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Sunday, May 6, 2012

Volkswagons All Over The Place!!!!

The Volkswagen Cruisers Club is a DC/VA area club for VW enthusiasts.  This year, when we went to the Flying Circus in Bealeton, Virginia, we got to attend their yearly Volkswagen Show.   I've always liked Bugs and owned a '74 for a short time in the late 80's.   Someday, maybe we'll get one of the fancy Buses below!   It would have to accommodate two Harleys though......

Watch out, this is an undercover police car.  Says so right on the door!
There's something to be said for Rag Tops.  Very Cali....
Yes!  This is the Rat-bus I want!!!!!!!!
What is that Thing?  Get it?  Thing..........
Always been a fan of primer.
Just a little bit evil looking.  I like it!!!!
Classic and refined.
LSU anyone?

A Day At The Circus-- The Flying Circus!!!!!

There is a Flying Circus in Bealeton, VA, which is pretty close to where we live.  They do shows each Sunday between the first Sunday in May and the last Sunday in October unless the weather is bad.  We went to see the show today and it seemed that due to upper air conditions, the weather was apparently too bad to run the whole show, but they did put on a scaled down version.  The good thing about the show being scaled down is they don't charge admission!   

1943 Silver & Black Stearman.  This is the only plane actually owned by the Flying Circus.  All of the rest are pilot owned.  

It was pretty cool to see these old planed flying in formation and not crop dusting which is pretty much what every bi-plane I've ever seen was doing! 
This 1939 WACO UPF-7, flown by Mike King, is one of 14 purchased by the U.S. Army Air Corps to determine whether the Waco or the Stearman would be used by the U.S. Army Air Corps and the U.S. Navy as a trainer. 
The Flying Circus started as The Flying Circus Aerodrome in 1970. 
If your brave enough, you can go for a ride.  
John Corradi in his Waco ZPF-7 (Which saw Army Air Corps service in 1942-1944) signals he is ready to go.  
These guys drove out on the airfield and put the balloons up for the pilots to hit.
The pilots get into formation to take off.



1946 Piper L-16 “Sweet Sixteen”, flown by Johnny Corradi demonstrates the “Air Mail Bag” pickup. 
Success...

Balloon strike.
The six bi-wing planes return from their precision flying.
Stearman "No Bucks - No Buck Rogers" flown by Dave Brown.
John Corradi's WACO ZPF-7 
WACO ZPF-7
Stearman "No Bucks - No Buck Rogers" flown by Dave Brown.
1941 Stearman “Inverted Roberta" flown by Rick Conn.
Mike King's WACO.
 Mike King's 1939 WACO.
We will definitely be back to see the full show.  They do other things each Sunday also.  Today was a classic VW show also but that's a blog for another time......

Saturday, May 5, 2012

1863 -- Battle of Chancellorsville, 149 Years Later

In late April and early May, 1863, several bloody battles occurred in the Chancellorsville, Virginia Area.  We've been through the area many times, but today, on the 149th anniversary of the Union Armies withdrawal, we finally stopped to take it in.  
By May 3, 17,500 men had been killed or wounded in the battle.  One marker notes there had been one man shot every second, for 5 hours!   Union lines collapsed and the Confederates seized the prized Chancellorsville intersection, a five road intersection considered the most famous in the country at the time. 

Like many Civil War Battlefields, several canons are placed on the site. 
Union trenches which were eventually over run by Confederates. 
After almost 150 years, the actual dirt trench is are still visible to the left.
All that is left of the Chancellor House is bits of foundation and a partial fireplace.  

This victory by General Robert E. Lee is considered by many to be the greatest of his career. After Lee triumphantly arrived at the Chancellor House during the ensuing celebration, one staff officer wrote:

"...It must have been from such a scene 
that men in ancient days rose to the dignity of gods." 



Still canons guard the now silent battlefield.



Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Part 3 of 3: A Spring walk in DC..........

And FINALLY!  Part 3.........  This page concludes our trip and follows us from the National Mall into the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden and out to Constitution Ave.  From there we headed back to 3rd St. on the Mall where we took in a blues band whose name we never learned.  Lastly, we headed back to the Capitol, past the Supreme Court and ended at Capitol Hill.  Oh, and since it was DC, the entire trip, from start to finish, was free!!!!   Here are the last 18 pics from this trip.....
I didn't want to pry and ask what was going on, but it sure looked like he just asked her to marry him!!!
This tree in the Sculpture Garden was all steel!
Thinker on a Rock.  Very Dante-esque..........


Quick, Duck!!!!!!
For really big mistakes!!!
Not art, but this mess of wires outside the sculpture garden seemed right in place with the nearby sculptures! 
This is where you can stop and get a Dirty Water Dog!
This band was playing right in front of the Capitol.  Don't know who they were, but they were great!



The view from the Capitol looking West.
You can see the Capitol dome she's taking a picture of on her iPad.
Fountain and lights on the East side of the Capitol.
Supreme Court.
Wonder who this Kony fellow is, must be a pretty popular guy!

That's it for now.  Hope you enjoyed the pics........