Warbirds, the 2025 Fall Commemorative Fly in at Rockport, Texas

For the past three years, the Commemorative Air Force has held a fall fly in at the Rockport, Texas Airport.

Several days before the start date, old war planes begin to fly overhead of our Rv Park. Being near the airport it’s fun to see the old biplanes.

While we have seen many of the planes before there were three warbirds that I was especially interested in seeing. These were the F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat, and the TBD Douglas Devasator Torpedo Bomber.

The F4F Wildcat had borne the brunt of aerial combat during the first part of the Pacific battles during World War Two. It was inferior to the Japanese Zero, especially if it tried to turn inside the Japanese Fighter. The development of the F6F Hellcat changed things as that plane had a kill ratio of 19:1.

A Parachute jump was supposed to take place, but it didn’t happen while we were there. The wind was gusting thirty miles per hour, and it wasn’t safe for the jumpers. However, inside the hanger a display was set up showing the gear carried by the Paratroopers. My Uncle Manly was a Paratrooper during World War Two and fought at Bastogne.

Another display inside the hanger was of the women who delivered the warbirds. The military didn’t allow women to fly combat missions until 1993 over Bosnia. The first three women were not identified until much later.

In the picture of the equipment table, you can see a foldable M1 Garand that was hated by the Paratroopers. There was a display table loaded with gear including a mess tin, (the mess tin of a paratrooper consisted of one large spoon). It was a fun but hot day under the sun, something that we just aren’t used to, (we live in Wyoming). Renita and I had no interest in flying in planes older than we are, (you may purchase a ride in many of them). Thank you to all who worked to make the fly-in a success. It’s great to be able to see examples of living history, Clear skies

Port Aransas, November 2025, an easy morning of birding and sightseeing

Our friends Dave and Jane invited us over for a day of fun at Port Aransas. They drove their van, they no longer travel with their diesel truck. It’s pretty fancy and different as we have never owned a van. The trip takes about twenty minutes, (if you don’t count the wait for the ferry, which was longer than usual this day). After crossing the ferry. we turned right and drove to the Leorna Turnbill Birding Center. They had read that a flamingo had returned to the park and as we walked to the first large salt marsh it was easy to see.

It had been seen at another marsh, far from the boardwalk, but we were lucky as it had flown closer. Of course, I felt foolish as I had only brought my phone, having left my camera and large lens at home in our fifth wheel trailer. The pictures aren’t great, and I even tried to take a small video of it as it fed by sweeping its large black bill back and forth along the muddy bottom. When feeding It sticks its whole head under water as it works back and forth along the bottom.

Of course, the American White Pelicans were present, along with Blue Wing Teal and Black Necked Stilts. Two Least Grebes, rare birds, fed below us, but I couldn’t get a picture of them before they disappeared into the tall rushes. We did not see any Whooping Cranes. We also did not see the large alligator as it was reported to be near the water tower. Our next stop was at the Jetty where we watched as ships came in and Dolphins fed. There were lots of people fishing on both the North and South Jetties, but we didn’t see them do any catching.The swells were large and a small boat, fishing near the end, rose up and down and almost disappeared into the trough. It would not be a good day for anyone with sea sickness, (I have been fortunate in that it has never bothered me). We did stop at the usual Mexican Restaurant for lunch. It’s so nice to have proper spicy food after the bland Mexican food served in most places in Star Valley. There were reporrs of a new bird, a Grooved Billed Ani. but we never saw it. It was a pleasant day, thanks Dave and Jane for inviting us along! Clear skies

Conspicuous Consumption, The Bishops Palace, Galveston

Years ago, but after we retired, we traveled to Rhode Island and toured the Vanderbilt Summer Home. It’s a classic example of Conspicuous Consumption. The Robber Barons built huge monuments to themselves with the riches they had acquired both legally and often illegally stealing money and land from the public trust.

In or about 1894 Walter Gresham built a palace in Galveston, Texas for himself and his family. We have often driven by the Bishops Palace, it was later acquired by the Catholic Church and eventually became the home of the Catholic Bishop, hence the name. When built, the palace was made from the finest materials and survived, mostly intact, the Great Hurricane that destroyed most of the Island. The self-guided tour of the Palace took about two hours and was worth the fourteen dollars per person admission. The floors were made with inlayed wood patterns, much like the home we saw in Kansas. The windows were stained glass, some with their children pictured. Some of the windows were changed by the bishop after he moved into the palace. One is on the Grand Stairway and is a picture of Holy Mother Mary. A conservatory made up one of the first floor room, alone with the reading room which was called the Silver Room.

Another room was the library filled with all the Classics.

The children were dressed in outfits that mirrored the fancy clothes of the adults. The formal dining room was decorated with wood carvings of Neptune.

Attached to that was the kitchen, also in the upstairs bathrooms, were three faucets for water, hot cold, and rainwater for washing one hair.

One of the bedrooms had been changed into a bedroom for the Bishop, and another into an Altar for the Bishop to celebrate Mass. The third floor was closed, as was the lorest level. Massive repairs are being done to save the building.We enjoyed the tour and recommend it! Its rare that I make reading suggestions, but do a search on Robber Barons of the Guilded age. The parallels to today are obvious. Clear skies

Butler National Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

My brother told us some of our family history. Of particular interest were three brothers of my great grandmother Sarah Butler. They had enlisted in the 26th Iowa Infantry Regiment, which mustered in Dubuque, (two enlisted at the start of the war and one toward the end at age fifteen). The 26th was a hard luck regiment, (ravaged by disease as three hundred died from disease for each one killed in battle,) at the battle of Vicksburg, they were on the northwest side of the city. They were posted in a swamp where mosquito borne disease ravaged them. One of them died on the way to a hospital in New Orleans and another died in the last Federal assault of Vicksburg on the Confederate lines. The remaining brother was allowed to enlist even though he was too young. He died in the second to last Battle of the War, (Malvern Hill), and was buried at Appomattox.

At the Cemetery, open but closed due to the shutdown, a worker told us how to tell the difference between Union and Confederate graves. The Union gravestones had rounded tops, and the Confederate had a triangular top with a point. Some of the graves, all of Illinois Regiments, who fought had their names engraved, but the other Union Graves were simply marked Unknown. The Illinois Regiments had shipped the bodies home with names after the Battle of Fort Donelson. The Iowa Regiments had been buried at Donelson were marked as Unknowns and were later disinterred before being reburied at the Butler National Cemetery. The Confederates had died in the prisoner of War Camp located on the south-west side. Not prepared for the cold winter they suffered terrible losses as pneumonia ravaged the camp, (although many did escape or were exchanged until a wooden wall was built to enclose them). The National Cemetery had graves from soldiers and sailors who died in all the Nations Wars. The Spanish American War. First and Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam were all marked with the servicemen’s names. Visiting the National Cemetery. There were so many graves. The Cemetery was a sobering experience. Later we talked of our plans for our own burials, (an important topic as we are in our seventies and eighties).

A Family reunion with my Siblings

It had been nine years since we had last seen my brother Mike, at our Daughters wedding,, so when we decided to visit my sister in Illinois, she called Mike and asked if he could visit while we were there. I then called him, and we both were surprised as it had been nine years, and we were long overdue for a reunion. The plan was to meet him on the 20th of September. We of course drove from Wyoming, and he would fly from his home near Raleigh, North Carolina. We arrived on time, but the government’s idiotic shutdown was so screwed up that the air traffic was either delayed or cancelled across the country. He was lucky that he made it only eleven hours late on the 21st. We were all staying at Connie and Gary’s house and so the next morning we started to catch up. Of course, we do call each other often but so much is missed. The first few days were almost nonstop visiting as we shared memories of our parents and of growing up in Iowa. I, being the youngest, learned the most as Connie and Mike told me of things before I was born and talked of relatives I would never meet. Neither one had anything good to say of my Great Uncle George. I didn’t even know he existed. Mike told about having a paper route and having his papers stolen by another paper boy. My dad took Mike to the boys house, knocked on the door and when the father asked what the hell he wanted, grabbed him, thrashing him against the door. The man then apologized, and Mike got the money for the papers. I knew Dad was a fighter, after all he had seven brothers….

I made some of the breakfasts, and Renita and I also did the dishes. One of Connies favorites are my crepes and so I made several days’ supply. She, and Gary, then made Monkey Bread. It’s made from bread dough, sugar, cinnamon, and butter, in a bunt pan. She next allowed it to rise in the fridge and baked it the next day. It was great and I ate the most! On another day my nephew Danny and his wife Janelle drove us to a smokehouse in Springfield, it was perfect! We also ate lunch at a Maderite, an old Iowa favorite. Its a name for a loose meat hamburger. The days went by too fast but before we left, we went to a National Cemetery looking for gravestones of great uncles and members of the Iowa Second infantry who had fought and died in the civil war. But that’s another story. Thank you, Connie and Gary, for the reunion. Every day is a blessing, and these days were the greatest! Love and of course clear skies

Crossing Nebraska and Iowa

We left Wyoming and headed into Nebraska. Our destination was North Platte. The North Platte River meanders from Wyoming and into Nebraska. It’s the location of the largest concentration of Sandhill Cranes in North America. The migrating cranes all funnel through a small area. They stop to feed and it’s said that in the morning and evening flocks of ten thousand birds rise into the air as they go out to the daily feed. The number of sandhill cranes this spring was estimated at seven hundred and twenty thousand birds. I can’t’ imagine the sound of that many birds with their raucous rattling call.

They had already left when we got there but we did hear a few near the Audubon Society’s Birding Center. The volunteer told us that we could make reservations for next spring’s migration. She did say that the field trips always sell out early.

From Nebraska we drove into Iowa and met my cousin Pat and Her Husband Greg Hudson. They moved to where their children are located, in Ankeny, Iowa. We met them for lunch and of course I had to have a pork tenderloin sandwich. It was great to catch up on all the cousin gossip. We both forgot to take any pictures of the four of us definitely a senior moment…. After lunch we headed to Keosauqua, where Renita’s sister Pam and her Husband Camp Host at Lake Sugema County Park. We were going to surprise them but decided instead to call just before we got there. Arriving at their site a party was in progress, along with a huge corn hole tournament. Renita and I played against each other, and she won. We spent the night in the Grand Hotel in Keosauqua. The next morning, we stopped and said our goodbyes. They also come down to Texas and camp in the same park we do so we will see them soon. Clear skies

Illinois and Texas Bound, A wild Stallion in the Red Desert

Our place is in the mountains. Two years ago, we got twenty-one feet of snow and we hire a man to shovel the snow off our roof, The forecast for today is for sixty mile per hour winds and for six to fourteen inches of snow. Thats why we left last week) We looked at the weather forecast and the winds were predicted to be over forty miles an hour with snowstorms. Two of the passes were expecting heavy snow. That made our decision on our route for us…

The route we chose was to go south over Salt Pass and then east, crossing the Wind River Mountains at Atlantic City, (which is almost a ghost town). Crossing the Red Desert north of Rock Springs, we kept watch for wild horses. We did see a group of three, but they were too far away. A little further we saw a car stopped. A lady was taking pictures of a wild mustang, and we pulled over. The beautiful horse stood proud and gave us a perfect profile. At one point it turned and looked directly at us before walking away. Continuing we drove east and passed a rock shop. It was open and so of course we stopped. Renita mentioned that she thought we had enough rocks, but she was wrong. We added to our collection with some cabochons, already cut. The ones we purchased were Graveyard Plume Agates, from Washington State, green aventurine, a blue optical fiber piece, and five pieces of red carnelian, (one of five gems mentioned in the bible).

While I make my own cabochons and love making them, these save me about two hours of work for each piece. I am simply buying time, which is the most precious thing one has. I also bought two slabs of Teepe Canyon agate from the Black Hills and a slab of Montana moss agate from the Yellowstone River. Renita purchased a ring made of moonstone set in sterling silver. We were both excited about our purchases, and when we arrive in Texas I will set mine in sterling and 14 K gold-filled wire. Clear skies