It is very hot and humid and the lows
are around 79 degrees. Quick afternoon thunderstorms just last a
couple of minutes and then the heat and humidity return with a
vengeance! We abandoned the idea of going back to the beach this
morning and instead did some RV chores, stopped at a Walmart for
some supplies and headed west across Scenic Route 98 through Gulf
Coast beach towns. This scenic route may have been scenic at one
time, but now it is mostly strip mall after strip mall on one side
and highrise condos and homes on the other, blocking the view of the
water.
We stopped at the Pensacola visitor
center to find out about attending the evening parade for the
Festival of Five Flags. Florida has been under five different flags
– Spain, France, England, Mexico, the Confederacy and the USA and
the festival celebrates the founding of Pensacola. The woman at the
visitor center did not know whether there would be parking for the RV
close to the parade route, but suggested we drive the route and check
it out. We found only one parking lot and decided we did not want to drive 1/2 hour from our campground back to downtown Pensacola to find we could not get a parking
place.
We headed southwest to the Pensacola
Naval Airstation, home of the Blue Angels to visit the National Naval
Aviation Museum. We didn't get there until 3pm and spent a couple of
hours looking around – we will need at least another day to see
everything.
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| Plymouth just like Jack's first car |
So, we drove to Big Lagoon State Park –
popular boating and birding spot. I had made a reservation two days
earlier and got the last campsite. The good birding is primarily
during the spring and fall migration, but we wanted to stay here
because it is convenient to the Aviation Museum. We had snacks
outside, hiding from the sun, some sausage and pepper sandwiches for
dinner.
Saturday, woke up 6:30 to 80 degrees,
humid and cloudy, but it quickly cleared up. We checked with the
gatehouse and managed to snag a campsite for one more night due to a
cancellation. Lucky! Drove up to the Museum, and watched two
excellent films in their IMAX theater – The Magic of Flight and
Aircraft Carrier. The first gave a little information about history
of aviation, the physics of flight and lots of incredible information
and footage about the Blue Angels. This is their home base, but they
spend months in Arizona practicing for the summer Airshows around the
country. They actually have exercises they must do to keep blood in
their heads during their maneuvers so the G-forces don't make them
blackout! The second film documented the naval Pacific Rim exercises
that includes more than 20 countries with the United States nuclear
powered aircraft carrier in command. The technology they talked
about is absolutely unbelievable, and we assume the stuff they can't
talk about is even more fantastic.
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| First jetfighter - German |
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| Japanese Zero |
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| This duplication of the Enola Gay's Bomb was used in training missions |
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| My next career as a Blue Angel? |
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| SkyLab-1st Space Station orbited 1973-1979 |
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| Interior of the Skylab-TINY |
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| The actual raft where 3 navy airmen survived a planecrash 72 days in the Pacific Ocean as documented in the book by Robert Trumbull |
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| Navy Shower Rules - same as our RV Rules |
We saw lots of aircraft, had lunch at
their cafe, and headed to the RV for a nap. Then back to the museum
to see a movie about how Marines are trained. From bootcamp in SC
and CA to the subsequent specialty training in bases around the
country, it highlighted how much training it takes to be a Marine. After the movie, Jack was
walking a little taller..... We finished seeing the remaining
exhibits and returned to our Big Lagoon campground to relax.
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