On the Road Again - Purple ZR-1 Road Trip to Utah

[QB93Z]

Many of you know that Lyndi paints in the car while we are traveling. It is one of the things that she enjoys about our trips. I am pleased to present the first travel painting of 2021. Lyndi has wanted to do this painting for several years. Our cat "Poodle" passed away a while ago but we will always remember him sitting on the Dining Room radiator and surveying his domain, the back yard.



Jim

[We Gone]

Love the painting. Lyndi is a great artist!

[tf95ZR1]

Beautiful painting, Lyndi!
DON'T SPILL ANY PAINT IN THE Z!

[G-Sting]

That painting by Lyndi is awesome!

[QB93Z]

Day 9 - In Park City: We continued our "taking it easy" plan and stayed around the resort until Noon. We drove 16 miles west on I-80 to visit the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.

Lyndi caught photos of the mountains and clouds along the mountainous drive to SLC:










The Hogle Zoo is a medium sized zoo that obviously has strong community support. We enjoyed the friendliness of the staff and the condition of the facilities.




It is unusual to get a photo of an elephant with it's ears fanned out:




This Palla Cat is a small member of the wild feline family that we have never seen before. I think it is cute:




One of my favorite zoo animals is the Polar bear. This one was very active and a joy to watch:






Near by there was a large Grizzly Bear who seemed to be enjoying the cool water:



Jim

[evolutionross]

Looks like a wonderful time Jim! So glad you two are out doing what you love. Are you going to swing by Haibeck's BBQ on the return trip? Jenn and I will be there picking up the car

[QB93Z]

Originally Posted by evolutionross

Looks like a wonderful time Jim! So glad you two are out doing what you love. Are you going to swing by Haibeck's BBQ on the return trip? Jenn and I will be there picking up the car

Hi Ross, I am sure you will have a great time at the BBQ. You will meet a great group of ZR-1 enthusiasts. You will also have a good time driving home in your ZR-1.

Unfortunately, Lyndi and I will still be on the road so we will miss this BBQ. Say Hi to everyone for me.

Jim

[QB93Z]

Day 10: Our travel plans for Thursday were to sight see in Ogden and downtown Salt Lake City and get lunch at the oldest saloon west of the Mississippi River.

We started in Ogden which is north of Salt Lake City. To avoid rush hour traffic we took I-84




The mountain scenery was beautiful and we got to race another Union Pacific freight train:







to be continued.....

[QB93Z]

Our first stop, and the main attraction for the day was the Hill Aerospace Museum. Located just north of Hill Air Force Base, right off I-15, the museum was easy to find. The museum is run by a dedicated non-profit organization. Admission is free and the facilities are superb.

There are two large hangers filled with exhibits and another large collection of planes and helicopters outside on the museum grounds. Every display is clearly described on info-plaques.

The Mission of the museum is to tell the history of the US Air Force using actual USAF equipment and the stories of the men and women who flew, built and maintained them and the wars they fought in.

I think that the WW II B-17 Stratofortress is a stunning example of the power of United States Military and the design and building of an air force second to none. During WW II more than 12,000 B-17's were built by the USA and Britain to destroy the German military and military industries.



Every plane on display has a story to tell and many were personal to me, my family members and friends who served during war.

My favorite example of the accomplishments of US aircraft design and ingenuity is the SR-71 Blackbird. This high altitude, super-sonic, spy plane successfully conducted spy missions for many years before anyone in the public knew it was flying:




During WW II, my Father was a US Navy Bomb Disposal Officer. He told us of his memories of the bomb arming mechanisms for aircraft ordinance. When the bomb was released from the plane, a safety wire would pull a pin which allowed a small propeller on the nose of the bomb to spin. After a pre-determined number of revolutions, the bomb was armed to explode. For bombs that did not explode, my Father and his team would have to dis-arm the bomb. He said it was very important not spin the propeller while working on the bomb.




One of the important rolls of the US Air Force is movement of cargo world-wide and in dangerous locations. There are many planes that fulfill these missions. Lyndi is standing under a USAF C124 GlobeMaster II which operated from 1950 to 1974.




During the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the US Nuclear Triade was USAF ICBM missiles in silos in the US northern states, the submarine launched SLBM missiles (where I served) and long-range USAF strategic bombers like the B-52 and the more modern B1:






to be continued.....

[XfireZ51]

Jim,

You?re pretty close to the Salt Flats. Any chance u?ll go there?