19 August 2013; Castle of the Grump, South King County --
It has been awhile that has elapsed since Grumpy has posted anything on this BLOG. In fact, it may be noticed that he hasn't mentioned anything about his recent wanderings to Virginia and Iowa, both of which occurred in rapid succession during the early part of August. The intent of this posting is to dispel this oversight.
The visit to Virginia originated as an opportunity to see my Florida-residing Grandson J, and at the same time celebrate my #1 Son's 64th birthday -- I thought we could squeeze my birthday in there, too, somehow.
As the day to depart neared, Grumpy received word that the memorial service of a favorite cousin in Iowa would take place on the 10th of August. This provided the added motivation of diverting my return trip to a stop-over in Des Moines, with the added pleasure of visiting my sister, H, whom I hadn't seen since way back in June when we concluded the Alaska Adventure! An easy negotiation with Southwest Airlines took care of the necessary changes.
The first impressive sight in Virginia was a visit to the Smithsonian Aviation exhibit at Dulles airport. On display here is the only remaining Space Shuttle, Challenger, complete with its scorched tiles survived from its last mission re-entry from space. The original Boeing jet transport aircraft, "367-80", is also in this museum [how did the Boeing Museum of Flight miss this one?].
Grumpy enjoyed the display of many other vintage airplanes [including the "Yellow Peril", his U.S. Navy nemesis in which he logged nearly 200 hours learning to make precision landings and some aerobatics -- including the thrilling and memorable "outside tailspin"!].
Later in the visit, we traveled to the birthplaces of George Washington and Robert E. Lee. George Washington was born in the middle eastern part of Virginia -- not at Mount Vernon. His birthplace was burnt to the ground sometime in the distant past and all that remains are the outline of the original home and some artifacts collected by archeologists in the past century or so.
A walk around the grounds revealed some wild life [a grumpy-looking Blue Heron] -- and a life that no longer is as wild as it was in the past [The real Grumpy one!].
Robert E. Lee's birthplace was much more impressive. However, his father was apparently not a good manager of finances or farming and lost Robert's birthplace to foreclosure on a mortgage. The building is currently owned by a private non-profit group who are in a long-time process of restoration to its documentable original design.
Note the four chimneys on each end of the building; each of these chimneys serve four fireplaces. Yes, there are sixteen fireplaces in this house! Imagine keeping firewood supplied for all of these! [Maybe that is partly responsible for the elder Lee's losing this beautiful estate.]
Other wild adventures in Virginia will be forthcoming in a subsequent post.
The first impressive sight in Virginia was a visit to the Smithsonian Aviation exhibit at Dulles airport. On display here is the only remaining Space Shuttle, Challenger, complete with its scorched tiles survived from its last mission re-entry from space. The original Boeing jet transport aircraft, "367-80", is also in this museum [how did the Boeing Museum of Flight miss this one?].Grumpy enjoyed the display of many other vintage airplanes [including the "Yellow Peril", his U.S. Navy nemesis in which he logged nearly 200 hours learning to make precision landings and some aerobatics -- including the thrilling and memorable "outside tailspin"!].
Later in the visit, we traveled to the birthplaces of George Washington and Robert E. Lee. George Washington was born in the middle eastern part of Virginia -- not at Mount Vernon. His birthplace was burnt to the ground sometime in the distant past and all that remains are the outline of the original home and some artifacts collected by archeologists in the past century or so.
A walk around the grounds revealed some wild life [a grumpy-looking Blue Heron] -- and a life that no longer is as wild as it was in the past [The real Grumpy one!].
Robert E. Lee's birthplace was much more impressive. However, his father was apparently not a good manager of finances or farming and lost Robert's birthplace to foreclosure on a mortgage. The building is currently owned by a private non-profit group who are in a long-time process of restoration to its documentable original design.
Note the four chimneys on each end of the building; each of these chimneys serve four fireplaces. Yes, there are sixteen fireplaces in this house! Imagine keeping firewood supplied for all of these! [Maybe that is partly responsible for the elder Lee's losing this beautiful estate.]Other wild adventures in Virginia will be forthcoming in a subsequent post.
Grumpy,Thanks for sharing your trip. Note, the label on the Shuttle says "Discovery".
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