Greetings and welcome back - to those who have been 'following' my blog - you may need to 'follow' again, since Blogspot has apparently lost track of you during their event of May 12-13-14.... sorry, but I did try to get you back, it just doesn't seem like it's going to happen!
We (dh and I) took a little trip recently to Rome NY - to the former
Griffiss Air Base which is now an industrial park/trucking terminal/research center/etc. Have to admit, they have done a great job with the property as a business/industrial park - although it is obviously still a work in progress. Many of the USAF buildings are now in use by new occupants. The B52 hangars are now expanded and still in use, but many of the small base landmarks have been torn down or are in the process of falling apart and the street names have been changed, so it was a little more difficult finding our way around than we thought it would be. There is a B52 on 'static display' which was the first B52 to land at Griffiss way back when... they thought that reflective white paint and metallic curtains in the cockpit would protect the occupants from the effects of a nuclear blast. How's that for anticipation?
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| B52 tail at Griffiss - Rome, NY |
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| B52 wing - Griffiss, Rome, NY |
the base airstrip overall doesn't look much different, tho...
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| Griffiss airfield May 21, 2011 - first 'air show' |
Fort Stanwix is also at Rome NY - right downtown - so we stopped there for a closer look and found a couple of thimbles that had been unearthed during the excavation...
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| thimbles found at Fort Stanwix excavation - circa 1800 |
next on the agenda was a stop at the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon on the way home.... now, compared to the 'other' Grand Canyon, it's a very humble relation, but still impressive, even on a rather dreary day.
Yes, of course there was a trail all the way to the bottom. We did NOT try it! It was definitely worth the detour through Wellsboro, tho!
On the way out of the canyon, we passed a charming little church and I had to snap a few pics to share of that too. Here is the Middle Ridge UMC - a very small but sweet structure.
We have had some severe storms around here lately - but nothing as bad as the tornadoes in the Midwest. I can't really complain, but I did wait for so long to see my azalea in bloom only to have the storms beat the old shrub down to the ground....
a few storms later.... and the petals are just nasty brown pulp. Ugh! This was the best pic I got this year.
Now, don't worry - it will recover - and the same thing will happen next year! I wonder if they have hybridized a storm resistant azalea yet?
Hope you have a wonderful weekend - it's Memorial Day weekend here in the States. Time to honor our military veterans and heroes and have family picnics and maybe a few fireworks if the weather cooperates!
I'm going to the studio to paint, glue, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
ttfn, ggs
