Wednesday, September 7, 2022

I HAVE MY VERY OWN WILBEAR WRIGHT TEDDY BEAR!

Today I turned in my passport book with my necessary stamps and in return I was awarded my very own teddy bear.

What can I say, I’m one of those kids who will never grow up!

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Temperature 71 Degrees, Overcast with Occasional Rain Showers

The Quest for Wilbear Wright and The Aviation Trail

We were out and about again today in our quest for Wilbear Bear. We had a required stop we had to make to qualify for my very own bear and that was where we were headed.

And that stop was. . .

This was another excellent museum devoted to the life and career of the Wright Brothers. Here is a snapshot of what we found here.

They were numerous exhibits regarding their very early years.

There were exhibits that spoke of their early interest in flight.

Their first successful career was that of printers and publishers.

But it was not the only one.

Their second successful career was building, repairing and selling bicycles.

Then they became intrigued with the possibility of flying machines.

But is was not always easy, sometimes it was two steps forward and three back.

But they refused to give up.

So this is just a small part of what we saw and learned today. This is definitely a museum that deserves to be on everyone’s bucket list of places to visit. It chronicles an important chapter in the history of our country. And it speaks to what can be accomplished with hard work, a belief in yourself, and perseverance.

So, I have my necessary eight stops fulfilled. Tomorrow, well tomorrow I hope to have my very own Wilbear Wright teddy bear!

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

Our continuing mission remains the same: 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.

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Temperature 69 Degrees, Rain throughout the day

The Quest for Wilbear Wright and The Aviation Trail

We have one more project we need to complete before we leave this area. We are on a quest to obtain our own Wilbear Wright teddy bear.

And how do you get your own? It really is quite easy but at the same time it is time consuming and means miles of travel around the Dayton region. But hey, we have the time and travel is our middle name!

Here is how it works. In this region there is what is known as The Aviation Trail.

The Dayton Aviation Trail is a self-guided tour of selected, aviation-related sites open to the public.  The Trail was established in 1981 by Aviation Trail, Inc., an all-volunteer, not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to preserve and promote the Dayton’s area’s unique aviation heritage, starting with the invention of the airplane by Wilbur and Orville Wright. 

There are a total of seventeen aviation related sites laid out as a self-guided tour. To qualify for your very own bear you are required to visit just eight of them.

You receive a passport book when you begin your quest and you must have it stamped at each site with their respective stamp. There is one required site and we will visit that one this coming Tuesday. Also, on Tuesday we’ll go back to the Air Force Museum and that will give us the last two stamps that we need for our eight.

On the trail yesterday we visited three sites.

This was our first stop and our first of three stamps.

This was not so much a museum as a restoration shop. They are currently in the process of rebuilding a B-17 Flying Fortress. They also make and ship parts to other shops that are in the process of restoring other historic aircraft.

Our second stop and second stamp.

Grimes was known as the Father of the Aircraft Lighting industry.

He was the inventor of the familiar red, green, and white navigation lights found on the wing tips and tails of the aircraft. He also developed other aircraft fixtures including landing, instrumental and interior lights. Every American-made airplane flown during World War II was equipped with Grimes lights.

Our third and final stop and stamp yesterday on the Aviation Trail.

This museum was dedicated to the Weaver Airplane Company of Ohio

Prior to World War II Waco was American’s most popular plane. Nearly 40 percent of all planes during that time period were Waco’s.

A very small but interesting exhibit. For instance,

this aircraft was flown by its last owner – Harold Johnson – for more than 45 years throughout the Midwest at various air shows and he also did a nightly air show for seven years at Kings Island Amusement Park. So what makes it unusual?

Yup, that is a Coke cup stuck on the nut that holds the prop on. The story goes that one night after finishing his nightly air show Harold was taken to task for not having a proper nose cone for his propeller. Well, he finished the coke he was drinking, took the now empty cup, stuck it on the nut over the propeller and said There, now it has a nose cone! The funny thing is, he forgot about it, flew the plane back to its home base and lo and behold the cup was still there – as it is today.

OK, that is where our travels took us yesterday. Today, we’re hunkered down as the rain continues to come and go. No problem we have Rummikub to keep us occupied.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

Our continuing mission remains the same: 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.

Friday, September 2, 2022

Temperature 80 Degrees, Abundant Sunshine

Dayton, Ohio Update

Why in the world would we want to spend three weeks in the Dayton region? That’s what we said after we made the reservation for this campground. So, we revised our travel plan and booked the side here for only two weeks. Well, as we’ve now discovered it probably would have been better to keep it at three!

Why?

Let me explain. Perhaps, you’ve noticed a lack of blogs about this area of Ohio. That’s not because we’ve been sitting still. We’ve been on the go and we’ve toured some mighty impressive museums and parks.

And we still have about three or four more sites to take in before we leave next week.

As for where we’ve been so far.

We spent two days at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

It features more than 350 planes and missiles on more than 19 acres of indoor display space housed in a total of 4 separate hangers all connected by a common walkway. I believe I have about 1000 pictures from our two days spent here. There will be at least one more blog about the Presidential Planes.

We’ve also been to the American Packard Museum.

Here’s one for you. Back in the day a set of parents purchased this car for their 16 year old daughter. Back in that day it cost $3,180 when new. Guess what? Said daughter refused to drive it. She said it was ugly, the color was not to her liking and it was too big!

About 150 pictures to go through.

Next sightseeing stop.

The exhibits here focus on the Wright brothers’ experimental flights at Huffman Prairie Flying Field in 1904 and 1905.

There are also exhibits that focus on the Wright Brothers’ Flying School at Huffman Prairie from 1910 to 1916.

The Wright Memorial is also at this location.

About 150 pictures to go through.

Moving on, we come to today.

There are a total of 45 historic buildings and exhibits within the grounds of the park. We were able to tour just three.

A few snapshots of the items on exhibit.

Also on the grounds of the park you’ll find

There is oh so much here. Quickly, here’s a snapshot of some of the exhibits.

The crown jewel of this exhibit is

From here we moved to the last exhibit we were able to visit due to the time of day

So, just a snapshot of the exhibits we saw in the park today.

A total of 695 pictures to sort through.

And while doing all of this, we’ve had an anniversary celebration.

Proton has now been with us a full year. We’re glad your ours now and forever.

And we’re still dealing with all four slides coming in on their own. The last time it happened I put them back out, then went outside and disconnected the power to all four. I’ll connect them up just before we leave. We have an appointment in September to hopefully get them fixed.

So, maybe no in-depth blogs but we’ve been busy. Life is good and we’re enjoying each day that God gives us to the fullest. We hope you are too.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

Our continuing mission remains the same: 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.