Kings Dominion (September 21, 2013)

Made a trip with Kaye to Kings Dominion on September 21, fun place and the day was wonderful to check out some of the sights. It was a work related event (work paid for it) and started as usual with a trip up the replica of this structure in France. Very cool thing, was told it took 15,000 bolts to put together, is a 1/3 replica, and was built when the park first opened in 1974. I have been on its sister in Ohio (at Kings Island) but very nice views from the top. I actually got up there twice, first time with Kaye, second with Kaye and some friends (we met there...its sort of easy to find).   

 This is one of the views from up there, big orange ride is The Intimidator 305, which is how tall that is. Very cool ride, though did not get to ride it this trip (did on other visits. We did get to ride quite a few rides while there, but had to get to another event in the mid afternoon - plus there was a good chance of rain -and the skies did unload later in the afternoon with some very badly needed rainfall ! We though were dry during the visit. Lots of fun places to see there, and the park was getting ready for their Halloween event coming up, so a lot of cool things to see all over the area. In this area the State Fair will be held next week. 

I also did not get to ride this ride, but did think it was very cool. Park got pretty crowded as the day went on, and of course as noted time was not on my side.
We did go to Kaye's grandson's little league game where the rains also held off. All in all, it was a very fine day, and we had a wonderful time.
Next weekend I am making a return trip to Carolina, so will have a few photos of that trip in my next post here. Looking forward to a fine time, have not been there in a few weeks, used to live there, though finding more and more that Richmond is a very fun and interesting place. I am planning right now to stay here for the rest of my life, though that may change as time goes on, but that is my intention as of now.
Hope you are enjoying these posts and that you can visit again soon.

Fun Day in the RVA (September 14. 2013)

Some days are just very good days....this Saturday was one of them. Took a walk (not far) with Kaye to the Forest Hill Art Fair, this was taken early (tends to get REALLY crowded soon after opening)  but got to see some neat things, and also enjoy some good food and music while I was there. Have been going the last few years and it is really a good time on a wonderful day. This was one in that the temperature and humidity were both down from previous years. I enjoy seeing what talented people can do on a number of fronts, and this was a very good time!  

Kaye and I got the motorcycles and headed up the road after the art fair to Hanover County Airport to see the B-17 which was there. We actually got the first look at it in the air over Richmond - they were giving flights in the plane (though at a cost of $450) but it was very cool to get to check this out and see this piece of history flying once again. It is a rare thing, only a handful of B-17's out of the thousands built are still flying. The airport was also really nice and there were a lot of support items there as well from WW2. I have a few photos of those on my Photo Page and also Racing with the Wind blog.     

Finally, we got down the road and headed to nearby Ashland, VA. Stopped for some refreshment there, and also took a quick look around this very interesting town. There is a lot to see and do in the Ashland area, and that included some great roads that Kaye knew about, and we got a good ride in down some "country" roads past some really cool houses and farms. Nice to get off the highways and enjoy some better ways to get around.
From Ashland we rode back to Richmond, and put the bikes away after watching a little league game at the end of the ride. It was a pretty interesting day!

Sunday in the RVA (September 8, 2013)

 Went out with some friends from work on Sunday, saw this guy riding on the water using a water pump on the jet ski....have seen this sort of thing in You Tube videos...its a new sort of thing out there, first time to see it in Richmond. Seemed to be getting the hang of it, and was a really wild thing. Was fun to watch, and a very interesting way to fly.

View of the  James River from Rocketts Landing in Richmond, the beige building is The Boathouse (a restaurant) and that is downtown Richmond in the background it was a beautiful day.

Here is The Trogone Band, playing in Forest Hill Park on Sunday night. They have a number of free concerts there, with various bands, and have seen some great concerts there. Fun to do that, and a good end to the weekend when the weather is good.

From the Motorcycle Ride (September 7, 2013)

 Made a ride with Kaye on a beautiful Saturday in the RVA. Finally think that the oil leak on the bike has been fixed (thanks Ultimate Cycle, RVA) and we made a stop at Steel Horse Harley Davidson. Lots of cool bikes on display there plus food and a band....nice thing to check out. Used to love to visit those events in Carolina, fun to go to one here in the Richmond area. Steel Horse is located on Hull Street and had a good time checking out the sounds and the sights there. Soon we were riding again down 288 toward Short Pump - had a good place in mind to eat.  

Stopped at Buz and Ned's Real BBQ for lunch, one of my favorite places to eat on The Boulevard they opened this new and much bigger place just a while back. Had a great lunch there, though there is a lot of good BBQ in this city, I prefer Buz and Ned's. Wild riding in Short Pump as it is a huge shopping area and one of the busiest roads in the Richmond area, but sure a lot of things to see there. Some of the largest malls in Richmond can be found there, and its a good area to pay real close attention to your driving. Those we got there via 288 you can also get to Short Pump via Broad Street which runs though downtown Richmond.  

Went to a car show at Quaker Steak and Lube. Neat place in that I used to be at the one (its a chain) in Concord, NC - they had some of the most amazing Bike Nights I have ever been too. Told they are also pretty good here in Richmond (though have not made one...yet). We saw they had a car show and we turned out (were heading out of the area following lunch and rode back). I have some more photos on my "Racing with the Wind" page, but liked the doors on this car. Remarkable what people can do to their automobiles and just thought this was worth a photo.   

They also had some classic older cars, it was a pretty good car show. Had a good crowd there, and also a number of very interesting motorcycles on display as well. It was a very good ride and had a great time.
For the day, covered on the order of 100 miles and we had a great time on the bikes. Been awhile since I have been able to do that, and sure enjoyed being out on my bike (and having Kaye on hers) and looking very forward to the next ride in the area. Fall is coming and that means some of the best motorcycling of the year is not very far away! 

National Air and Space Museum (August 31, 2013)

 Was a remarkable time at the National Air and Space Museum on the last day of August....my first time to check out this remarkable place (though had been to the museum at Dulles Airport a few years ago, which is the other part of it. An amazing collection of historic air and spacecraft including these two: a left SpaceShipOne and at right the Bell X-1. SpaceShipOne was the first private spacecraft (and it won the X-Prize) and the X-1 was the first plane to fly supersonic. Two remarkable sights of many to be seen in the museum. It was a wonderful thing to be here.   

Plane at left is the Spirit of St. Louis which was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20-21, 1927 from New York to Paris. It was the first non-stop flight, and was one of the most amazing achievements in aviation in my opinion. A long solo flight in a plane with limited visibility ( he could not see from the front of the plane) and during a time when navigation by air in a plane was very, very basic. The place was custom built, had a top speed of around 130 and cruised around 100-110. Very cool that this aircraft can still be seen today, and enjoyed seeing it. 

Even more amazing is the Wright Flyer which flew from the sands of Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks of North Carolina on December 17, 1903 making the first four flights by a manned and controlled powered aircraft. Damaged  by winds at the end of the day, the plane was stored by the Wrights for 9 years, and then restored by Orville (Wilbur had died before it was displayed). The plane due to a dispute over the museum over who was first was displayed in England, but then when that was resolved was brought to the museum in 1948 and has been on display ever since.   

 Some of the older planes that lead to the planes of today are seen in the photo at left. One of my favorite scenes in the museum were the planes seen here. Most of the planes were grouped into eras or themes such as WWI planes, WWII, and different eras of spacecraft (the space craft went back to designs by Robert Goddard and also such spacecraft as the V-2 and Russian Rockets. There was even a Soyuz spacecraft (which was flown manned in space) which was cool because the Russians still fly that old design to this day.   

THIS was pretty cool, speaking of spacecraft an actual Lunar Lander. The Apollo test program went well during the on-orbit tests and this one was not needed so is in the museum, but it was a fully flight capable Lunar Lander. I had seen reproductions of the spacecraft, but never the real thing. A number of them, at least the lower (golden covered) sections are still sitting on the moon to this day. Those were the landing stages, the two crew men rode back to Apollo Command Modules in orbit (with the third crewman) after landing on the moon. A number of other spacecraft can been seen above the LM.    

Finally, here is yours truly standing in front of the Apollo 11 Command Module "Columbia" (the LM was "Eagle") which flew Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins to the moon and back. Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969. Launched on the giant Saturn V rocket, this was the only portion to return to Earth. The US space program is planning to go back into space using spacecraft much along the lines of Apollo after a long period using the Space Shuttle with a number of designs undergoing design and development. All in all a most remarkable place to visit.

Washington, DC (August 30-September 1)

Made a trip with Kaye to Washington, DC on August 30, big goal (and subject of the next post) was to see the National Air and Space Museum in Washington (I had been to the part at Dulles Airport a few years ago)  but also made a stop at The Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA. That is now an art gallery...but as seen at left was a torpedo factory back in WW2. Interesting place as was the city...lots of shops, places to eat and drink with very old buildings and even some cobblestone streets. A quick ride from the hotel via the Metro....very cool below and above ground subway.     

 As I noted, on August 31 went to the National Air and Space Museum; spent some remarkable time there. We also got  in a fine walk around DC starting with the nearby (from the museum) US Capital. Had the big MLK anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech a few days ago, so lots of barricades (which they were in the process of taking down) around the Capital, as well as a big stage. It was a very cool thing to actually see the Capital, and a very interesting building. In fact walking around Washington was a lot of fun even on a very hot and humid day, as there are a lot of really remarkable buildings. Glad to have the new camera as I zoomed in on some things I wanted to see, and also on some of the things that I normally could not see (like that statue on top of the Capital for instance, got a great shot of that). It was also handy for the White House and the Jefferson Memorial, as I could not get close to those due to the heat and distance. Had to pick and choose.  

Did go to see the WW2 Memorial, which was really something to see. It has two sides:  Atlantic and Pacific. Beautiful monument and got some good photos. Which reminds me, some photos besides these can be found on my Flickr Photo Page, took quite a few, including the air museum.
My grandfather went ashore on D-Day, and often talked of it. I think that he would have found this amazing, I certainly did. It is a huge debt that we owe the brave men and women who fought this war- and can be said that they literally saved the world from a remarkable and terrible horror.   

This is The Wall, the Vietnam Memorial. Very sad with all the names of those who died during this war. Vietnam happened just before my time, was over when I went into the military in  1975-1979 but think of all the people who gave all they had during this period.
A somber place, also had a monument to women soldiers and the men as well at the wall site, will get those on the photo page as well.
Spent a lot of time here just thinking and remembering..and giving silent thanks to those who are remembered on the Wall.    

Went to the Lincoln Memorial (remarkable) and also past the Washington Monument  (and as noted saw the White House and Jefferson Memorial from a distance) but really was impressed by the Korean War Memorial, which is certainly one of the most different and certainly striking of the ones out there. This is it at right, but also had a very neat reflecting pool with a wall that said "Freedom is not Free". Also the wall with this monument had no name but etched photos from the period. It was really a remarkable place to visit.
Of course, so was DC, and we had a great time here!    

Back To Carolina (August 3-4, 2013)

 My girlfriend, dog and I all went to Carolina to see my son. I used to live there (and Richmond) now its Richmond only, but still good to be home. Had not been there in a few months. Saw some new stuff such as photo at left...Veterans Park in Kannapolis, NC. I also saw the Dale Earnhardt Statue there and even met his Mom who was there (and that was pretty cool). There are photos of that in other posts, but a nice thing to see, as was this fairly new park. I think it was dedicated around a year ago. Always some interesting stuff to see there, area tends to go through some changes pretty often.

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 Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC is many times the center of the universe in the region and the area is a hub of the motorsports industry...at least when that is NASCAR. Not just race shops but also NASCAR facilities and of course a lot of places selling race items. I don't think any of the shops are open on weekends - least some of them might be but none we went by, but as noted earlier some older posts have views inside those race shops. In addition to this track there is the Dirt Track and the 4-Wide Dragstrip. Racing is popular in Concord, NC.  

 This was inside the Yankee Candle Shop which was having a Halloween theme for Saturday inside the giant Concord Mills complex. My girl really enjoyed that, and I have to say it is a hell of a thing. Kind of a sad thing in that Concord Mills is the #1 Tourist Attraction in the state, but it is...and is a remarkable thing. This was a no tax weekend so it was even more packed to the gills than usual. Nice place to walk on a very hot day though - is air conditioned after all, and indoors. There are some interesting shops, and it is over a mile walk around its trace track like shape. As noted at left, you do see some interesting things there.   

Headed back to Virginia on August 4 but did make a stop in Durham, NC...a very cool city. This is the bull from the movie Bull Durham. Though they have changed the ballpark to a newer one, they kept the bull, and neat to see that. There is a lot of interesting things to see in that area, both the ballpark, and the old American Tobacco building. They have some really interesting sights there as well.
It was great to be "home" again, nice to visit and see all the sights I remember, the food I used to enjoy and also to see my son. We had a great time during the short visit, and I am looking forward to returning again in the next few weeks!