The March 3/4 storm that brought so much devestation to Alabama. Georgia and elsewhere brought us only about six inches of snow and by mid-morning the sun's radiant heat warmed your back and melted the snow off the driveways and streets.   Left just beauty.

The photo above was the evening of the 3rd.  snow just beginning to fall.  There was already a few inches on the ground.  Weather report indicated we may get wholloped.   Turned out we didn't. 
​I, though did not know that and was up at 5AM ready to "plow through the snow" and get some photos.  Sun rose around 6:10.  I could already see the snow was only about six inches.  The streets plowed and glistening.

I fed the pride - have six cats -  tossed down a cup of coffee and left.  Drove the immediate area around my home.  Not much of an adventure; but was a pretty drive.

The 4Runner in front of Rockford Plantation.

​

Drove around the park where the "Plantation" is located. Then out "Amish Jagger".  And found a couple of buggies.   Also  a heard of about eight deer.

After this snow we are seeing very cold temps.   I can't wait for the warmth of Spring to arrive.  Break out the motorcycle and seek out the next "adventure".  So do return and find some more interesting places, great resturants and hotels.

Can't wait to roam about after being couped up for a rather boring Winter.   Come on Spring  -  it's time to hit the trail!

Above my BMW R1200GS with a Freedom Sidecar
Below, my current ride, Indian Chief  Vintage and a Hannigan rig.

utilitarian too.  Sure you can ride with three people on board; or you can carry a bunch of stuff in it.
Make yourself very popular by bringing that keg of beer to the camp site. 

As stated in previous postings here, the R1200 GS was an adventure rig - it would go anywhere.  By contrast the Indian rig is simply a "gentlemans" rig for this only sees paved roads or hard packed dirt. and the adventures are fine hotels and dining.

At any rate. should you ever think of a sidecar rig; ran across this excellent video today.  Helge Pedersen is a world class world rider!  You can find more about him on the web and Youtube.  So sit back and enjoy this presentation:

Hoping you all have had a Blessed Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year!

Now we are soundly into the New Year Looking forward to the adventures that await.  Discovery of new destinations, food, and hotels and camping.  Will also return to a few of the favorite.  The decision will be to take the motorcycle or the 4Runner.

Currently there are no trips planned until later in the year.  Locally the weather has been fine; however the lack of snow and the trees being bare present a flat and boring photo opportunity.  So we shall wait.  Thinking of going to DAYTONA BIKE WEEK, in March; but we may be experiencing snow then.  Have made my resovations for AMERICADE in June. 

Will be attending the WOODEN BOAT SHOW in July at Mystic, CT.  Should you wish to attend this event it is held at MYSTIC SEAPORT and that is a wonderful place to visit.
​Below is the link to the WOODEN BOAT SHOW:

Mystic Seaport

This year  hope to get back the the VIRGINA MILITARY AIR SHOW in May.  Last year it was rained out.  Keep your fingers crossed.  May is the World War II aircraft and in October step back in time to'
World War I.   If you search the blog you can see the videos and information on these air shows.

No idea, other then above, what adventures my be in store this year.  perhaps back West.  I am always drawn to Monument Valley and SW Colorado.  Perhaps back to Jackson and beyond.  Photo below is my BMWMOA "PEAKS ACROSS AMERICA " back in, I believe 2006.  From Boise, ID to Vermont.  Photo below was a stop in Jackson Hole, WY.  This ride was about 6.300 miles in two weeks.  Great trip!

So this year join me for  great destinations, fine dinning, and great hotels.

MADONNA INN, San Luis Obispio, CA was one of the more unique fine hotels. Each room is a different decor:

Near the Four Corners                                                 Road to Rico, CO                                                        Road to Rico, CO
​

Anytime is a great time; however Fall is spectacular!  Colorado's MILLION DOLLAR HIGHWAY located on CO 550 between Silverton and Ouray is truely a must drive or ride.  I have done it many times both driving and riding. Will do it again.  

As you can see here snow is possible in the Fall. Thus if your interest is to drive the many trails in the area best would be late June and the Summer months.  Whether you start in Ouray or Silverton the drive itself is only about 25 miles in length; but can easily take a couple of hours or all day.  Although there are some great "sweepers" if on a bike  BEWARE  most of the highway has no guard rails!

Whenever I am there usually stay in Silverton.   Don't know why, fine camping, RV and motels in both
Silverton and in Ouray.  My day starts out with breakfast, perhaps at THE BLACK BEAR CAFE; although have grabbed a coffee and just hit the road to capture the early morning light.  However should you sleep in and get into Ouray for lunch or dinner I would recommend O'BRIEN'S PUB for great beer and full menu of fine selections 

​

Now on the other hand if you find yourself in Silverton and looking for a wonderful and fun resturant
I suggest HANDLEBARS.   Be it lunch or dinner you will not be disappointed!  And don't forget to top off with the homemade Peach Cobbler.
​

Silverton

Town of Ouray

One of the best drives or rides can be found in South West Colorado.  So as I sit here on a chilly December day and homebound for the Christmas Holiday I reminisce of this drive to the ghost town of ANIMAS FORKS.   Just outside Silverton., Colorado.  Easy drive or ride; but as stated in this blog before, I wouldn't do it in anything other then a 4x4 because you will need the clearence as the road can be rough in many places.  Photos below don't realy show how rough it can be.

Above is the William Duncan House.  The finest home built in Animas.  

The season now is over this year. The passes are closed by the snow.   Next Summer, if you can, plan a trip to Durango, Colorado and ride the train.  Drive up to Silverton and go see Animas Forks Ghost Town.  There are many more sights to see - Drive up and over Ophir Pass and have lunch in Telluride.  Drive the "Million Dollar Highway"   If you have "big ones" try Black Bear Pass and so many more!

​

The Nor'Easter hit us around 8AM this morning.  We will see about 5 inches of snow.  Earliest snow in years.  

Here are a few of past "snow play".   Even though I don't ski anymore. I still love Winter; although not thrilled with shoveling the driveway and stuff - do like to play in the snow!

​Toady's snow.

​Fire and Snow:

I have ridden BMW's for years - 42 years.  As a reader of this blog you have known this.  If new to the blog, you can see a few of the many rides from my first, BMW a 1976 R90s to this current ride.   R90S was a sweet and fast ride.  Saw many "centuries"   on sections of Highway One riding up to Carmel from San Luis Obispo.  Then went on to other Bemers.  All fun.  The best though was my R1200GS.  Bought that in 2007. It went everywhere slabs at high speed to crawling in the dirt.  Few years later hung the FREEDOM SIDECAR on it.  Spent many days out in Silverton, Durango, Ouray. Colorado.  In my opinion some of the best riding anywhere!  Both slabing the Million Dollar Hwy to the trails of the "outback".  

​Have sat in the saddle for well over 300,000 miles.

Collected a few "IRON BUTT" certs.  Lots of off rode too.

Ride dirt and you will go down; but hey, put a sidecar on and you won't!

Sold the 12 GS due to an unanticpated problem and needed some quick cash.  Recovered two years later and bought the Indian and hung the HANNIGAN sidecar on it.   No more off road with this "PRINCESS OF THE PAVEMENT"  but is a wonderful ride and looks great at fine hotels and dinning!

OVERLAND EXPO is a great event.  Been there three times with the 12GS and the 4Runner.  It is held twice a year in Flagstaff, AZ and in Ashville, NC.  Great to attend and see the rigs and hone your skills in off road driving or riding.  The vendors offer up everything you could possibly want for your rig or for camping.

So here it is a week before the judging at OVERLAND EXPO and I have to ride down for the judging.  Planning on it; however we are dealing with a family medical issue that may not allow me to attend.  Hope to be able to go.  Just think it a hoot to take the "Princess" and win an off road event!  Hey, adventure comes in many forms.  You don't always have to be in the dust or the rain or the snow in the outback.  Sleeping on the hard ground and eating beans.  An adventure can also be seeking out the fine hotels and resturants and finding out just what is Foie Gras, or Escargot!

Last weekend the EAAs B-17G ALUMINUM OVERCAST  stopped by Lancaster, PA for one of the many stops they do on the national tour schedule.  Although rides are availble I didn't do to the truely overcast and light rain.  Just does not make for stellar photography.   

The name Aluminum Overcast was given when a pilot of a P-51 Mustang flew under it and remarked that he just flew under an aluminum overcast.  Name stuck.  Although the B-17, in all vareants was one of the most iconic US bombers of World War II,  this one did not see the front.  Contract built at the Burbank facility of Lockheed in May of 1945.  12,731 Boeing "Flying Fortresses" were built many by Lockheed and Douglas under contract.

Tail Gunner

​Below is the trailer of a  great classic movie staring Clark Gable and Spener Tracy in a powerhouse movie of testing the Boeing B-17.    Find the full movie on Youtube.

​WWII Statistics Army Aircorps.
​
"Almost 1,000  Army planes disappeared en route from the US to foreign locations.
 
But an  eye-watering 43,581 aircraft were lost overseas including 22,948 on combat missions (18,418 against the Western Axis) and 20,633 attributed to non-combat  causes overseas.
In a single 376  plane raid in August 1943, 60 B-17s were shot down. That was a 16 percent loss  rate and meant 600 empty bunks in England ..  In 1942-43 it was  statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in  Europe .

Pacific theatre  losses were far less (4,530 in combat) owing to smaller forces  committed..  The worst B-29 mission, against Tokyo on May 25, 1945, cost  26 Superfortresses, 5.6 percent of the 464 dispatched from the Marianas..

On average, 6,600 American servicemen died per month during WWII, about 220 a  day. By the end of the war, over 40,000 airmen were killed in combat theatres and another 18,000 wounded.  Some 12,000 missing men were declared dead, including a number "liberated" by the Soviets but never returned.  More  than 41,000 were captured, half of the 5,400 held by the Japanese died in  captivity, compared with one-tenth in German hands.   Total combat casualties were pegged at 121,867.

US manpower made up the deficit.  The AAF's peak strength was reached in 1944 with  2,372,000 personnel, nearly twice the previous year's figure.

The losses were huge---but so were production totals.  From 1941 through 1945, American  industry delivered more than 276,000 military aircraft. That number was enough not only for US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, but for allies as diverse as Britain, Australia, China and Russia.  In fact, from 1943 onward, America produced more planes than Britain and Russia combined.  And more than Germany and Japan together 1941-45.
However, our  enemies took massive losses.  Through much of 1944, the Luftwaffe sustained uncontrolled hemorrhaging, reaching 25 percent of aircrews and 40  planes a month. And in late 1944 into 1945, nearly half the pilots in  Japanese squadrons had flown fewer than 200 hours.  The disparity of two years before had been completely reversed.


Experience  Level:

Uncle Sam sent  many of his sons to war with absolute minimums of training. Some fighter pilots entered combat in 1942 with less than one hour in their assigned  aircraft.

The 357th  Fighter Group (often known as The Yoxford Boys) went to England in late 1943 having trained on P-39s.   The group never saw a Mustang until shortly before its first combat mission.

A high-time P-51 pilot had 30 hours in type.  Many had fewer than five hours.  Some had one hour.

With arrival of new aircraft, many combat units transitioned in combat.  The attitude was, "They all have a stick and a throttle.  Go fly "em." When the famed 4th Fighter Group converted from P-47s to P-51s in February 1944, there was no time to stand down for an orderly transition.   

The Group commander, Col. Donald Blakeslee, said, "You can learn to fly `51s on the way to the target.  

A future P-47 ace said, "I was sent to England to die."  He was not alone.   

Some fighter pilots tucked their wheels in the well on their first combat mission with one previous flight in the aircraft.  Meanwhile, many bomber crews were still learning their trade:  of Jimmy Doolittle's 15 pilots on the April 1942 Tokyo raid, only five had won their wings before 1941.   

All but one of the 16 copilots were less than a year out of flight school..

In WWII flying safety took a back seat to combat.  The AAF's worst accident rate was recorded by the A-36 Invader version of the P-51: a staggering 274 accidents  per 100,000 flying hours.   

Next worst were the P-39 at 245, the  P-40 at 188, and the P-38 at 139.  All were Allison powered.

Bomber wrecks were fewer but more expensive.  The B-17 and B-24 averaged 30 and 35 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, respectively-- a horrific figure considering that from 1980 to 2000 the Air Force's major mishap rate was less than 2.

The B-29 was even worse at 40; the world's most sophisticated, most capable and most  expensive bomber was too urgently needed to stand down for mere safety reasons.. The AAF set a reasonably high standard for B-29 pilots, but the desired figures were seldom attained.

The original cadre of the 58th Bomb Wing was to have 400 hours of multi-engine time, but  there were not enough experienced pilots to meet the criterion.  Only ten percent had overseas experience.  Conversely, when a $2.1 billion B-2  crashed in 2008, the Air Force initiated a two-month "safety pause" rather than declare a "stand down", let alone grounding.

The B-29 was no better for maintenance. Though the R3350 was known as a complicated,  troublesome power-plant, no more than half the mechanics had previous experience with the Duplex Cyclone.   But they made it work.

Navigators:
Perhaps the greatest unsung success story of AAF training was Navigators. 

The Army graduated some 50,000 during the War.  And many had never flown out of sight of land before leaving "Uncle Sugar" for a war zone.  Yet the huge majority found their way across oceans and continents without getting lost or running out of fuel --- a stirring tribute to the AAF's educational establishments

Cadet To Colonel:

It was possible for a flying cadet at the time of Pearl Harbor to finish the war with eagles on his shoulders.  That was the record of John D Landers, a 21-year-old Texan, who was commissioned a second lieutenant on December 12, 1941.  He joined his combat squadron with 209 hours total flight time, including 2 in P-40s.  He finished the war as a full colonel, commanding an 8th Air Force Group --- at age 24.

As the training pipeline filled up, however those low figures became exceptions. 

By early 1944, the average AAF fighter pilot entering combat had logged at least 450 hours, usually including 250 hours in training.  At the same time, many captains  and first lieutenants claimed over 600 hours.

FACT:

At its height in mid-1944, the Army Air Forces had 2.6 million people and nearly 80,000 aircraft of all types. 

Today the US Air Force employs 327,000 active personnel (plus 170,000 civilians) with 5,500+ manned and perhaps 200 unmanned aircraft. 

The 2009 figures represent about 12 percent of the manpower and 7 percent of the airplanes of the WWII peak.


IN  SUMMATION:

Whether there will ever be another war like that experienced in 1940-45 is doubtful, as fighters and bombers have given way to helicopters and remotely-controlled drones over Afghanistan and Iraq .
 
But within living memory, men left the earth in 1,000-plane formations and fought major battles five miles high,  leaving a legacy that remains timeless."

As the story goes:
"Once upon a time there were three bears, who lived together in a house of their own, in a wood.  One of them was a little, small, wee bear; one was a middle-sized bear, and the other was a great, huge bear."
​
Ok, not the same but let us look here and now and Goldilocks is searching for an RV; to venture into the woods.  How far into the woods depends largely on the size of the RV and the capibilities.  For instance to go deep into the woods, or desert, you need a 4x4 and not to high so as to clear overhangs.  Another is to tow something to get you into the woods while the RV is left at a base camp.  For years this is what I did

Without a doubt, this was the best!  A Class A will alow you to have all the comforts of home and yet still it can be driven and parked as any other car.  I should note here however, I traveled by myself except my two cats traveled with me.  Addmittedly two on board and you might need an attorney!
​

Above left is my first "RV".  Had a sleeping platform and storage, plus carried the bike inside.  Worked OK; but after awhile I was longing for more creature comforts.  I bought the Pleasure Way in 2007 and put the bike on the trailer.

In the early days as a child we camped all over the West.  Those were the days!  Often touring in a 1957 Chevy Nomad - new at the time.  Father had a big and heavy canvas tent.  Sometimes we would just go hunting and shooting trips,; mostly to Bear Mountain in Tehachapi about two hours East of Los Angles.   Sleep under thes stars and wake to the aroma of Italian sausage and scrambled egges grilling over a wood fire.  Thanks Dad, those were the best of days!   

Like Goldilocks, you have to sample all the possibilities of RVs out there.  And boy are there a bunch!
Recently was at what is billed as the largest RV show in the Country; it may be too.  Over 1,500 on display.  From the small to the "estate" on wheels.  

Like Goldilocks, you need to sample all the possibilities out there.  Some may be too small, many are too big; and then there is the one that is just right.  Back then it ws the Class B.  Great advantage of the "B" is you can drive and park anywhere a car can.  With a Class A you are pretty much stuck to driving the interstate and parking at Walmart.

My solution since 2016 was to buy a Toyota 4 Runner and turn it into an RV.  Video below:

This worked great for me.  It allowed  access into areas where a 4x4 can go..

Now two years later and feeling the effects of aging; once again looking at perhaps buying an RV.  This time, should I do it, would be a Class C with slide outs.  Still tow the motorcycle.  Of course one must weigh the reality of RV ownership.  In the case of the above, with a purchase price somewhere north of $115,000.00 you can buy many a night in 5 Star hotels!

Have fun and do your research, Rv's range from Tear Drop trailers and the small "Adventure " trailers to multi-million dollar Class As.  

 The photo below:  I must ask: What were they thinking? !  I guess you can close the doors.

​This past weekend and the weekend before.  Great rides and then rain.  All good.  Love the Indian and the 4Runner.
​
If you have young children or grand children then Thomas the Tank is a familiar  face.  Although there are other "Thomas's" around; I believe the one located in Strasburg, PA is the only "live steam".  Should you find yourself close to Lancaster County, PA, do take a ride on  Thomas, or one of the other trains.
While there don't miss the wonderful Train Museum too.

​

Since 1880 Liederkranz, a German singing society and cultural club, has celebrated the German Heritage.  Always a good time when there, and been there several times.  Great Food.  Great "Volk".  Great Music!

Early Saturday, rode out on the bike. Encounted just a few rain drops.  The sky was threatening so left about 3:30.  What a shock to try to return about 6PM.  The moderate attendence in the afternoon had exploded to well over 3,000!  No place to park and in the overflow parking the bus line was way to long for this cowboy.  I'll return Sunday.   And did.

Below are the sights and sounds of the Munich Oktoberfest.  Enjoy!