Warbirds In The Sky

October is a great month to be outside in Mississippi. Fall is here and it's time for the return of the "Best Little Air Show In The World"

Back in October of 2014 our Hummer Adventure took us to the Southern Heritage Air Foundation Airshow.
This year the dates are October 14th and 15th. Check out the flyer at the end of the blog or head over to their web page. 

http://www.southernheritageair.org/

 It's held every other year at the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport just across the river in Louisiana. What a great show with all the heritage planes flying. There is also an air museum that has some very nice planes on display. 
You can schedule a plane ride if your stomach is up to it.
  • 1942 North American T-6 “Texan”

  • 1944 North American P-51D “Mustang”

  • 1948 Beech D18S “Twin Beech

  • 1995 CLASSIC AIRCRAFT CORP WACO YMF “Waco”

  • 2001 AVIAT AIRCRAFT INC A-1B “Husky”

The Aeroshell Aerobatic team are exciting all by themselves. They fly the American AT-6 Texan planes. These were nicknamed "The Pilot Makers" as those pilots went on to fly other planes like the P-51 Mustang and the Corsair. The Texan was introduced in 1938 as the basic trainer for the US Army Air Corp.

My favorite of all is the P-51 Mustangs. These bad boys come crankin over head at over 200 miles an hour. The sheer power and maneuverability is awesome to see in action. 
That has to be a bucket list item to take a ride in one of these someday.
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. 
You can pick you up one of these for a project plane at about $700,000.

On Friday night they have the Twilight Air Show. Which includes a Jet car blasting down the runway. The sunset combined with these awesome Warbirds is a spectacular site.

The stunt pilots oh man the stunts they do! Pictured here is the Viper and another stunt bi-plane. They will take your breath away with all the amazing stunt flying they do. This is probably one of the best air shows I've ever attended in my life. It's very family friendly. Bring your lawn chair and get right up to the runway for a first class, front row seat.

Here's the flyer for this years show. If you make it on Friday night or Saturday afternoon look Becky and I up. We will be the two people with the cameras stuck on their faces. Hope to see you there this year.

Oct 14, 2016  Twilight Air Show
Gates open at 4pm
Show begins approximately 5:45pm
Oct 15, 2016 · 9:00 AM
Gates open at 9AM
The Air Show will be from 12:00 pm until 3:00 pm at the Southern Heritage Air Foundation Museum Hangar located at the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport, take exit 182 (Mound, LA) off of I-20 W. The Southern Heritage Air Show is supporting the Warrior Bonfire Project.  Admission is $10 per person or $20 per car.
 www.southernheritageair.org

Gulf Coast Adventures-"Let's Go To The Beach"

Mississippi Gulf Coast Adventures

"Let's go to the beach". Before six years ago, Becky and I couldn't say those words. Or at least it had been many years since we had. Living in Mississippi we now have the occasion to visit the beach. Though at this point in our lives we find ourselves not going to the beach for the sand and surf but for the photography adventures. The Hummer has taken us on quite a few "Beach" excursions to the Gulf Coast. The devastation that hurricane Katrina caused is still very evident. The people have been resilient and so much work has gone into the restoration of those communities. It all seems to melt away as you walk along the quiet Mississippi beaches.

Peaceful beach on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Everyone talks about going to the Gulf and they refer to places like Destin, Florida, Pensacola, Florida, and Orange Beach, Alabama. But not a whole lot of people talk about going to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We have found it to be a hidden gem. The scenery is beautiful and the beaches are peaceful.

Hermit crab shell in the surf.

No sailing today.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Shrimpers

One thing we love is to spend some time taking pictures of the shrimping community. There is a very large Vietnamese shrimping community in and around Biloxi, MS. The shrimp industry there brings in about 75% of the shrimp consumed in Mississippi. In the 1970's families would save their money up to buy their own shrimp boat. Now they run some of the largest shrimping operations in the state. You can go down to the docks and look for their shrimp flags where you can purchase all the fresh shrimp you can eat. We have watched as some of the local restaurant chefs come to the boats. They get their share of shrimp for making up that days meals for their customers.

Shrimp boats tied up for the day.

Shrimpers hard at work preparing for another day of shrimping.

How many pounds of shrimp would you like?

Ship Island
There are so many things to do and see. These are not the miniature golf and amusement beaches. These are the "I just want to relax beaches".  Beside the beaches there are water activities like deep sea fishing or jet skis. There are museums and really good restaurants. There are the quaint shopping areas. Of which we really like as well. One place we found fun and interesting was a trip out to Ship Island. You can take an excursion out to the island which takes about an hour one way. This tends to limit  the number of people that are on the island at once. If you are lucky you will spot some dauphins swimming in the wake of the boat. The day we went there were maybe a hundred people on the whole island. There is a small snack shop so you can get some water and hot dog. They will rent you a beach umbrella and a chair. We would recommend you do this as that is the only shade on the island. There is a great old fort on the island called "Fort Massachusetts".
 

Fort Massachusetts. You will have to go to see the rest of it.

Tranquil Ship Island Beaches.

So what do you say? "Let's go to the beach!"

Wisconsin Adventuring

Iphone image of Chicago skyline 

Wisconsin Adventures! So this adventure was not with the Hummer but adventurous still. I've had many opportunities to travel to Wisconsin for business over the years. While there I always try to get a little free time and do some exploring. Sometimes those excursions create not only a decent photo but a good tale to tell as well. Since I've been trying to step up my game with blogging,  I thought it might be good to share a few of the places and photos experienced on those trips. Most trips I  fly into Minneapolis then drive over to Wisconsin. One trip I flew into Chicago. Chicago is a beautiful city to visit. In the winter the lake is full of ice and you get a cool, cold view from your plane window. When I was a younger man I spent about a year going to Navy schools just north of Chicago.


 The city at night is a view of a million lights. If you live in this town you spend a lot of time commuting either by train or by car. Unless you live in one of the high rises downtown. You can give yourself a bit of a neck ache looking up at all the skyscrapers. They always amaze me at how they can be built so tall.

Chicago at night.

Spires of Glass and Steal.

 I usually wind up in the small town of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  The town I believe has a population of about 13,600. The surrounding country side is beautiful with it's lakes, streams, and rolling farm country hills.

Chippewa Falls, Wis. landmark "The Indianhead Motel"

The city's name originated because of its location on the Chippewa River, which is named after the Ojibwa Native Americans. Chippewa is an alternative rendition of Ojibwa.
Chippewa Falls is the birthplace of Seymour Cray, known as the "father of super computing". The two largest super computing companies, SGI and Cray have their manufacturing plants there. It is also the home of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company,

Leinenkugel Brewing Company

There of beautiful rivers and lakes so it's fun to do a little hiking to see some of them.

Water fall north of Fall Creek, Wisconsin

 The barns and farms dot the landscape and you find yourself stopping around every bend to take a picture. Here are some images of the area.

Down on the farm.

Cool Ponies.

Little Red Barn

Big Red Barn

Winter Barn

The "Winter Barn" image in the middle has one of those stories behind it. It's 9degrees below0 out and I'm thinking I should be in my hotel room working. But I'm out wondering around the country side in my rental car. I see this barn and pull over on the shoulder to take a picture. Well it looked like a shoulder but it was just a plowed ditch. Down goes the front of the car into the snow. I get out and see it'll take a tow to get out. I keep thinking "get the shot because that's what's important". Then while I was waiting for a tow truck to show up a wonderful local farmer drives by and he gives me a pull out of the snow. I give him a tip and a huge thanks and he gives me a quart jug of homemade Wisconsin maple syrup. Syrup in hand and the image in the tin. To me it was well worth the adventure.

Soldiers Grove, Wis. One room school house.

I was born about 4 hours south of Chippewa Falls. My mother and her sisters were raised in Viroqua and Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin. This one room school house is where my grandmother, mother and her two sisters went to school. I can still imagine the kids playing on the old tire swing. You can see it to the right of the image.

Winter Trees

These two winter scenes of the woods and some geese sleeping on the Chippewa River were taken the same time as the Winter Barn. But no cold story to accompany them. It was just really cold. I you don't get out and be a little adventurous then you can miss the beauty that surrounds us.

"What is Life but one Grand Adventure!"

Winter's Rest

The Land Of Enchantment Mimbres, New Mexico

Mimbres, New Mexico

Summer of 1972 I met my wonderful wife and soul mate, Becky. We've been married now for 36 fun and adventurous years. When we met she and her family lived on a place in Mimbres, New Mexico. It was on the edge of the Gila National Forest which is in the  South West corner of New Mexico. The closest city is Silver City, New Mexico.
http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/gila/home

This is land of many famous Apaches  like Chief Victorio, Geronimo, Chief Mangus,  Cochise, and Chief Nana. A good read for the history can be found with this book.
 "From Cochise to Geronimo: The Chiricahua Apaches, 1874–1886"

 An ancient people lived here called the Mimbreno Indians. That was a long time before the Apaches lived here.  On Becky's family's place are two Mimbreno Indian archeological digs. If you visit the Maxwell Museum on the campus of the University of New Mexico, you can see many fine examples of Mimbreno pottery on display.
 https://www.unm.edu/~maxwell/
Here is an example of what the pottery looks like.
 Becky and I have seen these pots in Museums across the country.

On the far side of the river under the bluffs is an old Calvary road. The Calvary had a camp just north of the property where they would do logging and haul lumber down to the forts along the Rio Grande river.
One time Becky and I found an old miner's rock cabin. Inside was an old iron bed frame buried in a pack rat's nest. We dug the bed frame out, carried it down to the house and Becky refinished it. This has been our guest bed in our house ever since. We had to have the bed rails extended so it would fit a modern size mattress.  So if you ever wonder by and stay with us you'll have to ask to sleep on the old miner's bed. It sleeps pretty well I'm told.

Becky's parents sold a portion of the land to the Nature Conservancy and now that portion is an official Nature Sanctuary. It is open to hiking, bird watching and just enjoying the beauty of the valley. The house is gone now but the old barn is still standing. All the story's that this place could tell. There is an old horse corral that was used to break horses in. I can still see the cowboys sitting on the fence just like in the John Wayne movies.
Recently we had the opportunity to spend a day wondering around the old place. So many memories and good times.

McAnally Barn, Mimbres, New Mexico

 We've always loved hiking along the Mimbres river which was just down the hill from Becky's old home. The home is gone now but the river still meanders through the valley. I tried to find the tree that has our initials carved on it but a thunderstorm was rolling in and ran out of time. I'm sure it's still there. That will have to be another trip.
 

Have you ever seen a UFO?

 Many years ago I grew up in the desert bordered on the north with the White Sands Missile Range. To the east was another U.S. Army testing range called McGregor Range. My father was stationed at McGregor Range as a U.S. Army Nike/Hercules missile operator. Becky and I recently made a trip to Alamogordo, NM to spend some time with my mother who lives there. While there we decided to do some history tourism. One of our day trips took us to the WSMR missile park museum. It is located on the base just inside the WSMR gate off of highway 70.

Organ Mountains above WSMR

Here is where you can see a real UFO. They say is was used in experiments for Mars rover landings. But I know different. It has been on display in the missile park since I was a kid. That by the way does not date back to the Roswell incident. HA

Real life UFO

The missile park covers all the history of missile testing during the history of the range. That history includes the testing of captured German V2 rockets and the first Atomic Bomb test at Trinity site.

The Nike/Hercules that my father was part of was Nuclear capable. At one point every large city in the United States was protected by Nike/Herc missile batteries. We were able to watch a couple of Nike test when I was a kid. Pretty exciting stuff. From where we lived we could actually see missile test launches. At night it was really spectacular with some of the test shots you could see in the distance.
Here is a picture of what the missile park looks like with the Nike/Herc in the middle.

U.S. Army Nike/Hercules missile at the WSMR missile park

Wider view of the missile park

The museum is also well worth the stop as it has a wealth of information on American rocket and missile history. As you begin the walking tour of the missile park there is a memorial area. Here they have placed bricks in memory of those who put their lives into the work that took place at both ranges. That is where you can find a brick dedicated to Sargent First Class Jerry Harris. The memorial brick also denotes that he was part of the HERC (Nike/Hercules) program.

If you are ever driving between Alamogordo,NM and Las Cruces, NM on highway 70, take a little side trip onto the base for a very interesting walk through history. Take time to remember all those patriots who worked hard at keeping us all safe in the free world.

Nike missile at the rest area going through San Augustin Pass.

Time to Catch Up

Wow it has been so long since I've posted on the Dean and Becky's Hummer Adventure Blog.
I thought I'd try and post a few updates and get us caught up to the present. It isn't that we haven't had any adventures, it's that I lost site of enjoying this blog.
We have done a lot of traveling around Mississippi and one place we love to go off and wander in is "The Delta".
"The Delta begins in Catfish Row in Vicksburg and Ends In Memphis" .
When ever we need a little out of the way time we head for the Delta. The birthplace of the blues.
Becky and I love driving around the delta. Running down forgotten roads. Seeing and learning the history of different places. The Delta is still a very busy and active place with all the plantations being replaced by very large farms. From corn, soybeans, rice, and of course cotton being grown every year. We've seen how time has it's toll on some of the icons in the Delta. Storms rageing through and turning what was into history.

The many churches that dot the landscape bring a witness of the deep spiritual foundation that has been laid throughout the Delta.

A church that was. You can hear the hymns emanating from this church as you walk in.

This past fall this same church fell victim to the delta storms. The beautiful Mt. Helena Plantation home still stands on the Indian mound in the distance.

Here is a small farm workers home in the middle of a corn field. Lightning hit the tree this past winter and sadly burnt the house as well. We know that nothing last forever. But the memories are so very vivid and rich and now tucked away for another time.

Fall in the Smoky Mountains Oct. 2011

It has been such a long time since I've posted an adventure. I have been slacking or working, you take your pick.
Becky has her website up and running with the super assistance of our son Drew who did the design. As all websites, it's a work in progress. Becky and Drew are working at getting it just right. You can visit it here.

http://beckyharrisphotos.com

Last October(2011), Becky and I took a long weekend trip up to Tennessee to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We left on a Thursday Morning and arrived in Gatlinburg late that night.

Friday Oct. 21st
Friday morning was an up and early one at Ohdark30. We decided to see if we could catch a sunrise over the Smokies that morning. So off to the East Foothills Parkway. The sunrise was OK but nothing to write here about but we did find some good shots on our way back to the park. The fog was hanging low that morning, which is how the Smokies got their name. We came across a nice little stream and with the morning light decided to do some shooting. In stopping by a stream we spotted a couple of horses and their beautiful colt in a nearby field.  Here's one of my shots. If we only had an apple or a carrot to give him!

Our next stop was in an area of the park called Greenbrier. This was a special spot off the busy path and a very quiet place. Here we worked on our skills of taking smooth water shots. Some worked, some did not. When I had finished taking the shots I wanted,  I pulled up on a huge fallen tree and pulled out my Navajo flute. I played Indian tunes to the birds and occasional hiker while Becky gave her camera a workout We relaxed with the quite, fall colors and the wonderful sound of the Little Pigeon River in the background. 
By this time it was lunch time so a stop at the Hungry Bear BBQ restaurant was just the ticket. It was located just past the turn out to Greenbrier. It was very good and we would recommend it. 

On down the road we go. It was our goal for the day to make it  through Cades Cove. Next stop was the Sugarlands Visitor Center which is one of the three visitor centers in the park. This leads you along the Little River Road towards Cades Cove. This valley was one of the earliest settlements for the early Americans on the Tennessee side of the Smoky Mountains. It was called Sugarlands due to the abundance of sugar maple trees.
We spent quite a bit of time stopping here and there along the Little River Road.  Pictures of the fall foliage and the placid river running along side can barely reveal the beauty. But we gave it a good try. 


It's through the tunnel and on the road to Cade's Cove. This part of the journey is called the Laurel Creek Road. It is a windy, scenic 7 miles into the Cove. With many pull overs of which I think we hit all of them to get that great shot of course. 

Ah into Cades Cove at last. At it's peak it was home to some 700 settlers. Then in the 1930's it was left to be reclaimed by the forest and turned into the park as it is today. You could spend a whole day in the Cove by itself. I'll let my pictures tell the story of the high lights of  the drive along the Cove loop. The loop is only 11 miles but I think it took us 5 hours to finish.
Here are just a couple of shots of Cades Cove. We could fill up a book with all the shots we took. Now there's a thought. We should put together a book from both Becky and my pictures.  I think I took the most pictures I've ever taken during this trip. I know Becky was well over 3000 shots for the trip. 
This is one of the many old, rustic cabins that are left in the park. Also a playful bear cub running by the side of the road. We also saw quite a few deer and these bucks were doing some practice jousting in preparation for the rutting season.  We arrived back in Gatlinburg late for a great steak dinner and the end of a great day in the Smokies....

This poor bear cub was in retreat from the infamous bear siting traffic jam.

Hey!  You lookin at me???

Saturday Oct. 22nd 2011

The second day in the park was up early once again. Today the plan was to get some breakfast and do the Cherokee Orchard Road and the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. Gatlinburg is so packed with folks this time of year it was very time consuming just trying to drive through town.

We did a lot of practicing on our water shots. The leaves and colored foliage were just beautiful.

This would be where I would live. A quite cabin with a small path to it far in the woods.

The abundance of streams, creeks and rivers made for some breathtaking places to just be quite and take pictures.

A shot of the inside of one of the old cabins left standing in the park. Folks back then lived pretty simple lives. Sometimes it makes you long for a simpler time.

But then I'd have to chop wood...HA

Below is a water trough taking water to a small Grist mill. 

If it were my trough it would be for sluicing gold.  ;-)

More beautiful stream shots along the way.

Then the day had to end and we were set to drive that evening over to Chattanooga, TN to spend the night. We were going to go to Woodland Park Baptist Church there for Sunday services. Our dear friends and mentors Wayne and Diana Barber had moved there to be  the senior pastor at that church. It was a sweet time to hear him deliver a great sermon from the word and to get the perpetual Wayne bear hug when he saw us come in. On the menu for lunch was a delicious steak(He probably shot it himself and didn't tell us ;-). We also got to spend time with our friends Rick and Linda Gail Shepherd from Florida who happened to be in town at the same time as us. Parting was sweet sorrow but they are not too far down the road for another adventure soon. On our way out of Chattanooga we stopped and took a tour of LookOut Mountain. Then it was hit the highway home.
So just remember that when Dean and Becky are out on their adventures they may show up to your door to visit. 
Happy trails to all of you.

Wayne and Diana Barber, Rick and Linda Gail Shepherd, my sweet Becky and me behind the 

camera for a change.