A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Now we headed west thru Portsmouth and Southampton toward Salisbury, with no Garmin, GPS tracker or cell phone to aid us. I don’t know how we ever found our way the rest of that almost 85 miles to South Newton, Salisbury and to our first B & B, but 
we finally got there just before dusk. Newton Cottage B & B was an “Olde Worlde” (circ.1670) thatched roof house, that we learned was listed as a building of historic and architectural interest. It was typical of a lot of the homes in this area, many of which had been converted into B & Bs. This was the only B & B reservation we had made from the U.S. and we were thrilled with the accommodations. Of course, the doorways and ceilings were very low, the stairs and floors squeaked, and when the ad said “Central Heat” that meant warm enough for the English, not for someone use to Florida weather.
There was another couple staying at Newton Cottage with us and we all had a 
wonderful time comparing travel notes. The local Pub, where we took our evening meals, was just across the street from our B & B, and down a small tree covered lane. What a picture that made! As it turned out, the Pub owner collected matchbook covers, as I did, and he gave me some of his duplicates. I made arrangements to send him some of my duplicates as soon as we got home. (Another fun hobby lost to the demands of the environmentalists).
DiVoran remembers sitting in the kitchen one morning with Mrs. Clark, looking at a field across the road, full of gamboling lambs, and saying how sweet they were. The mistress said, “Indeed they are adorable. But, every spring when I see them, I must school myself not to think of roasted lamb.“
We stayed at Newton Cottage two nights while we spent the days visiting the sites in and around Salisbury. Salisbury has a beautiful Cathedral which was finished around 
1260 AD, after the city was first established in approximately 1220 AD. We visited a unique War Memorial and cemetery for the men from this southern Wilshire area who fought and died in what was then called “The Great War” (1914-1917).
And, of course, we visited prehistoric Stonehenge, which is located only 8 miles north of Salisbury. Archeologists now believed construction of the stone structure, as we know it, could have begun as early as 2500-3000 BC. There are no written records of who built the monument or why, but the most popular theories are that over the years it was most probably used as an ancestral worship center and burial ground for 
many different cultures. Whatever religious, mystical or spiritual elements were central to the construction of Stonehenge over the centuries, its design includes a celestial observatory function, which might have allowed for the prediction of eclipse, solstice, equinox and other celestial events important to contemporary religions of those different times.
We asked our hosts at the Newton Cottage B & B to look over our guidebook, for the town of our next planned night’s stop, and give us their recommendations for accommodations. This turned out to be a wonderful way to set up our lodgings for the whole trip, as most of the time the B & B owners knew each other, or they knew of other respectable B & Bs which would best suit our needs. This took a lot of pressure off us and made our trip much more enjoyable.
—–To Be Continued—–
of the road, and steer from the right side of the car; that meant I was going to have to drive with my right hand and shift with my left hand, while trying to keep from hitting a pedestrian or running off the road into a ditch. Are you beginning to get the picture? All this, while trying to read the road signs and dealing with the “Round-A-Bout” intersections, that were new to both DiVoran and me. I was going to have to retrain my brain if we were going to live to see the rest of the UK we had come to visit. DiVoran and I agreed that she would remind me to stay on the left side of the road every time I started to stray to the right. Leaving the rental car agency parking area dumped us right into Charlwood city traffic, so it was white knuckle driving from the “get-go” with DiVoran yelling, “KEEP LEFT” – “KEEP LEFT” at every cross-street and round-a-bout.
those cool looking red telephone booths to call the rental car agency, who told us we would have to take the car to a Vauxhall dealer in the area to get them fixed. Great! Now we had to locate a Vauxhall dealership in a town we knew nothing about, and pray they wouldn’t give us a hassle reserved for “American Tourists.” As it turned out, we were able to find the Vauxhall dealership without too much trouble, and they fixed the wiper motor, without as much as a, “And where are you from, Yank?”
Museum there. The Royal Pavilion was built in three stages, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, and was not finished until 1822, where it was used as a remote location for the discreet liaisons of the then King George IV. The Brighton Museum & Art Gallery contains beautiful displays of Art Nouveau, Art Deco furniture and other decorative art. There are also Sussex area archaeology relics and the history of Brighton. The Booth Museum of Natural History, the Preston Manor and the Grange Rottingdean are short distances away, but we were getting tired and saved them for another day.
taking off from. I walked down the street a couple of blocks, and came upon the entrance to the AOPA 2013 AirPortFest. I couldn’t believe my luck! I ask the people at the gate if there was a fee to enter, and they said “No” so I walked in and spent a couple of hours checking out all the latest in General Aviation aircraft. What a great show that was! And of course, that’s where the C-47 was giving rides around Ft. Worth, if you had the price of a ticket. I didn’t ask.
One of the most interesting planes I saw there was actually a glider. The German built Stemme S10 MotorGlider has a retractable Rotax 914 F2/S1 supercharged flat-four engine in the nose, providing 113.5 hp for takeoff and climb, retractable landing gear, and a range of over 900 nautical miles; all for that special low price of $390,000 (US) when “you” pick it up at the factory in Strausberg, Germany. Of course, you have to go by yourself as there is only room for the pilot.
morning, and I guess they must have all been at church (?) So, I drove down to the Ft. Worth Stockyards Station and played the part of a tourist, while taking in the sights. Most memorable was the video story of the western cattle industry development, how Ft. Worth became the rail yard hub for that industry, and how the cowboy was instrumental in making all that happen. Then at 11:00, there was the real Longhorn cattle drive down Main Street. What a sight that was! Of course, back in the late 1800s, there would have been a lot more than 40 Longhorns running down a dirt street kicking up a lot of dust or mud, depending on the season.
I arrived in Orlando in time to take DiVoran to a delicious Baby Back Rib dinner at one of my favorite restaurants before heading home to Titusville, and my own bed. Have you ever noticed how much better your bed at home feels compared to any motel bed? It’s just not the same comfort level is it? At least not for me, it isn’t. Now don’t get me wrong, I love to travel, visit museums and see the sites, but it’s always nice to get home to the one I love and to my own bed. So, until next time, enjoy each and every day God gives you and let’s “Keep ‘em Flying.”
on a 2-lane road out in the middle of nowhere. I had not studied the map too closely, but thought I remembered that all I had to do was to stay on U.S. 84 (4-lane road) until I picked up I-40 at Santa Rosa, NM. In reality, U.S. 60 had split off from U.S. 84 at Fort. Sumner, NM and I didn’t realize I had missed the turn. I had traveled several miles without seeing a road sign of any kind, and began to worry about my being stranded on this lonely road that looked like it never ended.
childhood friend, Leon, who still lives in the same house he did when we were growing up together in the mid-1940s. We had a great time recalling our younger days and he introduced me to his cat, Rusty, and gave me a tour of his model circus railroad project. Later he went with me to the National Nuclear Museum and the Ernie Pyle Library. We experienced one of New Mexico’s dust storms late that afternoon, and I remembered how the wind could almost knock you over, and the wind driven sand could blast the paint off the front of your car and pit your windshield, if you were foolish enough to drive into one of those storms. And, there was no way you could get your house windows closed tight enough to keep that fine sand from filtering into the house, and getting all over things.
motels I used to throw papers to were still in business, and the Highland Theater where DiVoran worked selling tickets was still there. Leon told me he was a ticket taker and usher at the Highland Theater about the same time that DiVoran was working there, but he didn’t remember ever meeting her there. The Ice Arena had been turned into part of a shopping center, and Highland High School, where DiVoran and I met, all those many years ago, was now three times as big as it was when we attended. Further down Central, our football rivals, Albuquerque High School had been closed and converted into condos (of all things), while the First Baptist Church, which my folks and I attended all the years we lived there, had moved and their buildings were now empty and up for sale. What a shock that was!
oil field, with working oil pumps outside the parking area on three sides. I guess those Texas oil people don’t let anything slow down getting that “Black Gold” out of the ground. The other thing was how flat West Texas is, and how there is nothing to stop the wind, which blows dust and tumble weeds across many of the hiways.
either side of the hiway or Interstate, with entrance and exit lanes at intervals. Then at the next crossroad, there is a “Loop” lane, which allows you to access businesses on the other side of the main Hiway or Interstate. I guess they set that system up to reduce the number of overpasses they had to build in that flat part of the state. Anyway, It was a real challenge for me when I first encountered the system, but once I got the hang of it, I found it fairly manageable. Of course, it didn’t confuse “Greta” my Garmin road helper, as she spouted out directions like; “…continue .8 miles, then take ramp on left to I-35East North…” Or “…in .5 miles, keep right on I-35East South…” Or “…in .6 miles keep left on Texas 12 loop East to I-20 West…” I’m just glad I had her with me for all that. What a lifesaver she was!
during that conflict. Also, the C-47 “TICO Bell” at the VAC Warbird Museum in Titusville, Florida where I am a tour guide one day a week, towed gliders and dropped paratroopers in support of the D-Day Normandy invasion, and survived the many hazards it and its crew encountered on that famous day in history.
On Saturday morning, I made a quick stop at the Richardson R/C club’s Big Bird Flyin in Princeton, TX. The weather was threatening, and there was not a large turnout, but the flyers put on a great show in the short time I was there. Allen and the other club flyers were very cordial, and invited me to stay around for their BBQ dinner, but I needed to head South to maintain my travel schedule.
who had tracked down and ambushed the famous bank robbers, Bonnie & Clyde, but I learned it was actually the Texas Rangers. That evening, at the local Cracker Barrel in Killeen, TX, I had a wonderful catfish dinner, while being serenaded by some of the old time western singers, singing songs like “Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “Hey Good Looking” and many others. When I came out of the Cracker Barrel, I happened to look down and there was the biggest acorn I had ever seen, laying in the grass. My son Billy (The Environmental Consultant) tells me it’s really a “Willow Oak” acorn. However, because of its size, “Texas Acorn” seems to me to fit perfectly into my “Texas Adventure” don’t you think. Boy, by now, was there any question I was in Texas, where everyone seems friendly, and they grow everything “Super Size”? It was taking me back to my roots, and I was loving every minute of it.
quadron hanger, the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum, and the Abilene R/C Society field, where I enjoyed meeting several model flyers from that club. Monday I headed West, stopping to checkout the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, TX. I had always admired the service the women pilots provided during the war years, flying aircraft of all types from the many factories around the country, to the U.S. Army Air Corps bases where they were most needed. After a great personal tour by Carol, I continued West to the Hanger 25 Air Museum in Big Spring, TX.
Then on Tuesday I had another real treat when I visited the CAF American Airpower Heritage Museum in Midland, TX. This was one of my planned major museum stops, as the AAHM has anywhere from 20 to 40 (mostly flyable) airplanes in their collection, at the museum at any one time, and I was eager to see as many of them as I could. It was well worthwhile, and the museum staff went out of their way to help me get many of the photos I wanted.
companion B-24, “Diamond Lil”, were to be featured, along with a varity of other WWII Warbirds. I had seen static B-24 and B-29 displays at museums, but this would be a special treat to see these famous WWII Warbirds fly. Then after that experience, I planned to complete an 11-day, 2660-mile circuit of aviation museums and other attractions in Central/West Texas and New Mexico.
he and his wife kept taking things out of his hat; like her watch and hair comb, and his glasses and billfold. Now I knew cowboys used their hats on the trail, to give their horses a drink of water, but I never thought about how convenient those big hats would be to carry things in! Then I arrived at the Dallas airport, many of the people were dressed in their western clothes and boots, and I saw this 10-gallon hat display used as a window decoration for a restaurant. The next thing I noticed, after obtaining my rental car was the Geico billboard sign, with the Gecko wearing a 10-gallon hat. Yep, I was in Texas for sure!
extended on station, the Navy had to come up with a way to transport me back to the states. So, I received orders to be flown from Japan to Treasure Island Naval Station in California for separation. With everything I owned in my duffle bag, my first attempt to get to an airport was a four-hour hot and bumpy school bus ride, on some of the roughest roads I had ever traveled, to Itazuke AFB. Since I was enlisted, which is as low as it gets in the military, when it comes to travel authorization, several officers bumped me off that flight, and I had to endure another 4-hour bus ride back to the ship.
accounted for. Once they got the doors closed, we taxied to the end of the runway, the pilot did his pre-flight engine checks, and we headed down the runway at full power. Well, full power didn’t last long, as at least one of the engines started backfiring and the pilot aborted the takeoff. We stopped at the end of the runway, and the pilot did more engine checks. Since there still was no wind from any direction, the pilot turned back on the runway, and headed off at full power again. This time an engine caught on fire, and thank God the pilot had time to abort the takeoff. We all hurriedly deplaned, dripping wet, on shaky legs, and walked back to the terminal, leaving the flight crew and fire department to deal with the smoking engine. That episode didn’t give me a lot of confidence in any C-124 being able to get me safely back to the states.
was only bumped off one flight there, before I was given a seat on a TWA Super “G” Constellation flight headed for San Francisco. The flight consisted of three, very long 8-hour, over water flight legs, with stops at Wake Island, then at Honolulu, Hawaii and finally to San Francisco International Airport. Even though that flight was luxurious, compared to what the C-124 flight on MATS would have been, I was still mighty glad to be on the ground, and at the end of that trip.
Naval Reserve, to finish my 6-year tour of duty I had signed up for. I spent most of my free time visiting many of the tourist spots San Francisco is best known for, such as “Alcatraz Island”, Coit Tower, the Planetarium at Golden Gate Park, and of course, Fisherman’s Wharf, where I enjoyed some of their world famous seafood more than once.
That sight gave me a very uncomfortable feeling at the time, knowing I was eating lunch that close to Communist China. Another part of the tour was to the amazing Tiger Balm Gardens. The gardens consist of acres of Chinese figures cut into a hillside, and painted some of the most vivid colors you can imagine. Overall, the trip to Hong Kong was really great, and a one-of-a-lifetime experience. I would like to go back some day to see how it has changed over the years, as modern pictures show a very modern city compared to what I remember.
Japan. I can’t remember just what the occasion was for our visit, but the day after we got there the ship hosted an “Open House” for the Japanese people. We had the ship roped off so the visitors would walk in a line, in one direction, through only certain areas. We had a solid stream of people, walking through the ship all day long, and I didn’t notice until it was all over, but all those wooden shoes the Japanese women wear had chipped the paint right off the decks, everywhere the tour went on the ship.
places I visited while there, was the “Ground Zero Museum.” The museum houses many graphic artifacts from the ruins of the city, and photographs of what was left of the city after the Atomic Bomb (Fat Man) was exploded 1540 feet above the city on August 9, 1945.
Boom, which was permanently attached to, and located, toward the aft portion of the ship. When a boat was required for any reason, the boat crew had to walk out on the Boat Boom to where their boat was tied-off, and go down the Jacob’s ladder to the boat. Then when they were done with the boat, they had to tie it off to the Painter Line, and climb up the Jacob’s ladder to the Boat Boom, and back to the ship. The first few times I had to do that, I had to walk very slow and it was very scary, since the 1”x 8” catwalk attached to the top of the beam, we had to walk on, was highly varnished, to protect it from the salty environment. This made it very slippery when wet, and I felt like I was “Walking the Plank” every time I went to or from the ship to a boat.
Enlisted Men’s Club or in Sasebo itself. Finally, after months of this routine, the ship made a trip to Hong Kong, to give the crew an opportunity to be exposed to other cultures of the world, and for a chance at some different scenery.
Kong in 1957, was built into the hills surrounding it, and reminded me of the Mexican border cities of Juarez or Tijuana (except a lot cleaner & more beautiful), where a person could buy anything very reasonably. I bought a tailor-made Navy blue uniform and a beautiful Chinese Cheongsam silk dress for DiVoran for next to nothing, compared to what they would have cost in the states.
Kong’s 60,000 boat dwellers lived. Here the boats had been tied so closely together, over so many years, that a person could step from one boat to the next, all the way across a portion of Aberdeen Harbor. The only boats that could get out of that mass, were the ones on the outer edge.
Old Things R New 