A Long Overdue Family Vacation

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Wow, I got behind today when you went on a posting tear!  But I'm caught up now. 

 

I love the pictures of the Curtiss planes from WWII, like the P40.  A great many of those were built at the main Curtiss plant in Buffalo, NY, some of which still stands today.  I used to drive by there all the time, and would imagine how incredibly busy it was 24 hours a day during the war pumping out planes for the war effort. 

 

The goblet story....I don't know what to say.  That is very moving, and having never heard it before I am glad you shared it. 

 

Now, regarding the pic below.....it is interesting to me that the swastikas are backwards.  While that symbol is a "swastika", it is not how the Nazis used it.  I know in the context it is in, it doesn't matter as it depicts what it depicts, and that's all that matters.  I just noticed it as I've seen swastika symbols in mosaic tile floors from periods before WWII that look alarming, but really are not Nazi symbols. 

 

In any case....enjoying the trip report! 

 

 

 

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow!  Great job so far, Joe!

 

I've only been to Ohio once in my life, and that was for a very short visit, so I appreciate all the photos of the places you visited.

 

I had no idea the Cincinnati zoo was so big, or that there was an Air Force museum in Ohio.  Thanks for sharing the photos.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the report.

 

TCD

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

 

And right beside “Fat Man” was this little guy

 

 

 

It’s almost unfeasible to me that so much destruction can come from something so small.

 

 

I spent several years doing IT work for the Dept of Energy in Oak Ridge and worked about 50 yards from the building where they worked with the U235 to create the "boom" for this fella. It was really neat working out there, sadly it is demolition project now and all of the buildings\history is going away. There was talk for a little while about building a museum of some sort to remember all of this and the workers\families that worked out there but I believe they decided against doing that. I think they were afraid of offending someone so they scrapped that idea and now it will be an industrial park\office park.

[4mickey2 41]

very good tr!  my dh would love to go to that museum.  i'd almost have to leave him there on his own.  lol   loving the pics so far!

[fort4evr 0]

Great report so far

[blm2003 2]

Wow, I got behind today when you went on a posting tear!  But I'm caught up now. 

 

I love the pictures of the Curtiss planes from WWII, like the P40.  A great many of those were built at the main Curtiss plant in Buffalo, NY, some of which still stands today.  I used to drive by there all the time, and would imagine how incredibly busy it was 24 hours a day during the war pumping out planes for the war effort. 

 

The goblet story....I don't know what to say.  That is very moving, and having never heard it before I am glad you shared it. 

 

Now, regarding the pic below.....it is interesting to me that the swastikas are backwards.  While that symbol is a "swastika", it is not how the Nazis used it.  I know in the context it is in, it doesn't matter as it depicts what it depicts, and that's all that matters.  I just noticed it as I've seen swastika symbols in mosaic tile floors from periods before WWII that look alarming, but really are not Nazi symbols. 

 

In any case....enjoying the trip report! 

 

Thanks for the comments Dave! I'm glad your enjoying the report, hopefully I'll get an update put together this evening, otherwise it's going to have to be first thing tomorrow morning

 

 

Wow!  Great job so far, Joe!

 

I've only been to Ohio once in my life, and that was for a very short visit, so I appreciate all the photos of the places you visited.

 

I had no idea the Cincinnati zoo was so big, or that there was an Air Force museum in Ohio.  Thanks for sharing the photos.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the report.

 

TCD

 

Thanks for checking in Andrew! My family and I have been reading your trip reports for a long time and we always look forward to them. I'm glad your enjoying the report. I'm having a lot of fun putting it together. I can't wait to write about Kings Island, it is a wonderful place

 

 

I spent several years doing IT work for the Dept of Energy in Oak Ridge and worked about 50 yards from the building where they worked with the U235 to create the "boom" for this fella. It was really neat working out there, sadly it is demolition project now and all of the buildings\history is going away. There was talk for a little while about building a museum of some sort to remember all of this and the workers\families that worked out there but I believe they decided against doing that. I think they were afraid of offending someone so they scrapped that idea and now it will be an industrial park\office park.

 

That must have been quite the experience to work among all that history. I hate to see pieces of our past torn down or left to rot. The idea that saving a piece of history, whether it be a good part of history or something dark and scary, is a good idea. There is something to the phrase, "those who don't learn from their history are doomed to repeat it".

 

Thanks for sharing your story, and reading along. More to come soon! 

 

very good tr!  my dh would love to go to that museum.  i'd almost have to leave him there on his own.  lol   loving the pics so far!

 

HaHa, I don't think my wife was having a spectacular time at the USAF Museum, but she put up with it because she knew I really wanted to go. I'm a lucky man to have the DW I have. She puts up with a lot from me and hardly complains at all....or maybe I just don't hear her when she's complaining!

 

Great report so far

 

Thank you! I'm glad your reading along and enjoying it. Taking my new 12 year old out for a birthday dinner tonight, not sure if the next update will come tonight or tomorrow...but it's coming....stay tuned

 

Joe

[blm2003 2]

Do you have another photo of the seat you made for the dog?  We've been trying to figure out how to bring our huskies with us and neither one of them wants to sit on the floor. LOL  Great trip so far.

 

So I got a few pics of the seat I built for the dog. I bought a piece of 2' x 4' x 1/2 birch (I think it was birch, may have been oak) Cut it to fit in between the boys in the back seat, and then notched the front of it so it would go between the two front seats and rest on the center console. I left it long enough so that when the front seats were pushed back they were ever so slightly pushing the board into the back seat, keeping it from sliding front / back or side to side at all. I bought a package of 2" foam at Walmart, cut it to fit the board, spray adhesived it onto the board, then used a large piece of denim fabric my wife had left over from a project to cover it. The dog loved it! 

 

Looking from the front to the back

 

 

 

A view of the back seat, the camera makes it looks tight, but there was room to spare on either side of the dog seat with the kids in the truck.

 

 

 

I was trying to figure out what I was going to do about keeping the seat level and wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. Then a stroke of genius hit me. I was test fitting the board and grabbed this to hold up the back side of it. It fit perfect and it stayed there for the whole trip!

 

 

The seat removed for a better look. The dog loved it. She would lay down with her tail in the back seat and her head on my arm and slept almost the entire trip.  

 

 

Hope this gives you some ideas. Good Luck.

 

Joe

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 

I was trying to figure out what I was going to do about keeping the seat level and wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. Then a stroke of genius hit me. I was test fitting the board and grabbed this to hold up the back side of it. It fit perfect and it stayed there for the whole trip!

 

 

 

 

As you may remember, I have a keen eye for ingenuity.

 

I was almost going to award you a TCD Real Man of Genius Award for the use of the 12 pack to support the dog platform.  But, I had to deduct points because it wasn't a 12 pack of beer, and I also didn't see any duct tape used for this project.  You came really close though.

 

TCD

[alexwyattmommy 181]

That looks great.  Now to figure out which dog gets to have the platform and which dog is stuck on the floor.  LOL

[blm2003 2]

As you may remember, I have a keen eye for ingenuity.

 

I was almost going to award you a TCD Real Man of Genius Award for the use of the 12 pack to support the dog platform.  But, I had to deduct points because it wasn't a 12 pack of beer, and I also didn't see any duct tape used for this project.  You came really close though.

 

TCD

 

I couldn't possibly have used the twelve pack of beer...that was in the cooler. No way would the seat have stayed in place the entire trip had there been alcohol underneath it. 

 

Thanks for the comment!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I couldn't possibly have used the twelve pack of beer...that was in the cooler. No way would the seat have stayed in place the entire trip had there been alcohol underneath it. 

 

Thanks for the comment!

 

OK- I see your point.  Nobody wants to drink caffeine free diet Pepsi, so that was a better choice than the beer.  But, still no duct tape, so no prize. 

 

TCD

[blm2003 2]

Let’s see if we can’t get this train rolling again.

 

We left off at the campground on Tuesday night, heading to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. DS1 invited his grandparents over for breakfast, he was going to cook everyone French toast. He learned to do this at scout camp last spring and is very proud of his French toast.

 

Well, breakfast time came and he cooked two pieces of French toast and then he was off, so I got to finish cooking breakfast. Then it was time to leave for Kings Island. The park is located in Mason, OH and boasts it is the “Largest Theme and Water Park in the Midwest”. I’ve been to Cedar Point before so I was going to be surprised if this park was bigger, but it was.

 

Here we are following the boys, who rode with the grandparents, out of the campground.

 

 

I had to slam on the brakes and jump out of the truck to take the next photo. My DW thought I was crazy, but when I showed her she understood.

 

 

This was on the back of a Ford Explorer that was being pulled as a toad behind a big Class A with Florida plates! It was great to see someone else who loves the Fort in Ohio. We didn’t end up meeting these folks as they were gone the next morning when we got up, and we didn’t get home till late tonight!

 

This is what greets you as you walk through the gates. They have a long pool with several water fountains and lights in it. Behind the pool is their 1/3 scale model of the Eifel Tower. That’s where we were heading first.

 

.

 

We had to walk by a row of shops that runs parallel with the pool to get to the Tower, and we had to take a picture of this store.

 

 

 

Then it was up the Eifel Tower. The views were amazing. I tried to get pictures from each side of the tower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first stop was in Planet Snoopy, the kids area of the park. They have a childs roller coaster here that we were going to start the boys out on. Nothing terrible, 25mph, minute and a half ride. Well, DS2 was done after this, he didn’t want to go on any other rides. He didn’t like the roller coaster at all. DS1 and the rest of us loved it and were ready for something bigger.

 

DW, DS1, Grampa, and I headed to “The Beast”. I had no idea what I was getting into when I got in line for this ride. Reading about it later I learned that it is the longest wooden roller coaster in the world, and in opinion the best wooden coaster I’ve ever ridden. 4 minutes and 8 seconds long, two lift hills, three tunnels, and a whole lot of yelling! This ride is a must do for any coaster lovers if you ever make it to this area.

 

The Beast is very hard to photograph from ground because it winds through the woods and is nearly impossible to see from ground level. 

 

A light mist had started to come down at this point so we thought a nice ride on the covered train would be fun. It was!

 

 

Genuine steam engine pulling us around.

 

 

When the train returned to the station the light mist had turned into a pretty steady drizzle. We were all kind of hungry and it was about lunch time so we headed to the “Reds Hall of Fame Grille” for some lunch

 

 

 

 

 

Actual piece of the foul pole from the old ballpark

 

 

And the menu

 

 

 

We had never had fried pickles before, and that was one of the first thing the waitress offered when she approached the table. They were fantastic! Breaded pickle chips deep fried and served with a spicy cheese sauce for dipping, I didn’t expect to like them, and I didn’t, I loved them!

 

No Pood Forn for you guys, the in laws just couldn’t understand the whole TR idea and I was getting funny looks for taking pictures of the menu, didn’t want to make any one lose their appetite by taking pictures of the food too. The food was excellent! Not to unreasonably priced either. We were a happy group

 

The rain got really heavy while we were eating and included some pretty good thunder and lightning, but by the time we were done it was just a light mist again, and pretty soon, it stopped altogether. They did have to close all the coasters until the storm moved out of the area, but that was ok, we found other ways to keep entertained

 

No trip to the park would be complete without a ride on the carousel. Here we all are getting on

 

 

 

 

 

 

You see that guy in the blue shirt above? He’s on his way over to become Johnny No-Fun. He told DW and MIL that they can’t ride the horses, had to ride a stationary seat. They didn’t like that too much, here they are dismounting

 

 

 

I mentioned earlier that the Ohio kids had gone back to school a week ago. And now it had rained, do  you know what that meant for us?? An empty park! Here’s the evidence

 

 

 

We walked on to every ride in the park that we wanted to go on. Most waiting was one ride cycle. I was in Heaven! We are at 29 pictures….I’ll wait for the next update before posting any more.

 

I hope you are stil enjoying my report, we have at least a couple more posts from Kings Island, then the rest of the week still to come!

 

If there are any of those  ”Wild Women” I hear about on the boards reading along, I think they may like the next update! Till Then

 

Joe

 

 

 

 

[alexwyattmommy 181]

So cool you were in my neck of the woods.  We've done the Halloween weekends at the KOA you were at and boy do I feel silly not recognizing the zoo.  LOL  My defense is that I have not been there since they redid the entrance location.  No 4-D movies then either.  I would love to pull my kids out of school for a day to do Kings Island without a crowd, but hubby is not going for it.  I'm just glad we talked him into the two days at Thanksgiving to go to the Fort.

 

Loved all the museum photos.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Good job getting the photo of the person with the Fort Wilderness magnet.

 

They ought to put one of those rides on the fake Eifel tower at Epcot.  There's some kind of a construction project in a couple of your photos- what are they building?

 

That theme park looks pretty nice.  I wish the Disney parks would empty out like that after a little rain.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

That park used to have a wooden coaster named "Son of Beast" that was insane.  Literally.  It broke the world record for speed for a wooden coaster and was the only wooden coaster to feature a full loop at that time.  Unfortunately, the technology wasn't quite there when built in 2000 and it suffered a couple of accidents which resulted in it closing permanently in 2009.  They just tore it down last fall.  The company that designed it went out of business. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That park used to have a wooden coaster named "Son of Beast" that was insane.  Literally.  It broke the world record for speed for a wooden coaster and was the only wooden coaster to feature a full loop at that time.  Unfortunately, the technology wasn't quite there when built in 2000 and it suffered a couple of accidents which resulted in it closing permanently in 2009.  They just tore it down last fall.  The company that designed it went out of business. 

 

 

Wow.  Busch Gardens in Tampa has a pretty big wooden coaster, which features two separate tracks and two trains that leave at the same time and meet up at various places along the ride. The last time I rode it was the last time I will ride it.  That thing shakes and creaks like it's about to collapse, which it probably is.  Plus, it's slow and bumpy compared to modern coasters.  Not much fun.

 

TCD

[blm2003 2]

So cool you were in my neck of the woods.  We've done the Halloween weekends at the KOA you were at and boy do I feel silly not recognizing the zoo.  LOL  My defense is that I have not been there since they redid the entrance location.  No 4-D movies then either.  I would love to pull my kids out of school for a day to do Kings Island without a crowd, but hubby is not going for it.  I'm just glad we talked him into the two days at Thanksgiving to go to the Fort.

 

Loved all the museum photos.

 

Thanks for keeping up with the report. I really do like it out there in the Midwest, I can see myself living there, or perhaps the North Carolina / Tennessee area some time after the kids are finished with school. Glad you liked the museum pictures. There is another entire section of the museum that features the Air Force One craft that served all Presidents from Kennedy through Clinton, among other things. If I am informed correctly you are able to get on board the plane and look around. These displays are in a secure area of the Air Force Base and thanks to the government sequestration that part of the museum is closed. I really want to get on to Air Force One and check it out, hopefully we will be able to see this next year when we go out.

 

Good job getting the photo of the person with the Fort Wilderness magnet.

 

They ought to put one of those rides on the fake Eifel tower at Epcot.  There's some kind of a construction project in a couple of your photos- what are they building?

 

That theme park looks pretty nice.  I wish the Disney parks would empty out like that after a little rain.

 

TCD

 

The are building a new roller coaster which will open next spring, "The Banshee". The worlds longest inverted coaster at over 4,000 feet of track with 7 inversions. Sounds like fun to me! It has it's own page on the parks website, you can see it here: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/banshee/the-ride

 

That park used to have a wooden coaster named "Son of Beast" that was insane.  Literally.  It broke the world record for speed for a wooden coaster and was the only wooden coaster to feature a full loop at that time.  Unfortunately, the technology wasn't quite there when built in 2000 and it suffered a couple of accidents which resulted in it closing permanently in 2009.  They just tore it down last fall.  The company that designed it went out of business. 

 

Wow, nobody I talked to out there mentioned this. Thanks for the great info and for keeping up with the report! More to come later on.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

OK- I see your point.  Nobody wants to drink caffeine free diet Pepsi, so that was a better choice than the beer.  But, still no duct tape, so no prize. 

 

TCD

 

Hey, I drink caffeine free diet Pepsi!  Not by choice, but I have a medical reason why I can't have caffeine.  Guess I'm nobody.

 

Meanwhile, really enjoying the TR.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The are building a new roller coaster which will open next spring, "The Banshee". The worlds longest inverted coaster at over 4,000 feet of track with 7 inversions. Sounds like fun to me! It has it's own page on the parks website, you can see it here: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/banshee/the-ride

 

 

Wow!  That is crazy.  I remember when Great Adventure (later known as Six Flags) in New Jersey got its first looping roller coaster.  It was just one big loop.  And everyone was amazed.

 

I remember visiting Florida and riding the Scorpion at Busch Gardens in Tampa, which is just a cork-screw.  We thought that was insane.

 

Now those old coasters seem like kid stuff compared to what they are building.

 

Where does it end?

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hey, I drink caffeine free diet Pepsi!  Not by choice, but I have a medical reason why I can't have caffeine.  Guess I'm nobody.

 

Meanwhile, really enjoying the TR.

 

Well, I said nobody wants to drink it.

 

You said you don't drink it by choice.

 

If you build a seat for your dogs, then I guess you can use regular Diet Pepsi.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Have you tried it?  It's actually quite good.  But not as good as my Diet Rite soda ... no caffeine, no sugar, no sodium.  Or the Waist Watchers cherry cola.

[ajcjmom 8]

Love the report! 

 

Can't wait for more!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Have you tried it?  It's actually quite good.  But not as good as my Diet Rite soda ... no caffeine, no sugar, no sodium.  Or the Waist Watchers cherry cola.

 

I've probably tried every kind of soda there is out there.  I am not much of a soda/pop/whatever you call it drinker.  I prefer iced tea or water.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I've probably tried every kind of soda there is out there.  I am not much of a soda/pop/whatever you call it drinker.  I prefer iced tea or water.

 

TCD

 

Only decaf iced tea for me.  And that's hard to find in restaurants.

 

I had to quit caffeine cold turkey because of that medical condition.  You can't imagine the withdrawals I went through.  It was awful for three days.

[blm2003 2]

Hey, I drink caffeine free diet Pepsi!  Not by choice, but I have a medical reason why I can't have caffeine.  Guess I'm nobody.

 

Meanwhile, really enjoying the TR.

 

My wife drinks the caffeine free diet Pepsi, not by choice either, she gets all jittery and anxious with the caffeine. Only in soda though, coffee doesn't bother her. It's weird, just like the rest of her! 

Thanks for reading along with us

 

Love the report! 

 

Can't wait for more!

 

Glad you like it! Won't have to wait long for more, writing an update right now, will be up soon!

 

I've probably tried every kind of soda there is out there.  I am not much of a soda/pop/whatever you call it drinker.  I prefer iced tea or water.

 

TCD

 

I to only drink water most of the time. If there is juice in the fridge I will drink that, but mainly just a water guy.

 

Only decaf iced tea for me.  And that's hard to find in restaurants.

 

I had to quit caffeine cold turkey because of that medical condition.  You can't imagine the withdrawals I went through.  It was awful for three days.

 

In my high school days I lived on Coke, first thing in the morning right up to last thing before bed. I know what you mean about the withdrawals. I had migraines for a week. It was not fun!