sure a few pounds heavier for sure!

That’s it for now.  Thanks again for joining us for the day.  It was a great day for us, as always made special by the fact that we traveled along, side by side, singing our song.  Hope your day was extra special in some way as well.  In closing a thought for each of us to ponder:

 

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till 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

This morning it was a bit on the cool side, not uncomfortable by any means, just a bit colder than normal.  The sun was shining bright and their wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  The makings of a beautiful day.  In a few hours, the temperature was beginning to climb and things were beginning to warm up nicely.

Ah, breakfast this morning was extra special.  Barbara made me one of my favorites, a chili cheese omelette.  Along with it came my customary cup of juice, a nice cup of coffee, and a side of ham.  I could not ask for more.  It was delicious.

Today we tackled a project we had wanted to do for some time.  It was time to get rid of the built in dinette.  The cushions had bottomed out and after extensive research I discovered there was no economical way to replace nor repair them.  Seems they were the upgrade back in 2007 and were not really cushions but seats with inner springs in them.  Quote after quote to repair them came back at a minimum of $800.  Nope, going to have to find something better.

I got to work and in no time had the first one unbolted and ready to go out the door.

Time now to turn my attention to the second one.  Easy as the first thankfully.

Soon enough both were unbolted and ready to go out the door.  Thankfully, my sister Cindy and her husband Charlie came over to do the heavy lifting.  One, two, three and both were out the door and headed to – well, I’m not sure.  Dave, the owner of the campground, came by and said Don’t worry I’ll take care of them.  OK.

Just a few things left to tidy up, such as the removal of the seat belts and bolts.  Charlie and I took care of them in quick order.

Here is the new empty space waiting for something, we will decide on a little later.

We’ve talked about putting in a free standing table and chairs with storage cabinets against the back wall; we’ve talked about installing a computer desk with a center fold out table; we’ve talked about leaving the current table in place and just putting two storage cabinets on either side of it.  No decision has been made as of yet.  We just want to take it slow and sort of think on it for a bit.

That was today.  Simple, easy, and productive.  My kind of day.  As for tomorrow, we’ll find out when we get there, now won’t we!  Thanks for joining us again.  We hope that you, too, had the kind of day you were hoping for.  If not, don’t forget there is always tomorrow, and tomorrow is yours to make of it what you will.

Day is now done, and night is coming quick.  The temperature is slowing beginning to drop as is the sun on the western horizon.  It’s like a big, bright, red rubber ball slowly sinking behind the mountains and turning the sky bright red.  So till tomorrow, I’ll say goodnight for now.  Once again a closing though for each of us:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till 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

We awoke this morning to cloudy skies, mild temperatures, and just a bit of a breeze.  I for one had a difficult time sleeping last night, things on my mind and way too much food consumed over the last several days.  It is what it is.

We decided to just take it slow and easy this morning.  I had a book I was reading that I wanted to finish.  I had come to the point where I just wanted to be done with it and find out who did what to who.  Yup, I finished it!  Barbara on the other hand had several things she wanted to finish so she took her time and did just that.

Dave who is the owner of the Iron City Campground had invited me down to the old mine building for a brief tour and a brief history lesson.  This was just my thing.  I learned a number of things which I’ll be sharing in the days to come when I bring you the history of Lyon Mountain during the hey day of the iron ore mines.  Stay tuned, it is fascinating.

Today we are going to the Plattsburg Air Force Museum to learn about the Plattsburg Air Force Base (PAFB) and the Atlas Missiles and the Cold War.  The first site visited was the Clyde L Lewis Air Park.  Regarding Mr. Lewis, he flew two tours in WWII, and later was the commander of the VFW organization. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the base in Plattsburgh in 1952.

Here are some pictures of the park which is located on part of what was the Plattsburgh Air Force Base.

From the park, we went to the Plattsburgh Air Force Museum.

Of course, Benny also went with us on this visit

Our guide during our tour of the museum was a retired Air Force Colonel by the name of Frank.  A good number of his gear from his Air Force days are on display here in the museum

Regarding the history of the base, we learned that PAFB was one of a multitude of bomber, tanker, and missile bases built during the 1950’s and 60’s.  This was a time when nations were rapidly developing atomic weapons.  Nations believed that their survival depended upon either being able to quickly deliver a first strike or being able to bring an attack to a quick end without being destroyed in the process.   To do this long-range, bombers with mid air refueling capabilities were needed as well as long range missiles.  PAFB had the room for all three:  long range bombers, atlas missiles and a fleet of refueling tankers.

PAFB was a city unto itself that existed within the boundaries of Plattsburgh.

We learned that the 380^th Bombardment Wing was stationed at PAFB.

There were two types of bombers that were part of this wing.  The first was the B-47 Stratojet.  It was our country’s first multi-engine swept jet wing bomber. It had two 20 mm cannons in a rear turret and could carry a payload of 25,000 pounds of bombs.  They were at the PAFB from 1956 to 1965.  It remained the mainstay of our country’s nuclear alert force until it was phased out by the B-52.

Back at the Clyde L Lewis Air Park, they are in the process of restoring one of the last – if not the last – remaining B-47 Stratojets.  This is a view just below the cockpit.

Polishing one section of the side to bring back it’s original luster.

Removing the rear gun turret in order to restore.

Looking front to back, one side, a picture of the swept back wing and multiple engines.

This is a picture of the actual bomb bay with the doors removed.

 

Also part of the 380^th Bombardment Wing was another bomber known as the FB-111A.  This bomber was designed to deliver weapons over a 1,000 mile radius without the need for mid air refueling.  It was also optimized for both high and low altitude and can carry up to 24 conventional bombs.

There is a completely restored FB-111A also at the Clyde L Lewis Air Park.  This plane on display was the actual one that Frank took his last flight in before he retired from the Air Force.  He was also the one – and the only one – who had saved the complete paint scheme and colors that were used on the FB-11A.  Using this saved material, they were able to duplicate the paint scheme when they restored and painted the bomber on display.

Learning to fly the FB-111A was no easy task.  A new pilot would spend their first year in what was called the Cardboard Trainer.

They would spend up to a year in this trainer just becoming familiar with the location of all the switches, dials, etc that were part of the cockpit of the plane.  Then another year in an actual flight simulator as well as flights with an instructor before they able to fly on their own.

Here’s Barbara suited up and ready to try her hand in the Cardboard Trainer.

The two bombers, though, were not the only deterrent that were part of the PAFB.  Also stationed here was the 556^th Missile Squadron that was made up of Atlas Missiles.  Though the Squadron was part of the base no missile silos were located on the base.  Rather, the Atlas Missiles were placed in 12 locations in NY and Vermont.

Each location consisted of a missile in its silo, an underground launch center, and above ground support and maintenance buildings.

Here are some pictures of the construction of a typical missile silo, their arrival and  their movement to the sites.

Eventually these missile sites would be decommissioned, the missiles moved, and the silos, buildings, etc. sold off to communities and individuals.

By the way, if anyone is interested, we were told that the missile silo located at Redford, NY is currently for sale by its current owner.  He has constructed a house on the location and a large party room down below in what was the former launch control center.  Asking price?  Around $2 million dollars!

Not only were the missile sites sold off, eventually PAFB would also close. It was a shock to everyone when it happened because plans were underway to expand the base.   This was the base just prior to its closing.

Why did it close?  In a word politics.  The story is told that the deciding vote to close it was cast by a congressman who just happened to own real estate around the McGuire Air Force Base in NJ.  Want to guess what stayed open?  Want to guess where the last refueling wing that was stationed at Plattsburgh went to?  If you said McGuire Air Force Base you were correct on both counts!

All in all it was a fascinating museum that we literally just stumbled upon and were so grateful that we did.  Today, the Plattsburgh Air Base Redevelopment Corporation, or PARC, has been really successful in selling off sections of the base to businesses. They started out with about 3,500 acres to sell, and they’re almost done.  The base is now home to Bombardier, the Plattsburgh International Airport, and it’s considered a huge success story.

Today, my mom left on an early flight back to North Carolina.  She’s now home and bonding again with her cat.  Our time with her was definitely a highlight of our stop here in Lyon Mountain.  We’ll see her again at Christmas.  We still have a few more days to visit with my sister and her husband that we’re looking forward to.  What do people do that don’t have or don’t get along with the members of their families?  Family is definitely everything, if you have that and your health you are the wealthiest person in the world.

So, for today, I’ll bid everyone goodbye until tomorrow.  Thanks again for joining us on our continuing journey of discovery.  As always a closing thought for each of us:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till 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