The Temptation is Great

Oh, how great is the temptation to post political comments on this site!

But I hope to refrain.

Turning this into a discussion site for politics would mark the beginning of the end of this site's purpose, which is to give those interested in Rockport 35 RV Park a "daily newspaper."

Two more reasons not to do it:

• There are plenty of other places for such comments, and
  
  
• Most—but certainly not all— readers of this site probably are of the same general political mind as I am.

If you have strong feelings for what's going on in your country, state, city, or neighborhood, get involved! One person (that could be you!) can make a difference. That is especially true when there are a whole bunch of "one persons" just like you!

In recent elections, the vote has been divided very nearly 50-50 in several contests. In those cases, the vote of just one person really does matter!!!

Don't let your experience, your knowledge, your principles, or your vote go to waste.

Get involved!

Chet's Home!

We've been on vacation and that's disrupted getting news onto this site promptly. But I know you're interested in this:

"For those of you who don't know, Chet arrived home at this park yesterday. (Friday, Aug. 21)

He needs to take it a bit easy--fluid or inflammation is serious and it will take a while to resolve but he's on good medicines and he's bouncing back.

Love you all...
Allison"

We wish Chet a speedy and complete recover.

We also appreciate the news from Allison!

Chet Hospitalized

Chet, Rockport 35 RV Park's resident Master Gardner was hospitalized Tuesday morning due to chest pains. Heart problems were ruled out early in the game.

Here's Allison's report from Wednesday evening:

"Chet is resting more comfortably tonight.
No blood clot--thank God.
But Pericardial effusion (and abnormal amount of
fluid around the heart)
He is on steriods, which should probably help him feel
better.
Thanks to Mackie, he is in the hospital getting the care he needs.
He was sleepy tonight; but seemed to be feeling better.
Thanks to all who wrote to say that you and or your prayer
groups are praying for Chet. This is such an encouragement to him."

Thank you, Allison, for this report.

We wish Chet a speedy recover. The park plants need his special attention!

Where's Keith?

It's a busy summer; good thing I'm retired!

Clearly, it's high time I posted a note again. We spent a good part of the week at Oshkosh, related in the story below.

Then we were home a week, then Pat's sister spent a week with us while her daughter was at Camp Courageous in nearby Monticello, IA. She always loves that week!

This week is the week for which Pat has been waiting nearly one year: she's taking a watercolor workshop from an artist whose ideas and techniques she's long admired.

Last Saturday, we hooked up the trailer and headed north. Four hundred twenty two miles north, to be exact. We're in Washburn, Wisconsin, just a very few miles from as far north as you can be in Wisconsin.

The weather here is delightful: low humidity and around 70*, with beautiful blue skies.

You can see the blue skies in the picture above, taken in Bayfield. Have you heard The Big Top Chautauqua on NPR? It's at Bayfield. I might even attend a performance there tomorrow night.

Pat's class lasts through Friday. On Saturday, we'll head home to the usual grind.

It Was Quite A Week At Oshkosh

This week was the week aviation enthusiasts look forward to: "Oshkosh." More specifically and correctly, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2009. It's the annual convention of the Experimental Aircraft Association and, it turns out, the world's largest aviation event.

How large? Here are some off-the-top-of-my-head numbers:

• Attendance: 750,000
• Airplanes: 12,000
• Campground area: more than 100 acres
• Camping rigs: thousands
• Campground population: ??? (Maybe 10,000?)

Some of the folks attending, you've no doubt heard of: Harrison Ford, Sir Richard Branson, Randy Babbit the FAA Administrator, Dick (flew the Voyager around the world non-stop, non-refueled) and brother Burt (designed and built the Voyager) Rutan.

Other notables attending were Pat Williams and Tom Carl. And, yes, I was there too! Out of the last 38 years, there are probably only five which I've missed. (Dianne remained home to man the fires there.)

Tom is Vice Chairman of Safety for the Convention so has a pickup with a flashing yellow light and a sticker on the windshield which permits him full reign of the airport. Pat and I enjoyed an extensive tour of the site with Tom, which we really appreciated. The picture below show us as we completed the tour.


Personal high points of the week were viewing the arrival and flight demonstration of White Knight Two, also known as Virgin Mother Ship Eve, after Sir Richard's mother. This White Night will carry Space Ship Two above 50,000 feet where it will be detached from the mother ship, light its rocket engine, and soar into space with six or eight paying passengers.

After a few minutes of enjoying the great view from well above 100,000 feet, it will glide back to earth for a normal landing.


White Knight Two is designed to make up to four such launches in a day. It is also capable of facilitating the launch of satellites at much, much, less cost than the system currently used.

The project is funded by Sir Richard Branson, of Virgin Airlines and Virgin Records fame. (Well, they're famous in the UK.) He is truly a forward thinker.

The Airbus A-380 was also there. It's the worlds largest airliner and is normally configured to carry about 550 passenger. Seventeen are now in service.