Tyler, Texas Air Show 2013

Wow what a show.  We were able to tour the museum and see  a B-17, B-24,P-51 Mustang, and a German Messerschmitt fly in to the show.  Before landing, the bombers flew right overhead.  Later, we were able to go on the bombers.  Met a lot of interesting people.  Lots of veterans.  We spent some time talking to a man who was 17 when he was captured and put into a German prisoner of war camp.  He told us how a German Messerschmitt flew over their camp.  This caused their moral to sink while the moral of the Germans rose.  The prisoners thought that the plane would help the Germans win the war.  He told us how he was freed when Patton’s tanks arrived at their camp.  He was very interesting to talk to.  Another man was there who was a co-pilot in a B-26 when a Messerschmitt flew right past them.  We were also able to see the planes that are part of the museum.  All in all, a fantastic day.

B-17 flying overhead

B-24 with a P-51 Mustang coming in

Messerschmitt coming in for a landing

co-pilot of a B-26 that met a Messerschmitt during WWII

He was a 17 year old prisoner of war when a Messerschmitt flew over his POW camp.

Messerschmitt

P-51 Mustang

b-17

Corpus Christ Science and History Museum 2013

The Corpus Christi Science and History Museum has a lot of different exhibits.  The exhibits include the reproductions of the pinta, and the Santa Maria which sailed to many American ports on the anniversary of Columbus’s trip to the Americas.  We were able to go aboard one ship.  Interesting that the crew all stayed on the deck as the cargo took up the bottom hold.  Other exhibits in the museum come from some of the ships that wrecked in the Gulf.  Small museum, but had a great time with my friend Jan seeing what the museum had to offer.

 

Santa Maria

Arabian blunderbuss, not very accurate, but very deadly

Carlsbad Caverns

Wow, Carlsbad Cavern are huge.  We arrived in time for lunch and to book a 1:00 tour to the King’s Palace and then one of the walking tours.  Two tours back to back is not a wise thing to do.  But we enjoyed both of them.  Not very many people there this time of the year which made it easy to book the King’s Palace tour on short notice. Gary was hoping for more color in the cave, but most of the columns, stalactites, and stalagmites were white.  The lighting in the cave was set up by a Hollywood person and I don’t think he did a very good job. 

Roswell- Did Aliens really crash here

Well, the aliens really crashed 65 miles west of Roswell.  The incident only became known as the Roswell Incident because the rancher who found the crash gathered the debris and took it into to the sheriff at Roswell who then notified the Military.  The army personnel who drove out to the ranch took some of the gathered debris home with him and showed it to his family.  Headlines came out that the military had found a spaceship.  That only lasted until someone higher up changed the finding to a weather balloon.  Then the military officer who had shown the debris to his family, had to tell them to forget what they saw.  We arranged a tour with Dennis G. Balthaser, ufo researcher, investigator, lecturer and Journalist.  He gave us lots of information and drove us around Roswell.  Great tour.  After the tour, we toured the UFO Museum.  Of course, no spaceship on display, but lots of articles about the incident.

Display at the museum.  the aliens move and the spaceship disperses smoke.

diorama of the crash

Military tried to say that the aliens were really these crash dummies.  Only problem, crash was in 1947 and these dummies were used in 1952

Hangar 84 where the bodies and crash debris were transported before being flown out to Ohio.

Ruidoso River Museum

Ruidoso River Museum is a very small museum, but it is loaded with lots of information about the Lincoln County Wars, Billy the Kid, and Pat Garrett.  Cost for the museum is only $5, but it is worth the money.  Take time to read all the information.  We will be watching Young Guns tonight.  The museum has all kinds of things.  We enjoyed the jewelry exhibits, the Titanic relics, items that belonged to Elvis, LIberace,  Princess Di, Jacqueline Kennedy, and many more actors.

gun Pat Garrett used when he shot Billy the Kid

Princess Di

Hubbard Museum of the American West

The Hubbard Museum of the American West is located in Ruidoso, NM.  Cost for the museum is $5 per person.  It is a small museum but has plenty of things to see. 

knife that used to belong to Billy the Kid

gun owned by Billy the Kid

Three Rivers Petroglyphs

While traveling from Saint David, Az to Alamogordo, NM, I received a call from my mom telling me that we should go see the Petroglyphs located near Alamogordo.  She stated that they were the best she had ever experienced.  Today, we took her advice and went to Three Rivers.  All I can say is WOW.  Lots of petroglyphs to see, over 21,000 they say.  Sure worth the visit.  If you plan to go, make sure you wear great walking shoes for the rugged 1/2 mile trail.  Make sure to go around both sides.