Dayton, OH

Wednesday (May 16th) thru Saturday (May 19th)

We left Bowling Green and headed north for about 200 miles to Dayton, OH. We are in Dayton to visit the National Air Force Museum, which dear friends Meigs & Paul said you must see. We arrived at the Dayton KOA. It’s a nice KOA but sites are tight as most KOAs are and while the landscaping is lovely, roads are narrow and lined with rocks and trees. What were they thinking?? Just as we’re setting up, Rick stops over with a beer in hand. Turns out they are two sites up from us. (They are the ones we met in Memphis attending the VIP ceremonies for the unveiling of the Memphis Belle exhibition at the Air Force Museum. Rick’s dad was the radio operator for all 25 missions on the Belle.) They arrived the night before at 10pm in the dark and smacked into a rock as they were parking (“not once, but twice” as Rick put it). They’ve got a dent on a couple of their side bays. Ugh. Rick said they learned their lesson and won’t be pulling in anyplace at night anymore.

That night we tried our faux campfire for the first time. Runs on propane so no fuss, no muss. Don’t have to search out firewood or deal with smoke. Not quite the same but not bad at all!

Thursday, the 17th we headed to the Air Force Museum. That is why we’re here. It’s opening day of the Memphis Belle exhibit and all kinds of special events are planned over the next few days. It took volunteers 13 years and 55,000 man hours to rebuild the Memphis Belle.

Crowds are 4x larger than usual. Joy. We are astounded at the crowd control. Amazing. Plenty of parking and virtually no line through security. The Air Force Museum is situated on an Air Force Base so they know a thing or two about handling crowds. The museum is spread over four hangers so plenty of space for everyone to fan out.

We head over first to the re-enactment area. Everyone is in WWII period outfits with barracks, vehicles and planes all very authentic. There’s also flyovers by various planes. One of which could be Air Force One, but it’s not because the President isn’t on board. I chatted with a few of the WACs, and, of course, had to tell them that my mom was a WAVE. I got emotional seeing them, but then, I get emotional about most things. Not really a surprise there. They said originally the WACs weren’t considered part of the army. They were auxiliary services. It wasn’t until several years later that they were considered part of the military.

The museum is incredible. Four hangers of history… early years (WWI), WWII, Korean War, Southeast Asia, the Cold War and the newest hanger with four past Presidential planes that you can walk thru and space stuff including the Apollo 15 module and various missiles.

Too much to take in during one day. We figure we’ll visit the Memphis Belle first since it’s the big thing to see here right now. It’s at the back of the WWII hanger. As we’re walking to it, we bump into Rick & Deedee and their family. There’s thousands of people here, what are the odds! Sometimes the world can feel very small! They said the VIP activities the night before were extremely well done and they were all so happy that they had made the trip from far and wide to be there.

We particularly appreciated the Memphis Belle as we were able to see the placard of Rick’s dad, his artifacts, and here his words. I was moved and he wasn’t even my dad. But as you walk through the WWII exhibit, you can’t help but think about our dads (and moms) who did serve.

That day we also took in the fourth hanger, which was the Presidential & Space hanger. We learned some of the history behind the Presidential planes. In the beginning, they weren’t called Air Force One. Truman’s plane was called Independence, Eisenhower’s was called Columbine, and they also had the SAM 26000 plane used by President’s Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, George Senior and Clinton… you could walk in all the planes. In the space area, the Apollo 15 module seemed so small. Hard to believe men jettisoned to earth in that thing.

Friday, the 18th, we had a visit in the morning from an old boss of mine who now lives in Cincinnati. I worked for Steve over 30 years ago! But, we stayed in touch! Amazing when you think about it! Two hours flew by and it was nice to catch up with him!

In the afternoon, we headed back to the Air Force Museum and focused on the Early Years, Southeast Asia (Vietnam) war, and the Cold War. We ran out of steam for the Cold War so did a quick walk thru on that and let Korea go. We found the Early Years fascinating. (Marie, Stuart would have loved it!) I couldn’t get over the large flimsy planes that had (what appeared to be) bicycle tires to land on. A museum volunteer saw us staring at an exhibit of two men hanging down in a basket from (what appeared to be) a large blimp, which would have been filled with hydrogen. He explained that these poor guys were up there so they could see about 30 miles in all directions and report what fighting they were seeing to their superiors and attempt to not get shot down or blown up in the process. It was considered hazardous work. No kidding!  This same volunteer explained that the average life expectancy of a pilot for either side was considered one-to-two weeks. It’s amazing how far we’ve come in just over 100 years. Makes me wonder what people 100 years from now will think of our cars and planes. Will they make the sign of the cross and think “OMG, how did they do that and survive?”

We also wandered through the Southeast Asia exhibit. Gary & I had watched all 10 episodes of Ken Burns’ “Vietnam War” so were familiar with some of the history behind the war. Brother Bob served in Vietnam and thankfully came back in one piece… both mentally and physically. Brother Andy served in the navy at that time and thankfully wasn’t in Vietnam. I love you Andy and Bob!

About 8:30 Friday night there was a knock on our door and it was Rick inviting us over for a drink. He also wanted to review with Gary the best routes for traveling to Maine before they head off on Saturday morning. Deedee wants to have the opportunity to try a Maine lobster before they head back home to Washington. We had a nice visit with them, discussed best routes to avoid heavy traffic and bolstered Rick up since his confidence got a bit shaken with the rock incident at the campground.

Saturday, the 19th, we watched Harry & Meghan’s wedding (or at least some of it since we weren’t up at 5:30 AM) and Gary made pancakes. Saturday was chore day… laundry, getting in some groceries, and filling up with fuel. Saturday night we were walking Miss Kya one last time before bed and our new neighbors, Kenny and Dana, had gotten a fire going. We started chatting with them and they invited us to join them by the fire. So we finished our walk with Kya and went and sat with them. They are from the Detroit area and were in town for a bowling tournament. Go figure! Nice couple. We chatted about travel plans, future plans, and everything else. When we parted, we exchanged hugs and Kenny said “This is why we camp – to have these kinds of experiences.” Amen!

We head off in the morning for Canton, OH.