I wasn’t disappointed by the weather. Sunny with broken clouds provided a bright, magnificent day – so much sun that I got burnt (forgot the sunscreen!).  I didn’t spend too much time at the static exhibits since I arrived at the show just as the aerial portion was just beginning – a Czech built Albatross was flying as I entered the grounds.

Highlights of the show

I usually go to air shows for the rip and tear of the air as jet aircraft scream by and I wasn’t disappointed by this show.  I  really enjoyed the Navy/Marine heritage flight.  The F-18 put on quite an individual show.  At the end of the F-18 show, the two aircraft paired up while in flight and did  several fly-bys in front of the crowd.  In all of the shows I’ve been at, I’ve never seen a WWII Corsair in flight – it was great!  After several photo passes, the Corsair came in for a landing.  As the craft was slowing down after landing, the F-18 screamed over the top in a high speed fly-by that excited the crowd.

The AH-64 Apache helicopter and the Sea Harrier also put on good shows.  The Apache cruised up and down the flight line showing off its capabilities.  The Sea Harrier flew as a normal plane does in flight but then it also transitioned to vertical flight.  I’ve seen several different Harrier versions in flight and it never ceases to amaze me how an aircraft can transition from straight flight into a vertical mode.

Towards the end of the show, a B1-B did a series of fly-bys before coming in to land at the airport.  This aircraft flew from  its base in Texas to put on the show in Rockford.  The B1-B come in low and slow with the wings extended and then did a couple high speed passes with the wings swept back.  It’s always amazing to see how long it takes for an aircraft of this size – traveling at high speed – takes to turn around.

Lastly, the F-22 put on a HECK of a show.  If you look at some of the pictures I got, you’ll see that it was able to pull vapor off of its wing and controlling panel surfaces.  It is an amazing aircraft.  This plane combines stealth, supersonic speed and a high tech weapons system into one lethal airplane.  Toward the end of its solo performance, the F-22 paired up with  P-51 Mustang for an Air Force heritage flight.

Lowlights of the show

One of the things that bugged me about the Rockford AirFest is that they have pavilions from sponsoring companies that obscure the view of the runway and flight line.  While I can understand the need and desire to keep sponsors happy and reward them in some way, there has to be some way to do it so that all paying participants can fully enjoy the show.

But I’ll probably be back – maybe not next year,but I’ll be back.  Check out my gallery of images from the Rockford AirFest!

We started out from Anchorage about 8:15 in the morning.  As the day dawned, we hoped for the best but didn’t expect too much.  There are fires burning to the west and north of Denali and smoke has been in and out of the area.  Besides being bad to breathe, smoke can also obscure vision, and each one of us wanted to see “The Great One” – Denali.  The best viewing of Denali is from the Talkeetna area since the mountain is toward the southern portion of the park.  So as we were going up, we all looked from time to time.  Once I looked out, there was nothing and then before you knew it, someone was calling out, “There it is!”  Sure enough, Denali (or Mt. McKinley) was visible, gleaming white in the brilliance of the sun.  I was lucky and persistent enough to be positioned well to get some pretty good shots of the mountain.  This is my first time (and may be my only time) to come to Denali and I was lucky enough to see the mountain.  Others have come numerous times and have not been able to see it.  We were extremely lucky that day!

The trip to Denali was completed by train on the Alaska Railroad.  This train takes about 7 hours to travel from Anchorage to Denali.  You can travel the route faster by car, but you don’t get to see and focus on the same sights.  You’d be worn out from about 5 hours of driving instead of having the luxury to read, converse, sight-see or just sleep as you travel.  Knowing me, I was sight-seeing all the way, baby!  The train trip was great and relaxing, allowing us to see a part of Alaska that’s not available from the road.  The rail cars have assigned seating but you are able to travel to other cars that have observation seats in them.  There are also open areas between the cars that make for excellent picture taking. The train also has a sit down dining car as well as a snack or bistro car.  Since we left shortly after 8 AM, we had breakfast at my sister’s place, but had lunch on the train – pretty good buffalo chili.  As interesting as the trip is, it can get a bit monotonous, so we all dozed off at least once.  I found myself standing for much of the trip in between the cars.  Here, you have the entrance to the car when it is stationary, but when the train is moving this gap creates a partial opening that allows you to see what is going on outside and allows you to take a look up and down the length of the train.  I found this to be exciting as well as a great way to enjoy the warm sun on my face.  I would recommend the method of travel to others who are thinking about heading to Denali.

So the comfortable train service and the clear skies that allowed me to see Denali made this a day to remember.  I hope to someday be able to make this trip again with my family but if not, I know that I have see the Great One and have stared upon its rocky face.

The only way to get to Whittier is by boat or car. Boats arrive via the Prince William Sound. Cars have to come through a one-way tunnel. At the top of the hour, cars can go from Portage to Whittier for a $12 toll. At the half hour, cars can go from Whittier to Portage. Oh, by the way, trains use the same tunnel, so your schedule could be screwed by a train either arriving or leaving. I was able to make the 9:30 AM tunnel with no problem and I was shortly in Whittier, which gave me plenty of time to explore the town since I had never been there. Once I parked, I started my explorations around the town which isn’t really that big. I visited the local museum and took in the exhibits. I investigated the abandoned Buckner building (a former military barracks) and noted some of the graffiti. I walked up the roads on the hillside to find a great view of Prince William Sound. Lastly, I hiked some trails that led to several melt water streams merging together to form a creek. Once I followed the creek to where I parked the car, I saw that it was boarding time for the boat.

The Klondike Express is a powered catamaran that plies the placid waters of Prince William Sound, giving tourists a close up view of wildlife, glaciers and the overall majesty of the sound. Once on board and underway, we were served a fish and chips meal while a forest ranger narrated the opening segments of our excursion. We soon understood the differences between suspended, hanging and tidewater glaciers, and we were ready to view. It was a beautiful day on the sound, temperatures in the 60s and full sun, but the ship moving across the water at 46 mph creates a very cool breeze to say the least. As I walked outside, I donned my hoodie and set my camera to capture the sights I would see. There was plenty to look at – we saw birds, lots of sea otters and seals. The glaciers themselves were also very interesting. We got to see some of them, specially the suspended and hanging glaciers from a distance, but the tidewater glaciers were the coolest. We visited two different tidewater glaciers and you could tell when you were getting close, even if you couldn’t have seen them. Small icebergs and brash ice were in the water, signaling that a tidewater glacier was near. As we got closer, the boat slowed down and then finally stopped. As the engine sound died away, you could hear the ice groaning. Since a glacier is simply a river of ice, it is in constant motion even though it might not be apparent to us. It became clearly apparent when a section of the glacier fell away, calving off from the main glacier. With a groaning crack and a crash of ice into the water, the glacier became a little smaller. The visit to the tidewater glaciers was the highlight of the cruise. Soon we were heading back to port in Whittier. After the cruise I headed back to my sister’s place and rested for a few minutes before heading out for dinner to one of my favorite Anchorage establishments, Humpys. If you ever get then chance to to a glacier cruise, take it! It’s too great of an opportunity to let slip through your fingers.

On my way to the airport, I get a call from Orbitz TravelAlert telling me that my first flight has been delayed 15 minutes.  I now begin to wonder about that 35 minute window I have in SLC.  Then I get a second call telling me the flight is now delayed 75 minutes.  I’m now starting to urge all the other cars on the road forward so I can get to the airport.  Once at the airport, I hit the Delta counter and soon find that my itinerary has been changed – changed so much in fact that I’m not even flying on Delta anymore.  They’ve booked me on an Alaska Airlines non-stop to Anchorage.

So, I go to the Alaska counter and get my temporary boarding pass and head for the gate.  Once at the gate, I notify my family at home and in Anchorage about the change and then wait.  I knew it was a long-shot, but I put in a request for a window seat thinking about all the cool pictures I could take out the window.  Alas, that was not to be.   Instead I got the aisle seat in the last row of the plane, next to the lavatories – yay!

Overall, the flight was good and I have nothing really to complain about, except there were no condiments left for the cheeseburger I bought on-board the flight.  I  had fun watching people come back and forth to the lavatories – there was one kid who came down about every ten minutes and then there was the little girl who got stuck inside and came out with big teary eyes (cuz her father didn’t stay there and make sure she got out OK).  My row mates were an odd sort.  I think a German woman sat next to me and she was  putting spray up her nose and trying to sleep and just generally fidgety and not too friendly.  The lady with the window seat hardly even looked out the window as she read her book and then played a small electronic Yahtzee game.  My photo-shooting finger was feeling mightily frustrated!

But in the end it was worth it – I got to Anchorage 2 hours earlier than planned, met my sister at the airport and then headed to her place.  Now I’m set for some fun and adventure.

Recently I tried the two new flavors of Mountain Dew themed on the World of Warcraft. Now, unlike some other people who write and post online, I’m not a pro and I didn’t get any Dew comped to me. Instead I had to trudge out and buy it myself. I got the Alliance Dew (the blue one, it’s Dew with Wild Fruit flavor) at 7-11 and the red Horde (Dew with Cherry Citrus flavor) at Walgreens. Not sure why each store only had one, but I’m OK with it since they are only a block or so apart from where I work.

Once I saw that brilliant blue color, I decided to try the Alliance Dew first.   I cracked into this wild fruit dew and was impressed.  It had a mild fruit flavor that overlaid the normal Dew taste.  I found this to be a refreshing drink – not too heavy or sugary.  The only drawback is the deep blue color – it can dye your insides.  You can get the drift of where this is going – and how it comes out in the end.

The Horde Mountain Dew is red, a deeper red that Code Red Mountain Dew.  I tried this flavor a day later so I had a fresh take on it compared to the Alliance blend.  The Horde Dew is Cherry Citrus flavored and I found that mixture to be very enjoyable.  It hit the tongue well and was more refreshing than Code Red.  Though I like Code Red at times, it can be too sugary and sweet for my taste. I wouldn’t mind if the Pepsi people decided to replace Code Red with this flavor blend once the GameFuel flavors are off the shelves.

Overall, I was pleased with the taste of these two special Mountain Dew blends.  I am planning to buy them again over the summer for as long as they are available to spice up work and summertime activities.  Still, neither one of them is as good as Baja Blast Mountain Dew.

I’m a Lotus Elise!

You believe in maximum performance and minimum baggage. You like to travel light and fast, hit the corners hard, and dance like there’s no tomorrow.

“Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

OK.

The kids and I watched Madagascar 2 recently, and it was a relatively harmless movie.  It got a few laughs and chuckles from the crowd (all three of us) here.  Some of the loudest laughing came from scenes where Moto Moto was wooing Gloria the hippo.  For those of you who haven’t seen the flick, Gloria is a female hippo – ’nuff said.  Anyway, Moto Moto has a couple of scenes where he’s singing and dancing, like this one here.  So this was the source of much hooting from the kids.  We had to watch the extra scenes with the music videos for the movie also.

So, as I saw this for the fourth or fifth time, I realized that this was the PG version of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back. This staple of ’80s early rap is still a fun trip down memory road.

It also shows that savvy filmmakers will make movies that appeal to various age segments. I remember taking the kids when they were much younger to movies that really were only for them. There was nothing there for the parents. Madagascar had some humor and innuendo that adults got while providing belly laughs for the kids. I think that I like all of the Pixar movies for much the same reason.

Overall, I simply liked the movie just because it allowed us to spend some fun time together.

What was fun was that the re-enactment portrayed the Battle of Brandy Station.  I was able to walk this battlefield last August.  You can see my pictures of the actual battle site here.  This was the first time that I can remember that the Big Battle was fashioned after an actual battle.  Most of the times, the battle showed the was the armies fought and some of the tactics they used.  I thought this years battle was pretty interesting becuase I could put some frame of reference around it, but I’m not sure how others viewed it.  I know my son liked it because he got to see the reenactment and was able to see the cannons fire.  All in all, a good time was had by the two of us.

This is a great event put on by the Lake County IL Forest Preserve district.  If you’ve never been, you should go!  Also, a heaping big thanks to all of the reenactors who devote their time to protraying this important time in our country’s history.  Here is a list of the participating units:

• 8th Illinois Cavalry
• 13th Tennessee Infantry
• 104th Illinois Infantry
• 154th Tennessee Infantry
• Crescent City Benevolent Society
• Taylor’s Battery
• Battery G

If you like the pictures below, please leave a comment!

[View with PicLens]

12345►