Sunday was a real treat for our family. It had all the makings of a perfect day and ended up turning out just that way!
The Budweiser Clydesdale's were at Wright Patterson Air Force Base doing promotions for military families. Kudos to Budweiser for doing this. The military families deserve all the extras and special events they can get. Sunday, the team was going to be hitched up and open to the public. Unfortunately, it rained so the team couldn't be hitched but we did still get a tour!
The horses were staying in a huge tent and if I've ever seen horses live in luxury this was it. I wouldn't consider myself "country" but because of Josh's horse background I've walked through my fair share of horse barns and nothing compares to the Budweiser setup. The first thing I noticed was that it didn't smell like a horse barn...literally, not kidding, it smelled like a baby's room. The horses, stalls, everything smelled like baby powder. Second, was the tent had better Christmas decorations than our house! Red drapes were everywhere, fresh mulch and poinsettias lined each stall and there were chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. Yes, chandeliers.
The horses were perfectly manicured and not one hair was out of place. Each of the horses wore a coat...this is to prevent them from getting their winter coat, which I assume could mess up the whole "perfectly manicured" look. The coats themselves were beautiful and each were embroidered with this emblem.
This is Jack! He was very well mannered. He stood there and let kid after kid come up and pet him and the camera flashes didn't bother him one bit.
The Budweiser dalmatians were also there but they were moving too fast to get any decent pictures.
Since we were at the museum already we decided to walk around to look at the displays. Let me tell you, I wish we had the video camera. Rory's reaction was priceless! He has always loved planes and can hear or spot them in the air long before I can. We walked into the first area which is an open hangar and he spreads his arms wide and says, "big airplanes EVERYWHERE!" I think it just may have been his dream come true!
This is my favorite plane...a B-2 Stealth Bomber. Yes, I have a favorite plane and know the model thanks to my brother who is 3 years older than me. Without him, I would not know anything about planes, super hero's or comic books. :) None the less, I was trying to get Rory to repeat the name of the plane and he just kept saying, "no bomber mommy, airplane!" Uncle Seth can work on that with him later!
Rory loved that he could sit in a real fighter jet...actually, Josh did too! I think Rory was his excuse to sit in it! Rory kept pushing buttons, pulling levers and twisting knobs...all the while telling me what each one does! It was hilarious because he was using his imagination but was also completely serious in his schooling me on fighter jets.
This is one display we always visit. My Grandpa was a civilian electrical engineer at the base for a quite some time. The project he worked on was the "Aerobee." This device sent two monkeys and two mice into orbit and then the effects were studied to determine how humans would do in orbit.
Our last stop was the more modern area. I can't even begin to describe how massive these missiles (maybe they were rockets) are. HUGE. Rory said, "BIG rockets!" as soon as he saw them. I didn't even know he knew what a rocket was! This picture cuts off the lower half of the missile/rocket and there was a viewing terrace just below where the picture ends so that gives you some idea of how humongo these things were!
On our way out my Dad wanted to buy Rory a plane so he let Rory pick out whichever one he wanted....and wouldn't you know the B-2 Stealth Bomber is what he wanted to take home! That's my boy!
We had such a great day! If you ever get a chance to visit WPAFB is is worth it! It's also free which is really nice. I can see us spending many more afternoons enjoying the airplanes!
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