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  • Colonel Inspects West Point

    Colonel Inspects West Point

    I made a surprise inspection trip to the US Military Academy, aka West Point. Coincidentally, it is in a town of the same name, West Point, NY! Did you know that it is the longest serving post in the US military? It is! It has been continually occupied since the war of independence, when the Americans ran the super-mean Brits out of the continent.

    West Point, as I suppose you know, is the world’s premier military officer training institution. It has produced many of the Nation’s most gifted and brave officers. Regrettably, it has also produced a host of traitors, like Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and a slew of other rebels. It has also produced a few genocidal jackasses, like George Custer. In all fairness, we can’t pin the genocidal part on Custer, as it was Government policy at the time. On the other hand, he earned the jackass part on his own. How? By getting his unit wiped out in an ill-advised attack on the native Americans like…well…a jackass.

    The site itself is beautiful, perched on the bluffs overlooking the Hudson River. The grounds are immaculate, green and thriving.

    West Point has a quite large and ornate chapel. Did you know the chapel’s organ is the 3rd largest (by number of pipes) in the world? It is, with over 23,000 pipes.
    West Pointers are fond of the words Duty, Honor, Country and plaster them all over campus.
    I was surprised that there were so many cadets buried in the cemetery…as cadets, before they graduated! Don’t know why, exactly. Maybe the lack of medicine in the old days? Maybe a primitive view of safety in training?
    Examples of Government housing.
    The Army has delicate tanks that cannot withstand people climbing on them.
    Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that, upon other fields, on other days, will bear the fruits of victory.” –Douglas MacArthur
    The view of the Hudson from West Point is inspiring.
    Maybe you can see Xena, lounging with her arm draped over like a boss.
    This is the view from my campsite at the West Point FamCamp.
    The way there.
  • The Schismatics of Pennsylvania

    The Schismatics of Pennsylvania

    In 1536, an apostate Catholic priest, Menno Simons, thought believers should be baptized as adults instead of infants. He formed the Mennonites. Professing a belief in adult baptism was a capital crime in those days (as some think it should remain so today), so the authorities rightfully arrested and killed them.

    In 1693, Swiss bishop Jakob Amman yearned for a more demanding and severe form of Christianity than the Mennonites offered, so he formed the Amish (get it? Amman => Amish. In addition to adult baptism, Amish believe that people should wash their feet. They also believe in the social shunning of former Amish, just as Christ prescribed.

    Over time, the Amish tired of being deprived of their property and lives, so they accepted William Penn’s 1681 offer to move to the part of the New World we now know as Pennsylvania.

    Upon arrival, the Amish found themselves unable to cope with the hustle and bustle of 17th century Pennsylvania, so they asked Penn for some place further removed from modernity. He sent them to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where they remain to this day.

    In Lancaster, they feast on a variety of delicacies, like pickled baloney. Whoopie pie is a derivative of the more common (and more tasty) Ho-Ho. Shoo-fly pie is sort of like pecan pie, without the pecans.
    Pennsylvanians love to compete over the sizes of their barns. This leads to structures that are not proportional to the needs of the agri-business.
    Amish in their native habitat. Note the buggy slowing the progress of the giant tractors, also operated by Amish. That’s right, the Amish are not averse to using modern machines…as long as they are not in the house.
    In Lancaster, they adore living in old houses; there are many scattered throughout the towns and villages.
    Amish country of today is mostly a gigantic shopping mall, filled with useless items that no one on Earth needs. The only exception is the perfectly sized braided rug that lends a home-like atmosphere to my van. And also the cute little jars of jam. Those are definitely necessary.
    I don’t know about you, but I think it should be unlawful to sell (alleged) Navajo wares a continent away from the actual Navajo.
    There is such a thing as a National Toy Train Museum! Stuffed full of model trains and huge dioramas with little trains running through them. The only drawback: shrieking children running to and fro with untoward excitement.
    Pennsylvania is experiencing a extreme shortage of musicians, forcing each of the scarce ones to play several instruments simultaneously. Also, Pennsylvanians will happily humiliate themselves for a buck.
    Pennsylvania has strict rules governing where certain activities can take place. This is to ensure that the appropriate procedures are followed in accordance with the statutes and Scripture.
    Pennsylvania has an abundance of wasted space, making it a prime candidate for infill development.
    The way there.
  • Fallingwater

    Fallingwater

    Frank Wright enjoyed sketching houses, some of which were actually built! This is one of those.

    There was a time in the 1920s and 1930s that a family named Kaufmann amassed a great fortune by gouging customers at their Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, department store.

    Rich people, of course, need weekend cabins in the remote woods to rest and think of new ways to fleece their customers. So the Kaufmanns hired Frank to design their cabin, which they named Fallingwater because it hovers over an actual waterfall.

    The house was built in mid-Depression for a cost of around $150,000. For comparison, the guide informed me that an upper-class 4-bedroom brick house in Pittsburgh cost, at the time, around $5,000. That’s right, their weekend cabin was 30 times the cost of a normal wealthy person’s house. So great was the Kaufmanns’ fortune, that they also had vacation homes in Palm Springs, Greece and elsewhere.

    This is the view the Kaufmanns would have seen as their chauffeur drove them to the cabin.
    Although well known to modern people, Frank’s open floor plan was considered innovative at the time.
    Whoops! A construction worker left a clay pot atop the chimney.
    A nifty desk with cantilevered shelves echoing the design of the house itself.
    Expansive terraces are a major feature of the cabin.
    Rich people can have houses designed around their favorite art pieces.
    This Madonna and Child dates from 1420.
    A nice Tiffany lamp lights the bedroom desk.
    Clever design and engineering allow this window to omit the support in the corner. This is one of Frank’s most significant contributions to the field of house design.
    The view from the foot of the waterfall.

  • Kentuck Knob…It’s a House!

    And that’s not a typo…it really is called Kentuck Knob. According to legend, a colonizer left New York for Kentucky to wrest land from the native Americans. But he got to western Pennsylvania, loved the place and stayed. Apparently he decided that, if he called a piece of Pennsylvania Kentucky, he could declare victory. Somehow or another, those dwelling therein lost the “y”.

    There was a family, the Hagans, who became rich in western Pennsylvania by selling ice cream. They were impressed by a nearby house, Fallingwater, learned that the architect was Frank Wright and hired him to design a house. Frank was well known for designing with nature and designed the house to integrate with its setting. The result was impressive with an almost-excessive attention to detail.

    You can tell that the house is important, because only important houses get brass plaques.
    The floor plan is based on a hexagonal grid of equilateral triangles which, when overlapped, form parallelograms. This design language is carried throughout the house, as shown in this hexagonal skylight.
    The back side of the house is embedded in the hillside. This side rises like a great prow.
    The current owner of Kentuck Knob is an unknown Englishman named Baron Palumbo (not kidding). He is a collector of practically anything, including this chunk of the Berlin Wall. He has numerous other sculptures, which he has scattered throughout the grounds.
    Xena, the Warrior Princess, prowls the early morning fog.
  • Air Force Museum at Wright-Pat

    Air Force Museum at Wright-Pat

    Wright-Patterson AFB…wow what a beautiful and enormous base! They have every amenity imaginable: golf course, flying club, tennis club (indoor courts!), a USO club, etc, etc. If I were the type of person to use facilities like these, I’d be tempted to pack up and move!

    We stayed at the FamCamp, which is what the military calls on-base RV parks. The Wright-Pat FamCamp is on the shore of the lake. That’s right, the base has its own lake.

    Morning mist rises from the lake.
    Xena lounges in the Forbidden Zone, heedless of the rules.

    In addition to the huge variety of units on the base (Air Force Materiel Command, National Air and Space Intelligence Center, the Air Force Institute of Technology, etc), the base hosts the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

    The museum is world-class, although with a very heavy emphasis on airplanes. However, they *do* have some very interesting space exhibits, including KH-7 and KH-9 surveillance satellites. When I was in the space business in the 1980s, these were some of the most highly classified items in existence. Ha, now they’re in a museum. These are the satellites that took still photos from 80-100 miles up and ejected the film canisters so they would parachute down over the Pacific. Specially equipped C-130s would catch them mid-air and return them to Hickam AFB, Hawaii, where the film canisters were flown immediately to Kodak for processing.

    And, of course, airplanes! Many of the most iconic and famous planes in aviation history are in the Museum’s 4 gigantic hangars.

    This is from the interior of the C-141, nicknamed the Hanoi Taxi, that brought many of the POWs back from Hanoi. The returning service members autographed the interior of the plane.

    Outside, the Museum has a Memorial Garden, with many unique and imaginative displays.

    And this is the part of the journey leading to Dayton.

  • Peoria Discovered, More Than a Meme

    Peoria Discovered, More Than a Meme

    Illinois is a bright, sunny place with mild temperatures. Heading from west to east, it starts flat and then turns hilly. I drove past the town of Champaign, which is home to a state college, and on to Kickapoo State Park. I learned that Kickapoo has nothing to do with the elimination of bodily waste.

    Flat as pancake illinois blends into gentle rolling hills.

    To the extent that anyone thinks of it at all, Peoria is usually considered a mythological place, like Atlantis or the fountain of youth. It is meant to evoke thoughts of middle America. However, I have discovered that it is an actual city! A small one, to be sure, but with streets, traffic signals and mid-rise office buildings.

    Peorians are quite taken with entomology and have several downtown buildings devoted to caterpillars.

    Aside from its role representing mainstream America, it also claims Abraham Lincoln as one of its sons. Lincoln, as you may recall, served as President of the US in the 1860s. It is notable that he failed to complete two terms, despite being elected twice. This feat places him in company with William McKinley and Richard Nixon.

    Peorians were obliged to construct a large, multi-story building as a home for this giant mural of Lincoln.
    For unknown reasons, Peoria has sculptures of bison, despite being far from Wyoming.

    So, in any event, Peoria actually exists. I have photos to prove it

  • Nebraska & Iowa

    Nebraska & Iowa

    Nebraska and Iowa are essentially the same place. It is a mystery why they’re treated separately by many. I’ll lump them together and call them Nebowa.

    The management of agri-business have forgotten to harvest their crops, leaving them to waste away in the fields. This will negatively impact profitability.

    Nebowa is a gray, overcast place with a lot of rain. If you’re planning on visiting (which you aren’t), be sure to pack your rain jacket. Otherwise you’ll have to buy one at the Base Exchange at Offutt AFB.

    Lots of clouds in Nebowa.

    Similarly, be sure to check your wiper blades. If you don’t renew them at home, you’ll have to while on the road.

    Did you know that wiper blades are designed to fail at the exact spot where your eyes look out the windshield? They are.

    Also, did you know that Sprinter vans have special “wet” wiper blades that are only sold at Mercedes dealers? They do.

    You will be in luck, though, because the Omaha Mercedes dealer handles Sprinters (most don’t) and they have wiper blades in stock! They’ll even install them for free! Marvelous!

    The van, aka the Shuttlecraft, stand ready to shield us from the rain.

    Also, be aware that Nebowa is quite windy. Crosswinds, in fact. Do not be startled when your vehicle’s anti-crosswind feature activates with a terrible noise and vibration. This is considered normal.

    The eastern part of Nebowa is unnecessarily hilly. This negatively impacts the region’s agricultural productivity. If one were to have a giant rolling pin, applied with sufficient vigor, one could smooth out the hills and increase the proportion of usable land, as was done with Kansas.

    Xena, the Warrior Princess, disapproves of the rain and elects to observe from inside.
  • Coast to Coast

    Coast to Coast

    I’m off on another epic journey: Oakland to East Haven (Connecticut) to see new parts of the country and have some mods done to the van. And I got my blog working again! Technical notes for curious gear heads at the bottom; normal people can safely ignore them.

    This house is Buckland’s Station. Built in 1860, it was a remount station for the Pony Express and a general store for the soldiers at nearby Fort Churchill, Nevada.
    This curious round courthouse in Lovelock, Nevada was designed by a famous architect I had never heard of and immediately forgot.
    Atoms for Peace! I visited the first breeder reactor. It creates more fuel than it consumes, thus demonstrating that there is a perpetual motion machine!
    People were silly in the 1950s. This was an early experiment is creating a nuclear powered aircraft engine. Any wonder why it never flew?
    Spent a couple of days in Idaho Falls. It is a pleasant little town in Idaho.
    Did you know the name of”Idaho Falls” came before the waterfalls? It did and remained an aspirational statement until the waterfalls were constructed out of concrete and artfully placed boulders.
    This was my front yard for a night…Antelope Lake, Oregon.

    Xena takes a hike

    The promised technical note: When I started this blog years ago, I had no idea how to do it. Naturally, I got a great many things wrong, like hosting it at Bluehost, installing a ton of plugins I didn’t need and getting the commenting feature wrong. So, I decided to fix it all and host it on my own machine. It turned out that removing all of Bluehost’s tentacles from the site was tedious and took much longer than I anticipated. But now it is done! (I think.)

  • Rivers of Ice

    While cruising in Alaskan waters, I discovered rivers of solid ice, sometimes thousands of feet thick! I call them “glaciers” and arranged for a helicopter ride at once for a closer examination.

    I really should have been an arctic explorer. I think I rather look the part.

    My mighty steed ready to carry me to the river of ice.

    Glacial overboots. Very fashion-forward, everyone is wearing on the glacier.

    The soles of the boots with the little metal studs that bite into the ice.

    Glacial run-off. The intensity of the blue ice is incredible. It really is that bright blue, no photoshopping or anything!

    The Heart of Alaska.

    The river of ice meets the sea.

  • Seattle

    I made a quick inspection trip to Seattle, on my way to intercept the Queen Elizabeth, a Cunard liner. Seattle is very nice…a sort of clean and non-hostile San Francisco.

    I visited the iconic Space Needle. Am amazed they could build it in less than a year. One wonders what corners were cut to achieve that!

    Pie in the sky? They called it pie, but, as you can see, it is not a wedge. Pie is served in wedges. Tasty, though, despite their misnomering.

    This is Dale Chihuly, manager of a glass factory. There is an exhibit of his products at Seattle Center, near the Space Needle.

    At Chihuly’s factory, they make many bowls like these. Pretty, I suppose, from a certain perspective. Lacking in utility and not dishwasher safe.

    Luckily, Chihuly manufactures decorative forest adornments, compensating for Nature’s lack of beauty.

    I discovered a transit vehicle—a sort of train—called a “monorail.” Weirdly, it has only a single track, like a unicycle train! Engineers are still trying to work out how it maintains its balance. Most trains require two, sometimes three, tracks.

    Seattletonians specialize in odd structures like this one. The inexplicable lack of straight walls and right angles leads to an inefficient use of interior volume. Wasteful!