Update,Currently and Finally

UPDATE:  The Solar Impulse flew an unexpected leg of its flight because of the weather conditions. After taking off from St. Louis' Lambert Field, it was scheduled to fly on to Dulles International in the Virginia countryside outside Washington,D.C. Instead, it landed in Cincinnati, Ohio for 16 hours and is en route to Dulles at this writing. There was a pilot change made also. It appears someone needed to eat a big steak on the ground in that 16-hours,too! Go to their website to find out who had the steak. https://www.solarimpulse.com. From Washington, they will make the last leg on to New York JFK before packing up and heading home to Switzerland. It was an adventure to meet Bertrand and Andre while they were at D.F.W.International.

CURRENTLY: I am doing some research on the difference between a muskrat and a nutria. Some seem to think what I have been seeing is a nutria. Others, agree, that I have seen a muskrat. Either way, whether it's a nutria or a muskrat, I've always called them muskrats. So, the only way to settle this in my mind is to research it completely and then report the findings. Stay tuned. The picture is of the beast in question. Some,most likely, will just call it a big rat. Again, stay tuned.

FINALLY: The picture of the three men has a rather interesting story that goes along. When it is hot, my appetite drops off drastically. Lunch is usually something very light and ever since I was a kid, I enjoyed sitting at a picnic table overlooking water. My errands usually end up either at Bachman Lake or White Rock Lake during the summer. If it's Bachman, then it's Whataburger. If it's White Rock, it's either Chili's to Go or McDonald's ( I know-there is a big difference in those two!)This past week, it was McDonald's. While sitting at the picnic table, I could see three men in a canoe and they were having one rough time paddling. The canoe was going one side and then the other and they were loosing ground for any forward motion rapidly.

Next, I noticed that not any of the three men were wearing a life vest or jacket. That is always a concern in any water activity. For nearly an hour, these guys were struggling. Then, as if by a guiding hand, they managed to get near enough the shore that one of the men got out. Shortly, there were two in the canoe and they were heading toward where I was sitting. There was a boat dock less than 100 yards away.

As it turns out, originally, three miles down the lake toward the dam, they had found the canoe sitting at a boat dock. On one of the seats under a rock, was a napkin that read: FREE CANOE. The guys said that they couldn't resist a ride on a hot afternoon. They climbed in and with only sticks of limbs that had washed up around the dock, they used those for paddles.

When, I had seen them near the shoreline, they had, indeed, let out one of the others who had realized how unsafe it was and decided to walk around the cove to the boat dock where he would rejoin the others. One of the guys had been to the Ukraine and Turkey and was sporting a shirt from Australia.

I did submit the images to a Live News Feed and they were posted later that evening.

The Adventurers at White Rock Lake

Some say,Muskrat.Some say, Nutria. Time to do some research.

 

SolarImpulse

Andre Borschberg

A full wing width view of SolarImpulse.This is the second engine on the left wing

The temporary hanger for the SolarImpulse airplane.

Bertrand Piccard

The fact that the experimental aircraft, powered by solar cells on its wings and tail, has flown from San Francisco (Moffet Field,Mountain View,California) to Phoenix and then set a long distance record for a solar-powered aircraft by flying from Phoenix to Dallas is amazing of and within itself.

Even more amazing is that the technology developed and displayed by this amazing flying machine isn't totally about an airplane. It's about the multi-uses the technology makes available from houses to all kinds of energy-efficient sources to power motors,drives,machines and things that have not even been conceived.

It takes visionaries to lead the way and pioneers to carry out those visions.Two such men that I only knew by what I had read about until Friday jelled when I stood only a couple of feet from Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard. Piccard had piloted the craft from Moffett to Sky Harbor,Phoenix and Andre Borschberg had set the new long-distance record by flying the longest leg of over  800 miles from Sky Harbor to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport early Thursday morning.

They were not the first-two pioneers that I have know. In 1976, Karl Thomas was unsuccessful in piloting a hot air balloon from Maine to Europe, dropping into the North Atlantic and being picked up by a Russian trawler a few days later. Karl was not only a visionary and pioneer, he was ex centric and fully brilliant.

So, to stand in the presence of two great men with visions and pioneering spirit was once again an amazing moment. Good Luck to the entire project of Solarimpulse and the staff that makes the machine as an organization work.

Solar Impulse Is In A Long Holding Pattern and Other Mixed Topics

The 73rd Annual Memorial Day Dallas

Fire Fighters Memorial at Restland Memorial Park and a funeral on Saturday for the second Dallas Fire Fighter  fallen in the last month.

Wind Damage on Park Central

The Vote at the Gaylord Texan Thursday

The Solar Impulse currently is making loops over the crosswind run way DFW International. It made good time to Dallas from Phoenix today. I have a ticket to tour the plane later  this week.Pictures should be forthcoming on this blog over the weekend.

There is a lot happening in Dallas this week. There is a lot happening in Dallas,period. The city just voted the big OK on a horse park as part of the new Trinity River Project in south Dallas. The new Trinity River Golf Club just landed this past week the Byron Nelson when it leaves the Four Seasons by 2019. That will be in south Dallas as well.

Protesters from both camps  were in Grapevine today. One group was at the Great Wolf Lodge and the opposing group was meeting at the Gaylord Texan across the street. That's two enormous complexes off Main Street in Grapevine. The actual vote for the Boy Scouts political position will go on at the Gaylord tomorrow,Thursday.

The Carry the Load march across the eastern seaboard to Dallas will culminate this weekend at a park in Uptown on the Katy Trail. The 73rd Annual Memorial Day Dallas sponsored by  The Greater Dallas Veterans Council will be held at Restland Memorial Park on Memorial Day. There will be a march from the Abbey Mausoleum to the Field of Honor this year with a balloon release to begin the Services. The 6,640 flags displayed are up already. The vintage helicopter, vehicle and equipment displays from World War I and II, Korean War, Vietnam War and Desert Storm will open to the public at 10 AM on Memorial Day.

This year, Dallas Fire fighter, Stanley Wilson's funeral will be at Park Cities Baptist Church in University Park at 10 on Saturday. His burial will be in Restland two days before the ceremonies.
Firefighter Wilson was a 28 year veteran of the Dallas Fire Department, ending his career at station 53.

Memorial Day weekend has always been full of activities. This year it is a bit more somber than it has been in the past few years.

Today, I ran into the boxer that I photographed a few months back. Check the archive  for the article. He was working out again and getting ready to head out to Oklahoma with some relief help over the weekend from his church.

Tex Dot issued a  statement this week that officially, the LBJ Construction Project is now 50 percent complete!. Does anyone hear angles singing: All-e-lu-ia! All-e-lu-ia!