Home.

A few dramas with delayed flights & close calls with connections in LA,but made it on time in the end. We didn't have to worry about the grass dying as there was plenty of rain when we were gone in fact we were grown in. It was a tough mowing job.

                                                                           THE END

Pioneer village, Trains & RV show

This is a series of pics of some places we went, that have not yet been documented.
Tomorrow we will be heading back to Australia.

                                      A large & sprawling pioneer village we visited.

                                                            Carpenters shop.

                                              A large maze made from hay bales.

                                                                     The bank.

 

                                                            The gallows.

                                                              The sherrifs office.

                                  It was hot & we were warned several times to watch out for snakes.

                                              Out door 'G' scale model set up.

                                                        The indoor HO set up was substantial.

                                                                  As above.

                                                                As above

                                                            Video, HO trains in action.

                      We went to a large RV show where entry was free & they even provided free lunch & drinks. There were hundreds of vans & motor homes. At what we would consider very cheap prices.
This monster was only $61,608.

                A very large caravan for just over $27,000. I think we have to pay wat too much.

                           Inside the van was not too shaby either, with stone bench tops.

                                                                      Under $60,000

                                                     Inside, notice the 9 foot ceilings.

                          Of course you must have dual basins, 2 toilets a shower and a bath tub.

                                                      This is considered a minnie.

                                                          Still looks OK inside.

                              This one had a rather nice interior, complete with stone floor tiles.

                                           Another nice one, most had these electric recliners.

                                                   There were rows & rows of buses.

Flying in 'Sentimental Journey'

Today I had the pleasure of a flight in A second world war B-17 flying fortress bomber.
It was extremely noisy & very exiting, the most enjoyable experience here to date.
'Sentimental Journey' is one of only 8 of these left in the world..
I had the radio operators position during take off & then spent the flight wandering around the plane in perfect conditions, just a little bumpy.

                                                                      Preparations.

 Very spartan inside. Long missions over Europe would have been cold, noisy & uncomfortable.
   Access to the very cramped ball turret in the belly of the aircraft is under the yellow float.

                                 Looking toward the rear from the radio operators position.

                           Looking over the tail from the radio operators machine gun position.

Great view from the waist gunners position.

                                                                   Over phoenix.

                                                                           As above.

                                                                       

           The bomb bay.The 6 ionch wide walk way in the middle because any more than 100lb on the bomb bay door would cause it to open to release any bombs that broke away from their mounts.

                                                                Video during the flight.

                                       Passing a mountain. It was closer than it looks in this pic.

                                                      Looking toward the tail gunners access.

                                                                          Selfie.

                                      One of the many flying pieces of history located here.

The Musical Instrument Museum.

The M.I.M. may sound a little boring, but it turned out to be fascinating, with over 10,000 instruments displayed. You were able to see them all used & hear the sound of each by some amazing gadget  that played stereo sound through your headphones whenever you looked at the screen above the instrument, showing someone playing it. No controls needed just stand there & it happens.

     Octo base, stands almost 9 feet high & the frets are held by pulling brass levers on top of the echo chamber.

                                                 Alice Coopers' stage outfit & guitar.

                                               

                                                         Marty Robbins outfit & guitar.

 The crocodile face is made with different coloured shells perfectly inlaid into the wood.

                                                          Johnny Cashs' suit & guitar.

                                                 The piano John Lennon composed 'Imagine' on.

                                                      Carlos Santanas' guitar.

             Elvis Presleys' army cloths & personal radio from the time of his posting in Germany.

                                                              Elvis Presleys' guitar.

                                                                     As above.

                                          Roy Orbisons' hand written lyrics of 'Pretty Woman'.

                                                                           His guitar.

                 One of the mass drums from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

                                                         John Denvers' guitar.

 A mechanised dance hall music machine from the 20s'. The accordians & saxaphones all played in unison with keys & buttons going up & down by themselves & there were a further 680 pipes of an organ playing behind the facade. Video below.

                                                       Video of the dance hall machine.

                                            An organ grinders organ from Amsterdam.

                   The machine for punching the holes & producing pianola roles.

 This piano is played by an expert & produces the master roll to make copies of for the pianola.

                                  A long necked bird spotted on our most recent bike ride.

                                                            ?????????????????????

                          New Airstreams are once again being produced.

                                                                   Asd above.

                                                                      As above.