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Published: June 10th 2007
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When do we see more planes?
Little Z had a blast looking at the planes at the Air Force Base. She wanted to climb inside like daddy did. Sunday morning we woke and decided that since we were going to be moving camp sites around noon we would just stick around camp, try to get organized (we are still trying to find places for everything) and just relax until it was time to move.
We had Blueberry and Strawberry poptarts for breakfast (the first time, I think, that Little Z had them). They were very fruity and tasty and we found that the little bit that wasn’t eaten made for a good snack when we got back from Throwing Rocks in the Water.
Little Z loves to throw rocks in the water (or wah wah as she still calls it. She annunciates a lot of words very well, but water is still wah wah).
Daddy and Little Z took a walk to a neighboring campground area (both are a part of Willard bay, one has hookups, the other does not). We wind around a few campsites and find a small creek that leads into a pond and from there into the lake, but the lake itself is outside of our reach. We go back to the pond so little Z can get her fix of rock throwing, then
Are we there yet?
Definitely a lot of driving on this trip. Here we are heading up to the base. had back to camp. Later on we show mommy and Colby where the rock throwing place is and we walk around some other parts of the camp grounds.
Little Z goes down for nap pretty easy after all the rock throwing, and walks. Zedd and Zorah decide to try a Freeze Dried meal (the astronaut/ camping meal). We tried Macaroni and Cheese, but since we didn’t have measuring cups, we ended up adding more water than we should have and it was a little soupy but otherwise tasty. Little Z, however, did not appreciate the flavor and the mouth full ended up on her shirt instead of in her tummy.
The trailer is working well; we haven’t found anything to be terribly wrong except for the Hot Water Incident.
Firing up the hot water tank took a while. It is an auto-start from inside the trailer but each time I hit the start button, the light would go from red to green, then a pause and red. Reading through the manual I found this was normal and after the gas is shut off for a while, it takes time for it to feed back through the hose. A short while
There's a Lake out there somewhere
I know it's hard to see, but the Great Salt Lake is out there between the trees and the mountains. later, the ‘waa - ump’ sound of the flame catching is heard. Everything is okay… right? Wrong. Little Z and daddy go for a walk, when we get back, Zorah is trying to get a hold of us and water is pouring from the hot water tank access door. It turns out that the hot water tank doesn’t shut off on its own, but instead keeps right on heating (and expanding).
After nap we quickly move the trailer to our new site. It’s not a big move, just a couple sites away, but we think it might be a nice area. There is a large tree next to it, and a larger ‘grassy’ area (again, not golf course grass, but some clumps of grass/rocks/ dirt. It is, however, a few more large bushes away from the train tracks and hopefully quieter.
After the quick move we jump in the truck and head out to meet friends of Zorah who live on Hill Air Force Base. We meet in a parking lot near the base entrance, and try to follow her in with the truck. Security has us pull over and check in at a guardhouse. They want registration and
Little Z enjoying her first bath
Little Z enjoyed her personal sized bath tub. She got to play with her new boats which were purchased especially for this trip. proof of insurance. Oops. The proof of insurance for the truck showed up at home the day before we left and didn’t make it into the truck. We head back to the parking lot (not suspicious at all, I’m sure) and all pile into her mini-van. A quick drive to their house for introductions to Patches and Gator, and to pick up her son and step-daughter we head up to the base where her husband is on duty.
He takes us through a couple buildings and out onto the tarmac (being very specific about certain rules, like ‘no hats on the tarmac’, ‘do not cross the red line anywhere except where he shows us’, and ‘no rings or watches if you are going to touch any of the planes’. We follow him out and minutes later we are standing in front of an F-16 fighter. This isn’t a model, it’s not a retired plane (as in a museum) this is a real life plane that is ready for action.
He tells Zeddicus to empty his pockets and proceeds to open the canopy of the plane and hook up the access ladder. After verifying the ejection system was safely disabled, Zeddicus is allowed up to the cockpit to sit down and enjoy the view.
The inside of the cockpit is much smaller than I had thought. It’s basically a seat strapped on top of a huge collections of knobs and switches. Looking straight ahead is the heads-up display. To the right is the stick for flight direction as well as the firing controls. To the left of the left knee but a little further back, is the throttle as well as controls for communications. Everything is set up so that the pilot doesn’t have to take their eyes off the horizon.
We walk carefully off the tarmac and back to the car. Heading home she drives us by a nice view of the Salt Lake from the base.
The afternoon is spent at our host’s house on the base. They have a huge back yard for their two Corgis to run around and a really fun play room full of all sorts of new toys for Little Z to try out. After our tour guide is finally home from work, he delivers a fine spread off the barbeque with hot dogs and Buffalo hamburgers. The kids also enjoy some melon and baked Cheetos (these things are better than the original!)
We head back to camp tired and excited after spending the day on the Air Force base.
Little Z takes her first bath in the Trailer Tub. It's a tight fit for daddy to squeeze in there for scrubbing, but Little Z had a good time playing with her new boats purchased just for this trip. (Note to Zeddicus: keep an eye on the holding tank when doing baths). Later in the week we did another bath though that didn't work out so well as the water didn't get warm enough and Little Z was having none of that. She'll learn later on that sometimes camping means cold showers.
So…. why no hats on the tarmac? (I didn’t ask but I would guess that it’s so you aren’t tempted to chase it down should wind or plane exhaust blow it off your head). It was pretty windy there as the base sits up a bit from the surrounding area.
Why are you not allowed to cross the red line except where designated? Well, the designated access points are red and yellow where as the rest of the line is solid red. I’m sure there is much more to this line (like safety) but in the words of our host, ‘those guys you see driving around in trucks would like nothing better than to zip over here take you down and hold a gun to your head’. I would guess that the red line marks safety areas and if you cross one in the wrong place you must not belong there, therefore MP’s take over.
Why no jewelry if you want to touch a plane? I had assumed (and later found out Zorah thought the same) that you might scratch something important on the plane. We found out though, that the planes pick up an incredible amount of static and you can actually get an arc weld on your jewelry if it comes in contact with the plane.
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Zorah
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An interesting aside...
No hats on the tarmac as it obstructs the view of your face, and with million dollar machinery around, they want to be sure to capture your image on camera. So people who cross the line (ha ha!) or wear a hat are obviously not supposed to be on base and the MPs are more than happy to have something to do....