It's a far flung annual event in Dallas. Millions of tons of Saharan dust from the third largest desert on earth is casting the sky over Dallas in that orange haze in the upper atmosphere and Texas Heat.
Credit: NOAA/NESDis/STARGOES EastAir Mass.
Which brings to mind a return to a previous trip to and from Baltimore, down to National Airport in Washington. About 6-12 miles Southwest on the BW Parkway I passed the Goddard Space Flight Center that sits on the right just off the BW Parkway. It's actually on Greenbelt Road in Greenbelt, MD, but when in the Baltimore and Washington Area, it is pretty much the same as driving cross town in large cities.The Visitor Center, at 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt,Md.20771 can be reached at 1-301-286-3979. A great place to take the kiddos if you are planning to tour D.C. this summer.
It's been years since I was there. I have several business friends in the BW area. One, took me down to Annapolis to a great restaurant that set across the Potomac from the US Naval Academy. Seeing the Naval Acadamy lit up at night was amazing. The restaurant was known then as just The Wharf. Today, I think it is McGarvey's Saloon and Oyster Bar. It was on that trip that I drove back to Washington National to catch my flight the next morning.
It was also on that trip inbound on an Eastern Airlines from Atlanta (that shows how long ago that was) that the Captain of the flight came back to the guy sitting in the seat ahead of mine and ask the passenger if he lived in Severna Park. The Captain then ask if he could not reach his wife on the company radio if he could hitch a ride back to Severna. I recall at the time, "who's flying this bird?" As I looked out of the window, Andrews Air Force Base was off the wing tip. Today, it's Joint Base Andrews. And that points out just how close we were to B.W. International Airport. To close to have the Captain of the ship back in the compartment talking to a passenger, even if his first office had nearly as much experience flying as he did. I still shiver and laugh over that incident all these years later. As I walked out of the Terminal at BWI, that captain was getting into a Mercedes convertible driven by a young blond haired woman. I guess the Captain was able to reach his wife on the company frequency on board the cockpit.
Coming down the BW Parkway to J Street and then into Pennsylvania Avenue, I rounded the White House, crossed over to the Mall and the Washington Monument, saw the Capital in the distance, crossed the bridge and turned in my car at the airport rental and checked in for my flight. It was all of Washington that I wanted to see and only a few places have peeked by interest since. But, The Goddard Space Flight Center is on my bucket list, even if I never fulfill that check mark because if you are interested in space and astronomy as I am, then that is the place to visit.
