RAF Duxford Airshow

We traveled to RAF Duxford for the Flying Legends Airshow. Duxford was a RAF base that was used by the Americans during the war. Now it is part of the Imperial War Museum. It has a large collection of American planes as well as other types of aircraft and museum stuff.

This is a B-17G which would have operated from nearby airfields like RAF Molesworth and RAF Kimbolton.

F-86 Sabre of Korean War fame.




This would have been a familiar site at RAF Duxford during the later part of World War 2. A P-51 taking off from Duxford.

A Supermarine Spitfire landing at RAF Duxford.

The Spitfire doing a flyby.

A Hawker Hurricane. This was the most numerous fighter involved in the Battle of Britain. It shot down more German aircraft then all other means combined. It is a interesting plane in the fact that the rear of the fuselage is frame covered in fabric. This made the explosive shells used by the German fighters somewhat useless since they would pass through with out exploding.

The Battle of Britain Memorial flight. A Lancaster bomber and a Hurricane fighter.

This is Stuarts favorite plane. The new Eurofighter Typhoon. This is just going into service with the RAF and is due to rotate to Persian gulf in a few months.

Enjoying a ice lolly (Popsicle).

Ward Bike Ride

The ward had a bike ride around Grafham Water. It's about 10 miles around the lake on good trails. Everyone made it including Brittany.

Steve

Our house came with a very large hedge named Steve. We thought that Steve was looking a little ragged and he needed a hair cut.Steve is so large that Stuart had to stand on top of him to give him a trim. Funny thing is that Steve apparently thought Stuart might taste good. So about half way down the hedge, Steve swallowed Stuart. One minute Stuarts was there and the next he was gone. You could here him screaming though. Must have upset Steve because he spit him back out.

Stuart's ROTC class

Stuart is taking an ROTC class this year at the suggestion of his counselor. The curriculum is aerospace science, which is perfect since he wants to be an aerospace engineer for NASA. He has gotten very involved and is having a great time with it. He is part of the ROTC drill team and color guard and is also in the rocket club. Today he is doing the flag ceremony for the football game and is part of the ceremony at a wedding.

Newsflash

We are Grandparents! Benjamin Nathan was born on September 12, 2009 to Kenny and Rachel. He was born at 7:04, weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz and is 20" tall. This is one grandma that is really wishing she was in Pullman, Washington right now holding that little guy.

School has started

The kids started at their new schools this week - Brittany at the Elementary school and Madison and Stuart next door at the Middle/High school. They are finding it different from what they are used to, but seem to be settling in. They all ride the same bus - a charter bus - or coach as they call it here. The bus stop is at the end of the village next to us, so we have to drive them and pick them up every day. We don't mind however, since the base is a half hour drive from our house.

The schools are much smaller than what they are used to. There is about one class for each grade at the elementary school and the middle/high school is very small. I don't know how many students are in the middle school part, but the high school has about 400 students total. Last year's graduating class had 25 :) That being said though, we are finding some very positive things that come with being in a small school.

They have a good offering of honors/AP classes and since the classes tend to be smaller, the students don't get lost in the crowd. The teachers can adapt to each student's needs and pay attention if they aren't doing their best work. When we met with the school counselor to set up schedules, she ended up spending an hour!! with us to try to work out the best schedule for Stuart. The principal even took the time to come in for a few minutes. The counselor and principal had some excellent suggestions to help Stuart get ready for a career as an aerospace engineer at NASA. They suggested some classes we hadn't considered before that would be helpful in getting a scholarship. All in all we were very pleased.

I do have to say though, that I'm finding the adjustment back into military life a bit interesting. The first day of school it was MANDATORY that both Ken and I be there most of the day (it was like a back to school night). That is something I always go to anyway, but somehow being told that it is mandatory brings out the rebellious side in me :) Everywhere we go, something is mandatory. I'm getting really tired of that word.

Enough complaining. Life is good. We are enjoying it here. We like our ward and are making friends. We miss our friends back home terribly, but know we are supposed to be here, for whatever reason.

Trip to Wales in August

Well, I'm back again. Sorry, the pictures are in reverse order. But I'm probably the only one that knew that. So in August we went to North Wales. The kids wanted to see castles. And they had to be big castles and not the pretty little things they had seen so far. So off to Wales we went.



This is Harlech Castle. It was made famous in the song "Men of Harlech". I bet Tom is the only one to know that.







North Wales has some pretty scenery. This is a waterfall we found in the south part of Snowdonia.



On the path up to the waterfall we found some caves and a few mine shafts. Most had flooded but this one wasn't to bad.



This is a World War II crash site. The plane was a P-47 that was on a training mission to RAF Valley in 1943. The pilot was caught in low cloud and flew into the mountain and was killed. The site is rather remote so the wreckage was not recovered.

This is the mountain above the bunkhouse we stayed at. Mid Wales is very different from the north. It has hedges and no stone walls. Apparently they just started getting TV reception in the 1980's.

This is the village of Beddgelert. It is the site of the grave of Gelert the dog. If you don't know then Wikipedia. It is a very pretty village. You can guess what the next stop is...

This is the bridge in Beddgelert. The hotel on the other side has a meteor inside that crashed through the roof in 1949. No one was hurt but I might think twice about staying there.

No one in a castle was ever in a hurry. If they were they would break their necks running down these stairs.

The inside of Caernarfon Castle. Most of the large castles in Wales were built by Edward I(Longshanks) to subdue the Welsh. This is where the Prince of Wales is invested so the castle is in pretty good shape. This is to follow the tradition of Edward I making sure his son was born here so the Welsh would have a prince.

This is outside Caernarfon Castle in the town. See the signs, they are all in Welsh and English. Most people in North Wales speak Welsh as their primary language. You will hear it everywhere you go. This is amazing considering not too long ago it was almost lost like the Cornish language.

Love those bakeries. Unfortunately in Northamptonshire we don't seem to have too many good bakeries. But Wales has some wonderful places to get your sugar fix.

Some of the scenery on the south side of Mount Snowdon.

Stuart hoping he's going to get to drive down this little road.

Some wonderful scenery in North Wales. It's no wonder it has so many legends like
King Arthur and Branwen, Daughter of Llyr.

This is on the Isle of Anglesey at South Stack. These flowers went as far as you could see.

These are flowers that came from South Africa called crocosmia. They grow all over Wales and Cornwall. We tried growing them in Idaho and got blooms one year but that was it. They grow wild on the sides of the roads here.

This is South Stack Lighthouse or in Welsh Ynys Lawd. The light house was completed in 1809. Not far from here was a Roman sentry station and and a iron age settlement.

Us at South Stack.

Lots of pretty flowers.

In Conwy we found this shop selling armour and swords among other things. So if you decide to go on crusade or go viking, after you stop at the "Ole Trip to Jerusalem" pub you need to talk to this guy. He can kit you out in anything you need from early greek to late medieval.

Here we are down at the harbour in Conwy. Lots of boats here. We saw a bunch of kids trying to catch crabs on the side of the dock.

OK, try to figure this out. The average size of a house in England is about the size of your shed back home. (and you think I'm kidding) So what do we have, some morbid competition to be the smallest of the small. I know of at least two other "Smallest House in Britian" houses. Of course the other end of the spectrum is equally as entertaining. Most large houses would be larger than a warehouse. But what the heck are you going to see in the smallest house? "Here is the bedroom, and if you just squeeze past the Loo you will pop out the backdoor".

Don't get me going on the water pressure.

Stuart on the dock on Conwy

No, not a troll or a gremlin. It's Madison at one of the doors to the towers at the city walls around Conwy. Conwy has most of its city wall still in place. The only thing I can figure out is that this part of Wales has enough rocks on the ground that no one felt inclined to pull down the walls to build their house.

Us on the city wall at Conwy. You can see Conwy castle behind us.