This morning, Frank took us over to Scott AFB, which is just a couple miles from his home, to see the C-141 that he actually flew in 1971...
When the plane was put on static display here at Scott, Frank recognized the tail numbers of the plane and went to his flight logs to confirm his memory... Sure enough, it was there... he had flown this plane out of McChord AFB in 1971.
In 1973, the plane took part in the famous mission "Operation Homecoming" to evacuate POW's out of Hanoi... it was dubbed the "Hanoi Taxi".
Frank is dwarfed by the large jets on this plane...
Frank explained how the tail could open up and the ramp lowered down to load cargo...
I love listening to Frank talk about these planes...
A proud USAF Pilot - Col. Franklin Rudolph, Retired, and the bird he flew.
Later, Frank took us to his friends farm to show us the corn and soybean operation there...
Deb gets a lesson from her brother on how to operate the combine...
This cutter head will do eight rows of corn at a time...
Frank explains this seed planter...
We had lunch in Mascoutah, and then drove to Lebanon for a dish of Ice Cream and Mr. Jazz's Ice Cream Parlor. They had one of two 12 foot soda bars still operating in the US... it is like the five footer that we have at home. The owner gave me a lot of information about the soda bars and I am anxious to go home and check some things out on my antique soda bar...
After our treat, we drove over to the school where our great nephews and nieces attend and their grandma Kathy is the school secretary... this is her new office.
We also drove over to our nieces new home, which they actually closed on today... Deb and Kathy helped Wendy unpack a few boxes and Frank and I went home and watched a little bit of the news... (Actually, we both fell asleep waiting for the girls to come home).
Frank and Kathy took us to the 17th Street Barbecue Grill tonight for dinner. I had the best brisket I have ever had tonight. They have earned the title of Grand National Champions three times in "Memphis in May"... it was delicious.
Tonight we said goodbye to our grand-nephew Logan because we are leaving in the morning as we head to Valparaiso, IN to see my great Aunt and Uncle (my grandmother's sister), if she will have us.
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