Blogs from Dayton, Ohio, United States, North America

Wilberforce and Dayton, Ohio We chose this campground primarily because it was in the middle of nowhere. Or, a better way to put it, in the middle of everything we wanted to see in this part of Ohio. Staying here for a while allows us to make day trips out and back to a number of things that were on our list. We decided to start with the closest one yesterday, and that took us pretty much due north about twenty-five miles, first through a town called Xenia (always wanted to visit a town that starts with an X) and then a bit further north on a two-lane road called Wilberforce. Although I didn’t get the history exactly, Wilberforce is the home of two colleges - a private school called, naturally, Wilberforce University, and a branch ... read more

I love Dayton airport. The TSA agents are friendly, helpful, and get you through the lines. It's amazing what a positive attitude can do. They should train agents for all the airports. Time to board!... read more

MEMPHIS BELLE This Boeing B-17F heavy bomber has become one the most celebrated warplanes in our history. It has come to represent the valor and sacrifice, and all things that were good not only about the Eighth Air Force in particular, but also pretty much about all gallant air crews. Along the way it has become part of the folklore of our country. Neither the plane, nor the crew achieved spectacular success in combat operations, although survival on a bombing mission was spectacular enough in itself. Each mission flew right into the jaws of screeching bloody hell. The bomb targets were heavily defended by Nazi fighters and anti-aircraft artillery and they were beyond the range of our own fighter cover. The Nazis had an early warning radar system that enabled them to know in ... read more

Hello, everyone! I am so sorry I haven't been updating this blog. Since I last posted, I survived El Salvador, Belize, and a return trip to Europe to visit friends and "family." Chris returned safely from Afghanistan, and we're now all settled in to our new lives here in Dayton. I am a graduate assistant and full time student at Wright State, and Chris has a rather stressful job on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. We're trying to entertain ourselves here in Western Ohio as best as possible...perhaps we'll have some interesting adventures this summer. We did manage to find a free week and a half to go back to Europe at the end of March...and this time we had a new travel companion: my brother, Kevin! All three of us had a fantastic trip to Paris ... read more

I woke up today in Dayton, Ohio. Dayton is famous for one thing, aviation. The Wright brothers were based here when they created the first airplane. They flew it at Kitty Hawk (see April 8th) but they designed and built it here. Their house and workshop no longer exist in town (more on that later) but several remaining sites have been turned into a National Park. Since I saw their history earlier at Kitty Hawk, I decided to focus on other things. The military really didn’t believe in airplanes until the Wright brothers did a demonstration for a group of army generals in 1910. Soon after, the army started buying airplanes and testing them for combat. An Army lieutenant, url=http://www.fir... read more