"The coasts we've seen, now traveling between"
Continue reading “The Great Camel Experiment: Part II – Camp Verde, TX”
Campground/RV Park: Pecan Park Riverside RV Park
Location: 50 Squirrel Run, San Marcos, Texas
Phone: (512) 396-0070
Continue reading “Campground Review: Pecan Park Riverside RV Park”
If you’re going to be visiting Big Bend National Park, we encourage you to the little border crossing town across the Rio Grande River called Boquillas, Mexico on the Southwest side of the National Park. We’re sure you’ll enjoy this cool little day-trip across the notorious mighty river and create a memory you can tell your kids and grandkids… Continue reading “Visiting Boquillas, BC Mexico”
Do you know what today is (day after Thanksgiving)? It’s probably just a regular day for you; some returning back to work from Thanksgiving or for you diehard shoppers, it’s Black Friday. But for us, today is our third Nomadiversary and we are celebrating BIG! We wanted to share with you all our ‘Year in Review’.
Continue reading “Always On Liberty Crew’s 2017 Year in Review”
Continue reading “The Great Camel Experiment: Part I – Quartzsite, AZ”
Each time while we would visit Texas, we’d navigate our way through ranch and farm lands in Hill Country admiring the huge property gates and beautiful rolling hills and meadows. We’d notice something quite peculiar we’ve not seen anywhere else.
Continue reading “Purple Fence Posts in Texas”
When we were parked at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas this past February, we caught up with our RV besties, Tim and Emily from OwnLessDoMore for a couple weeks. While there, Emily and I took a power walk over to the War Birds Park so she could show me some ‘awesome airplanes’. She appreciated how much we enjoyed military history so she thought this was just perfect for us to experience. After they “Timily” (Tim & Emily) set out on the road again, we frequented the park on our walks to score some photos.  |
| Nice to look at, cool to touch but please don’t climb. This is an ‘outdoor museum’ |
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| Chief Master SGT William Petrie |
Assembled between various War Birds were ‘…an enlisted story’ plaquards of notable Enlisted Airmen of the Air Force. Since Lackland AFB is home to the Air Force’s Basic Military Training facility, it’s fitting to have these as inspiration and historical notables of the service’s enlisted heroes to teach our newest generations. We were privileged to attend an Air Force BMT Graduation and wrote a previous blog about our experience; Off We Go into the Wild Blue Wonder. This is just one of the many ‘an enlisted story’ plaques.
One of my favorites was the SR-71 Blackbird! Like all of the aircraft exhibits, it was cool that we could actually touch and look completely around the Blackbird’s fuselage. This is one of those, ‘you gotta see it to believe it’. The SR-71 first flew in December 1964; we were only about two years old back then. It was retired by NASA in 1999. For over 30 years, this spy plane flew over Mach 3 speeds and was the fastest plane which could outfly any missle. This bird ranged 3682 miles without fueling. To put that into perspective, its 2572 miles from New York City to San Francisco.
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| The Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” |
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed Aircraft Corporation |
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| Length: | 107′ 5″ |
| Length of Nose Probe: | 4′ 11″ |
| Wing Span: | 55′ 7″ |
| Wing Area: | 1,795 ft. sq. |
| Wing Aspect Ratio: | 1.939 |
| Wing Root Chord: | 60.533 |
| Wing Dihedral Angle: | 0 degrees |
| Wing Chord: | 0.00 |
| Wing Sweep: | 52.629 degrees |
| Inboard Elevon Area: | 39.00 ft. sq. |
| Outboard Elevon Area: | 52.50 ft. sq. |
| Total Vertical Rudder Area: | 150.76 ft. sq. |
| Moveable Rudder Area: | 70.24 ft. sq. |
| Rudder Root Chord: | 14.803 ft. |
| Rudder Tip Chord: | 7.833 ft. |
| Height: | 18′ 6″ |
| Empty Weight: | 59,000 lbs. |
| Maximum Weight: | 170,000 lbs. |
| Fuselage Diameter: | 5.33 ft. |
| Service Ceiling: | 85,000’+ |
| Maximum Speed: | Mach 3.3+ (Limit CIT of 427 degrees C) |
| Cruising Speed: | Mach 3.2 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whittney J-58 (JT11D-20A) with 34,000 lbs. of thrust. |
| Range: | 3,200 nautical miles (without refueling) |
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| Dan reading an ‘…an enlisted story’ pertaining to this Warbird |
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| The Military Dog Handler’s helmet was filled with coin donations from visitors |
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| The back of the memorial wall is a beautifully etched mural of military working dogs from all five branches of the military |
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These are just a few of the many photos I took when there were very few visitors. The collection is much more extensive with other War Birds that you’ll just have to come see for yourself. If you’re a military historian or military history enthusiast, we highly recommend visiting this fabulous display of military aircraft. What an amazing place to not only take in the history of our Air Force but also to enjoy a good walking workout.
If you can, include a Friday so you can witness another 700+ men and women marching into their new rolls as United States Air Force Airmen. You can read about our experience ‘Off We Went into the Wild Blue Wonder’.
Remember the Alamo!!
Did you know March 6, 2017 was the 181st Anniversary of the Siege of the Alamo.
How many of you, without Googling, could tell what happened there and why the Alamo is such an important historical site?
*crickets…crickets…crickets…*
Let us help you out a little…
…the Alamo is the home of the 1836 battle where heroes, Esparza, Crocket, Bowie, and Travis died fighting for freedom. Their sacrifice helped birth Texas and globally, put it on the map. Their call for aid and refusal to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds stirred America and the world. The seige lasted 13 days but there’s tons more in history to learn about the 13 days of siege of the Alamo.
Since it has such a great historical importance , we will just direct you to here to the Alamo website:
Today, the Alamo is the heart of San Antonio and is Texas’ most visited historic landmark and we made it a point to visit it, inside and out. Its not a far walk to the Riverwalk, so put this on your San Antonio To-Do’s.
The one thing that just surprised us was just how small it really is…the building that is and inside the fort area. In movies, it shows a much larger image but the fact is, it’s quite small and takes up very little real estate. It’s located in the middle of the city amongst towering modern buildings and shopping all around it. The amazingly beautiful, architectured 300-year old former Spanish mission-turned-fortress is a great exhibit open year-round; free for school groups, families, travelers and all who visit and experience first hand the battlefield and hallowed grounds. Literally, the hair on the backs of our necks stood up as we walked graciously with each step.
Here, in its current state:
About the buildings ——> HERE
The night we took these photos was actually a rarity to enjoy this…no people. We consider ourselves lucky as we have walked by it several different times of the day on different occasions only to see it swarmed with visitors making it difficult to get good National Geographic type photos. These are OUR photos.
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| The Entrance |
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| The outer ‘fortress’ wall and gate |
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| Click on the photo to get a better look to read |
This is what it normally looks like during the day, so you see what an incredible gift it was to get to see it ‘naked’.
Though we didn’t get to attend the 13 days of interactive living history events to commemorate the 181st anniversary of the 1836 siege and battle of THE ALAMO this year, we DID get to go last year this time when our son was in town visiting.
So, today, we tip our hats to Texas history today!! Never forget THE ALAMO!