It was a beautiful day. The service was very nice indeed. The flyover by the Hornet and Kfir was most excellent.

Lex Departing

Some of us at Fort Rosecrans. Among them are Pogue, me and xBradtc among the bloggers along with Beth, Armando, John and a couple I do not remember.. Wing Wife took the picture .

Wing Wife is in this one(nice lady in the blue)

A large number of folks were not bloggers but simply enjoyed reading Lex……and who didn’t?

I also managed to run into a man who I had common friends and acquaintances with past and present.

But my moment was delivering a message from our good blog bud, Pinch Paisley.

I went up to Mary Lefon and told her I had a message from Pinch on the East Coast. Lost the voice for a moment then. Gave her a kiss on the cheek and a hug. She returned both and then pressed a Memorial Challenge Coin into my hand. Almost lost it completely had it not been been for Mary and Marcia(Wing Wife) along with Beth.

Gonna miss him,  yeah, definitely. Even on the occasion he gave me constructive criticism, it was good. That will remain between us now, eternity. The relationship was always mech to pilot, Petty Officer to Captain. It was better that way.

I’ve known Kristen for quite a few years now and I met her fiance Steven the last time they were out here in Vegas.  I’d meant to go visit them “sometime” but things always got in the way.  They live out in Anza, CA which is just a little ways north of San Diego and east of Temecula.  I finally got tired of waiting, said to heck with it, and headed down on the bike

3 November 2011 - Alien Fresh Jerky in Baker, CA on the way to Anza, CA

 My first stop was in Baker, CA and I made sure to stop at Alien Fresh Jerky.  They’ve got a great theme and good jerky

The most “entertaining” part of the trip came a little ways west of Barstow, CA near Apple Valley.  I hit 60+ MPH headwinds which meant that I had to keep the throttle wide open in fourth gear just to stay running at 60 MPH myself   Of course, the “entertainment” factor continued to climb as I began to descend through the Cajon Pass.  Those headwinds became crosswinds, my speed increased to 70 MPH, and I had big rigs in the lane to my right.  The fun still wasn’t over, but I won’t go into detail about the guy who passed me on the 215 while changing lanes from my right to left and missed me by about a foot or two while going 100+ MPH

3 November 2011 - One of California's greatest drivers in Temecula, CA

 I’m glad I grew up and learned to drive in southern California because otherwise I might not know to expect things like this or just how to deal with it when it happens.  I mean really, WTF 

3 November 2011 - Sunset from beautiful Anza, CA

 This is the sky as it appeared when I finally arrived at my destination.  The ride down really wasn’t bad and it sure wasn’t boring

I traveled south on a Thursday and we had plans for Friday, but they fell through due to a bit of a storm.  Rain, wind, and sometimes snow kept us inside and watching TV most of the time.  Later on in the evening, Kristen took me out to Killarneys – an Irish pub – where I found out about Magners hard cider (AWESOME ) and had some great bangers and mash   We headed over to Steven’s work and hung out for a bit before heading back.  We all had a great time and I look forward to visiting again before too long

5 November 2011 - Kristen and Steven's place

5 November 2011 - Yeah, I didn't think the V-Star would make it out on this mud either

 I really liked my stay with Kristen and Steven, but I hope it doesn’t rain next time.  You see, my V-Star is a heavy bike and it’s not made for mud.  I know it’s not a dirt bike, either but did great on the dry dirt on the way in.  The driveway and access road had become slicker than a politician at election time during the rain and I was gonna need some help to get the bike out.

5 November 2011 - Many thanks to Steven's brother Adam for helping out with Kristen's truck

5 November 2011 - How about that mud?

5 November 2011 - Panorama - We finally got the bike unloaded!

 Thankfully, Kristen left her truck when she went to work and Adam – one of Steven’s brothers – helped me get it into and out of the bed of that 4×4   I was running a bit later than I’d hoped, but I was truly grateful for the help and happy to be on my way

5 November 2011 - The odometer turned over 14,000 miles on the way home

 I’ve put quite a few miles on the bike and I have no plans to change that in the future

5 November 2011 - My V-Star 650 at the March Field Air Museum

5 November 2011 - AT-6 Texan at the March Field Air Museum

5 November 2011 - I do love the F-14 Tomcat

5 November 2011 - D-12 reconnaissance drone and engine

 It just so happens that the March Field Air Museum is on the way home from Kristen’s   Aside from having a nice, clean restroom they also have a very nice gift shop   The rest of the trip home was pretty much just going the speed limit on the I-15 with a couple of stops for gas.  I finally made it home right as the sun went down.  There were times when I was rather cold and it wasn’t all perfection, but I had a great time anyway

Have fun everyone

———————

I think the mark on the hill in the one is the San Andreas Fault. From checking the maps I can find, it seems to be. I live fifty road miles from there. My sister in law lives down the hill from it in SW Palmdale.

The Fault? Good possibility of that.

It sure does look as though it is the San Andreas. It follows the California Aqueduct for a ways. There is a cut on 14 with folds in the rock that are visible.

Plant 42 at Palmdale Airport.

Plant 42 is the place where the special projects are built. Think the F117, U2, SR71 and others. The Lockheed Skunk Works is there along with operations from Boeing, northrop-Grumman and General Atomics. Out past this in the haze is Edwards AFB.

This is a shipboard UCAS. Note the tow link on the nose gear. And there is a hook stowed aft. That gear says GRUMMAN! Big, strong and heavy duty!

http://airpigz.com/blog/2011/2/5/no-fins-no-pilot-no-problems-x-47b-first-flight-with-video.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/255320/two-californias-victor-davis-hanson?page=1