We drove from Bentleyville, PA, to Concordville - stopping at eight quilt stores.   After getting off the turnpike to go to the one in Somerset, we stayed on the turnpike until the Lebanon exit.  As you might imagine, there were a number in the Lancaster County area - Manheim, Lititz, Intercourse, Ronks, and Bird in Hand.

Being a Saturday in August in Lancaster County, though, we were in very heavy traffic for the last five shops. 

It was quite a trip - 4,025 miles total.  Enjoyed all of the attractions, reunions, and some interesting people at the quilt shops.

Thanks for following our progress.

Marty

8/26 to Bentleyville, PA

Travel day today and five more quilt shops in Ohio!  We also paid the highest gallon price for gas in Dayton - $2.46.  It was amazing that the price was as low as $2.09 in the eastern end of Ohio.  We are guessing it must be due to county or local taxing authority for gasoline purchases.

Quilt shops in:


Enon,











Springfield,








two in Zanesville,

and one in St. Clairesville.









We were impressed that one of the Zanesville shops had a large sign next to I-70 directing drivers to the next exit for the quilt shop.

















Plus there was an ornate court house roof in St. Clairesville.










Finally, outside of our hotel in Bentleyville stands a 20 foot tall steel cowboy that had been an icon in a local town and was restored and relocated to the hotel in 2007.














Don't know what he was looking at, but his eyes are intense.










Going home tomorrow.

Marty

8/25 Huffman Prarie Field & Museum of the USAF

Today was a humid, but windy, day so we went to the outdoor location first:  the part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Site known as the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center. 








This provided more insight into the use of the Dayton area to develop and improve aircraft,  such as these models used in one of the wind tunnels.







Today was a special day as it was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service.












Outside of the Center, there was a memorial to the Wright Brothers.









While awaiting the start of a tour of the new building in the museum, we looked around in the hall that contains the Aviation Hall of Fame.  Some of it depicted the space program.  I didn't do well in the simulator to fix the Hubble Telescope - connected with the correct port but ran out of fuel.







I also tried on an astronaut suit - the easy way.

After seeing all the Wright aircraft the past two days, we noted (as a volunteer had suggested yesterday) this modified Wright flyer in one of the display areas.












The B52 behind me is on stands so it appears much higher than it actually sits on the flight line.












On our way to the start of the tour, we and the other visitors were ushered outside since a fire alarm had been pulled.   After about 25  minutes outside, we were allowed back in and resumed our visit.

The tour started a half hour later than normal after we were allowed back in.







In addition to the experimental aircraft Kathy and I viewed on Tuesday afternoon (see a better view of the XB-70), there were other sections of the new building.







There was a section on Space Exploration including this hybrid exhibit of the space shuttle.  The front of it is actually a shuttle simulator/trainer.  This was at the museum when we visited in 2013, but was not open to view.  Since then, the body replica was built for the simulator cockpit area so it looks like a full space shuttle.
























The other section of this new building was dedicated to Presidential Aircraft.

We did go through the aircraft that carried President Kennedy's body back to Washington, DC.  I am at the spot where President Johnson was sworn in.

All in all, the new fourth building of the museum is full of aircraft and info - as are the other three buildings.  Here is a panoramic photo of the fourth building's exhibits.

Tomorrow we head home - like with one layover in western PA.

Marty

 

 

 

6/24 Dayton & the Wright Brothers

We decided to spend today at the non-AF Museum sites.  We started at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

It also had some space allotted to the author Paul Dunbar who grew up with the Wrights and did some work with them in their publishing business.








It had a replica of the 1902 Wright Flyer.







As well as replicas of what the local stores were like at the time.










There was a hands on flight simulator of a Wright Flyer - unfortunately my takeoffs exceeded my safe landings by two.  (I only tried twice the simulation twice.)








I had more success impersonating a parachutist in the Parachute Museum section of the building.






 Next door was Wright Cycle Company which showed what the manufacturing/repair area would have looked like as well as examples of bicycles including the Van Cleve bikes that the Wrights built.

Next we traveled to the nearby Carillon Historical Park which not only had another display of Wright Brothers items, but also had many buildings pertaining to the history of Dayton.













Of course, it also had a tall carillon - here viewed from the visitors center.







There was a one room school (for grades 1 through 8).

There was a tavern building (large building on the right) with the tavern on one side and the proprietor's family's living quarters on the other side of the building.


















We saw an old comptometer similar to the one we used to used helping her Dad do tax returns in the early 1970's.








We also saw many old cash registers since National Cash Register (NCR) company was in Dayton.








There was an exhibit of an electric power generating plant.








There was a clock from one of the historic buildings downtown that had been razed.










We also saw an early powered wheel chair.










There was a transportation center for various wheeled vehicles.










Not that we have never seen one, we still appreciated a covered bridge.

Interestingly, there was another building on the grounds of the Carillon Historical Park that was part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.











In this multi-roomed building, we saw a replica of a wind tunnel made by the brothers'.








There was also the actual, not replica, Flyer III from 1905 in a display area which Orville Wright had helped design specifically for this aircraft.







As we left through the visitor center, we toured the Dayton Heritage area and found a very specifically appointed merry-go-round -  populated with cash registers, aircraft, trains, and other products made in Dayton.








Tomorrow we hope to visit the Museum of the USAF and the nearby Huffman Prairie Flying Field which is another part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

Marty