Day 69: Winnemucca to Chemult in "Starship Mini"

Monday, November 5th

(Remember, to see a larger version of the photos, "click" on them).

We spent the night in Winnemucca, Nevada... not much here unless you are a gambler... and then there still is not much I am guessing...

As we drove through the Nevada desert (Still lots of very flat land), we spotted many of these wild burros along the road... Deb thought they were real cute...

This is some of the desert flora at one of the rest stops... it was next to a fresh water spring that we used to fill our water bottles...

After an 87 mile drive on a road that only had one slight bend and one other car (Lil loved this stretch of road), we finally reached Oregon... sheesh... do you think we could put up a fancier sign... this is one to be proud of!

On our way to Lakeview for lunch, we spotted a huge herd of pronghorn antelope...

some beautiful high desert country...

A Big-Horned Owl...

and some deer...

After a very nice lunch in an antique store and deli located in Lakeview, we headed up the canyon towards Crater Lake National Park... we followed this river for quite awhile...

We arrived at the rim of Crater Lake just as the sun was slipping down over the horizon... the park was deserted for the winter and we were the only ones there... it was so still and quite that it was almost unsettling... the lake was like a mirror... it was just like the night we spent at the Grand Canyon... not even a hint of a breeze...

But it was perfect for photography... so I took out my tripod and settled in for an hour or two of evening shots... Here is a panarama that I took at out first stop...

Here is another that I took at another spot about 30 minutes after sunset...

I stayed until long after sunset in order to get a few shots of the stars reflecting in the lake...

This is a shot of Starship Mini's landing lights illuminating the lake...

Finally, my favorite... this is a shot looking out the moon roof of Starship Mini... the interior was lit by the glow of the GPS navigation system during this 30-second exposure of the galaxy beyond... this photo is not "photoshopped" but is real-time fans...

Because we didn't realize that the lodge was closed for the winter, we took a very precarious ride back down the mountain looking for gas and lodging... fortunately, we found a gas station that was closed but we were able to pump gas anyway (don't tell the fire marshal), or we would have been sleeping along the side of the road... the next gas station was beyond the range of our reserve tank! We found a nice "Down Home Style" restaraunt and motel in Chemult where we spent the night... the motel was not the greatest but the food was tasty and plentiful!

Day 68: "Lil" stretches her wings and "Wings of Freedom"

Sunday November 4, 2007

Today we went to church with Haylee (I snapped this photo of her in her sunday dress before we left... oh she is sooo cute).

After church, we began our final leg of the journey back to Oregon. We decided to head west out of Salt Lake City on I-80. This is a route that we have never taken before and we thought it would be a great change from the trip across Idaho, which we could do in our sleep (and not really miss much... sorry spudheads).

Our first stop was a view of the Great Salt Lake... believe it or not, I have not ever really seen the lake... it was very low but there was one sailboat way out there...

Our next stop was really exciting... The world famous Bonneville Salt Flat Speedway!

Debra was just facinated by all of the salt... and we thought Kansas was flat! The salt was a hard crust and fairly rough in texture.

The road to the speedway just runs right out onto the salt... it was like being in a boat on lake... you could drive wherever you wanted to drive. I took the MINI up to 112 mph and drove for quite a distance (in fact when I turned around, we had lost our bearings because we could not see the entrance road anymore... the vast whiteness is a little disorienting. Though I was not to worried because we had the GPS). I pulled over and convinced Debra to "stretch her legs"... it was not easy but when I reminded her that there is not too many grandmas that have driven on the speedway and that Kaleb's favorite movie is "CARS", she got that glint in her eye and said "OK!". She got up to around 85mph and the car started to fishtail... I looked in the mirror and noticed that water was spraying up behind the car... very strange because it was not visible and it had not rained for a long time... as she slowed down, I noticed the color of the salt had changed from stark white to a grayish color... and we were starting to sink into the "mud". Deb freaked for a second but I was able to coach her out of the "quicksand-like" salt and back onto the hard layer. When we finally got back to the road, the car was covered with a layer of very sticky salt that was the consistency of clay or Play-dough.

We limped the car into West Wendover and found a carwash (the wheels were totally out of balance because of the salt that was sticking to the rims... it was crazy). I am not so sure this was a smart move for the car, but it sure was fun to join the ranks of one of my boyhood heroes - Mickey Thompson!

After we cleaned up the car (as best as we could for now), we drove back to a memorial commorating the 509th Composite Group and the first Atomic Bomb.

Then we were fortunate enough to happen upon the Historic Wendover Airfield that we have been reading about since leaving Illinois!

The old control tower and operations center in now a museum in honor of General Paul W. Tibbets and his 509th Composite Group, as well as the current fire station.

Inside, there is a great exhibit of models and old photos of the B-29's in the bomber group as well as other bomber groups that were stationed there over the years... This is a model of "Little Boy" being loaded into the "Enola Gay".

These are a few of my favorite photos of some of the nose art on the 509th bombers... This first one is the bomber that flew the second mission to Nagasaki, Japan two days after the "Enola Gay" flew her mission over Hiroshima...

This is the famous photo of then Colonel Tibetts in front of the "Enola Gay" named after his mother...

It is a good thing the brave men of the 509th were not hamstrung by ridiculous left-wing "Rules of Engagement and Political Correctness" or we would probably be speaking German or bowing to an Emperor today... and we would have missed out on some darn fine nose art! Crap, they probably would not even have been allowed to name the bombs "Fat Man" and "Little Boy"... God save America today! (OK... down off my soapbox... deep breaths...)

This is what is left of the hangars and buildings on the flight line... notice the flags are at half-staff due to the passing of General Paul Tibbets on November1st... (See our earlier blog).

This is an old aircraft parked on the apron... part of the permanent exhibit...

I am standing in front of the "Operations Center" museum...

and so is Debra!

This is what is left of the "Enola Gay' Hangar... it is awaiting restoration so it can be a permanent museum for the "Enola Gay"... if you have any rich acquaintances, this is a worthy cause!

This sign is an artist's rendition of the project...

Here are some of the old barracks that have survived, sort of, over the years.

Overall, today was quite fulfilling! It was awesome to be on the speedway and an honor to visit this historic site and pay our respects to General Tibbets and the men of the Historic Wendover Airbase!