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This past weekend I drove over the Tehachapis, turned right at Bakersfield and took a left at Visalia. This was a special one. A show for Our Centennial.  F/A-18F of VFA-122 in the Navy Working Uniform Colours for Our Centennial  Classic C-47  Corsair. The insignia on cowling is that of the Original Jolly Rogers, VF-17  North American SNJ  Stearman Kaydets.  Ryan PT. That is a five cylinder Kenner, I believe.  T-34 in a Retro scheme for the Centennial  F-16N of the Naval Strike Air Warfare Center. Aggressor/Bad Guy. The Navy has F-16s!!!!  EA-18G Growler. These are replacing the venerable but aging Grumman EA-6B Prowler in Fleet Service.  F/A-18C of VFA-122 Flying Eagles. Sometimes referred to as The Flying Beagles!!!  From the top: Grumman F8F Bearcat, North American B-25 Mitchell and the North American P-51 Mustang. The sound was beautiful!  VFA-122 F/A-18F Flight Demo.  I said homecoming.........of sorts.........The Argos were at sea on USS Ronald Reagan working up for deployment. So there was no Argo souvenir booth. The parking lot for the show was the ramp at Hangar Three. We were in Mod 2 then as well. I hope all enjoy these few shots. I took many more that one can see at my blog, Old Retired Petty Officer. There is a link over on the right.  It’s funny how I’ve had some time to take pictures, but just not the time or energy to actually get them published. I guess that’s just life, but I wish I had some more time and a bit more energy. In any case, I’ve got two more posts nearly ready to go after this one I’d gotten a bit of a case of cabin fever a week ago Sunday and thought I’d go for a short drive out to the beginning of the road to Mt. Charleston. By the time I got there, I figured I could make it out to Indian Springs. Once I made it to Indian Springs, I figured it wouldn’t be too much farther to Mercury, NV Of course, I got a later start than planned (again) and another ride which started in daylight ended in darkness. I actually really enjoy evening and twilight on the motorcycle. It might not be the safest time to ride, but the scenery looks better in the twilight and the view from the bike is truly superb. The line between daylight and night on a celestial body is known as the terminator. We’re used to seeing it on the moon when it’s anywhere between new and full – it’s the line between light and dark. I don’t know about you, but I don’t often think about experiencing that zone between light and dark even though we do it twice a day.  2 October 2011 - Sun and clouds west of Indian Springs, NV Yeah, I’ll admit that part of the reason I didn’t want to turn back is that I wanted to see more of this sort of scenery  2 October 2011 - Out at Mercury, NV near the Nevada Test Site  2 October 2011 - Out at Mercury, NV near the Nevada Test Site Another reason for continuing west was that I remembered passing an historical marker a while back when I rode around Mt. Charleston and through Pahrump. I passed it by back then in the interest of staying fast in the heat, but I’d wanted to return sometime. I have a sort of curiosity that way – I always want to read the markers if I have the time  2 October 2011 - Panorama - Mercury, NV Mercury, NV is the gateway to the Nevada Test Site where the U.S. Government used to test nuclear weapons. There’s an exit and a sign that informs travelers that there are no services such as gas stations and not much else from the highway. It’s also one of the ways into Area 51, but they still won’t let me use it  2 October 2011 - Sun getting lower near Mercury, NV  2 October 2011 - Panorama - Sunset near Mercury, NV The sun continued to fall as did the temperature. I never noticed how nice it was to be warm in the evenings during summer. Funny how things keep changing and new insights are found in the most ordinary places.  2 October 2011 - Sunset on Mercury, NV If you look just above the guard rail in the center of this pic, you’ll see a small guard building. Anyone who remembers the anti-nuclear protests during the Cold War will remember when people came out here to be arrested in an attempt to prove their commitment to the cause. It really is quite a ways out in the middle of nowhere – click here for a map and then zoom out to see just how far out it is. Those protesters really had to be a bit  2 October 2011 - Panorama - Sunset near Mercury, NV  2 October 2011 - Panorama - Last light near Mercury, NV The sun finally dropped below the western horizon at about 1730 hours. It’s getting darker so much earlier these days. I wish I could get the long days of summer with the temperatures of fall, but I’ll take what I can get. If nothing else, I get to ride on the terminator without staying out too late Have a great day, everyone It’s been a while, but I’m still here In the past few weeks I’ve been working, riding, and taking pictures to post but it’s been busy as well. I’ve got to get moving today to get things ready for some good times after work this week and a special event on Wednesday, so I’m going to keep the words to a minimum here, but I wanted to actually get this stuff posted. Hope you enjoy the pics  14 September 2011 - My bike getting rained on while I was at work and not able to ride it  14 September 2011 - Panorama - Dark skies on my short lunch time ride Ya know what really sucks? Fabulous riding weather like the two pics above show and not being able to go play in it  16 September 2011 - Severe T-Storm over Boulder City, NV while I was at work  16 September 2011 - Italian Harley Davidson at BMW of Las Vegas  16 September 2011 - Panorama - Sunset in Red Rock Canyon This was a good day  20 September 2011 - I'd totally ride it  20 September 2011 - I think it's actually pretty cool I had to swing by Sam’s Cycle Supply to set up my first oil change on my V-Star and saw this Honda Shadow. Yes, I would ride it in a heartbeat  21 September 2011 - Thunderstorm north of Las Vegas Yet another storm I get to watch from work but I don’t get to ride in. At least I can watch it  24 September 2011 - Rainbow over Las Vegas  24 September 2011 - Riding in the rain on the Las Vegas Strip  24 September 2011 - The bike will dry off  24 September 2011 - Caesers Entertainment employee car show  24 September 2011 - Caesers Entertainment employee car show  24 September 2011 - Caesers Entertainment employee car show  24 September 2011 - Caesers Entertainment employee car show  24 September 2011 - Caesers Entertainment employee car show  24 September 2011 - Caesers Entertainment employee car show  24 September 2011 - Caesers Entertainment employee car show (some artistic license here  24 September 2011 - Parrotheads will understand these glyphs at Margaritaville  24 September 2011 - Calypso Mahi Mahi  24 September 2011 - Key lime pie I was back down at Margaritaville for some dinner a couple weeks ago, but the ride and unexpected find were as good as the food First there was the lightning and rain I could see over the south end of the Strip, but then there was that rainbow over the Wynn I didn’t know why the street back to the O’Shea’s was blocked and I had to take the back way through the Imperial Palace garage, but the car show was worth it  30 September 2011 - Red Rock Canyon with thunderstorms nearby  30 September 2011 - Red Rock Canyon with thunderstorms nearby  30 September 2011 - Red Rock Canyon with thunderstorms nearby  30 September 2011 - Red Rock Canyon with thunderstorms nearby We had actual weather here on Friday and I was thrilled to get to ride in it again! I didn’t get to ride through too much of it, but there was a thunderstorm that passed a couple miles to the west of Red Rock Canyon that made the skies a bit more interesting than usual And I did get video for a change That’s it for now, but I promise you’ll see some neat stuff by next week Have a great day everyone Saw this one this morning. It should give one pause to think and think long and hard. For some reason this revisionist, adjusted view of what we as Americans are is becoming the new normal. The Old Retired Petty Officer does not like this at all. Nope. Not one damn bit. http://www.neptunuslex.com/2011/09/30/the-return-of-malaise/ |
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It had cleared up by the time I got out of work, but it was nice to have some decent clouds in the sky for a change 
), but what’s a guy to do when the bills have to be paid