OT: Black Hills and Ellis

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:32 pm

Met a new set of friends last weekend at Ellis AFB:

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:33 pm

Here is the Reluctant Admiral and his two 'Staff Members' John IV--11 (almost 12) and Christopher--9:

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:35 pm

Scale on a -29 is hard to imagine but look at the SIZE of this prop!

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:36 pm

Found a piece of nose art that riled me up and I embarrassed the Admiral's wife with this shot!
[:D]

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:38 pm

You don't truly know how BIG a BUFF (B-52) is until you stand next to one. HOLY COW! [X(]

..I am truly TOUCHING it. HUGE PLANE!

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:44 pm

The trip to Mt. Rushmore was a lot of fun. We first went to the night lighting of the mountain and I was shocked at how unabashedly patriotic it was. Patriotism is in short supply these days and for the National Park Service to be that direct and up front was a welcome surprise. Here is Mrs. RA Cochran's shot:

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:47 pm

I said patriotic because the night ceremony was fantastic and at the end the Lady Ranger asked ALL veteran's and active duty members to come down to the stage. She then had EACH ONE give his/her first name, branch, and when they served. There were a lot of them including two WWII Vets. Once everyone was done she got eight volunteers to be the Honor Guard to lower the flag and then fold it. Those eight were proud and did IT RIGHT! It was quite emotional and we ended with God Bless America. Standing ovation for the Vets at the end.

Something, from the Government, that was truly respectful and patriotic. FANTASTIC!

Here are the Vets:

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:50 pm

Everyone who knows this Forumite know that the Cochran Family have...a...ummmm...LOVE of trains. There is a FANTASTIC steam railroad (the 1880 Train) that was marvelous. The ride (13 miles each way) was cheap at $20.00 for adults and $12.00 for kids.

Got to have a picture of that!

Hope you liked the Ellis shots.

Shark7 · Post by **Shark7** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:09 pm

Looks like you had a 'productive' vacation. [;)]

And only $20 for the train ride? A bucket of popcorn at the movies costs almost that much anymore. [X(]

Trugrit · Post by **Trugrit** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 7:25 am

Very nice. Thanks for posting.

Cap Mandrake · Post by **Cap Mandrake** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 11:43 am

WWII in the Pacific might have been avoided had that picture of the B-29 been circulated in Japan. Of course, there might have been some giggling about the shorts.

I once toured Scotty's Castle in Death Valley with a NPS guide. The guide was funny as Hell. He offered numerous innuendo that the builder of the home, was gay. He "befriended" a "cowboy" who had 25 identical red neck kerchiefs and had his own room at the Castle. His wife had a separate room. They had no children. His wife spent all day reading Bible passages. The guide showed us the "closet"...and he paused when he said that..where the "houseguest" stored his 25 red kerchiefs. As I recall the place is even named after the "houseguest". The rules of the will that deeded the house to the NPS required that there be no "tours" but only "educational events". The audience was supposed to figure it out. I figured out where he was going with it after the bit about the wife so I began to ask questions to reinforce his observations. "Did most cowboys in Death Valley have 25 neatly ironed identical neck kerchiefs?"...or..
"There's no water, no grass, no cows, why did they need cowboys?".

Funniest NPS guide I ever met. By the end of the "educational event" I think about 1/3rd of the adults had figured out the joke but he never broke character.

The point of the story is the NPS can sometimes surprise you. Of course, if you drive up to Tuolumne with 8 people in an SUV the chick at the gate will probably give you grief for your "carbon footprint"

Cap Mandrake · Post by **Cap Mandrake** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 11:54 am

Look again at the nose art on the B-29. That's Kilroy sticking his nose over the clouds. [;)]

The B-29 is beautifully painted. It looks like a restored classic auto or something. Cool train too.

zuluhour · Post by **zuluhour** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 11:55 am

Nice pics John, thanks for sharing. SHOW ME THE MANDRAKE!

Cap Mandrake · Post by **Cap Mandrake** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 12:01 pm

That's me in the 6th picture down.

John;

Have you ever done the Silverton and Durango trip?

tomed63 · Post by **tomed63** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 6:50 pm

Just a short note: If you were in the Black Hills of South Dakota,
The Air Force base at Rapid City is Ellsworth AFB. I was stationed there in 1969 - 1970.
Ellsworth was a major SAC base flying B52s' and KC135 aircraft.

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 11:00 pm

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

That's me in the 6th picture down.

John;

Have you ever done the Silverton and Durango trip?

Hey Cap!

We wanted to do Durango this summer but ran out of $$$ and time. Will do it next year.

We did the Cumbres and Toltec two summers ago and that ride was AMAZING! Highly recommend it.

John 3rd · Post by **John 3rd** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 11:01 pm

I didn't see Kilroy in the art. Nicely spotted!

Ellsworth! Damn. I had Ellis in my head. Stupid.

Sheytan · Post by **Sheytan** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:03 am

Very nice!

USSAmerica · Post by **USSAmerica** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 8:54 am

Nice pics, John, and looks like a great family vacation! [:)]

geofflambert · Post by **geofflambert** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 3:34 pm

I was driving through the Black Hills once and got lost in Custer State Park. I was navigating at the time. We stopped the car to try and figure it out. There was a group of democrats blocking the road anyway. I had the map all unfolded and was studying it. The democrats started coming towards us but we paid them no mind.
One of them stuck his head through the window and grabbed the map. We played tug of war for a while but he won in the end, and proceeded to eat the map.
Here's the culprit: