the Youngest Snowbird:

Naval Aviation Museum: Part 3

last museum post, I promise...

There is so much to see at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola that I couldn't squish all my pics into one post, or even two.

As usual, hover your mouse over the pic to get a quick description of what you're seeing.

This shot is from the back end of the plane.

Beyond the doorway you can see the bunk and storage area, and here at the very back of the PBY Catalina is where the missiles live. Pretty tight quarters for five men.

The famous Blue Angels...

From the smartest person I know, wiki  :)

The Blue Angels is the United States navy's flight demonstration squadron formed in 1946, and is currently the oldest formal flying aerobatic team. The squadron's six demonstration pilots currently fly the F/A-18 Hornet in more than 70 shows at 34 locations throughout the United States each year, where they still employ many of the same practices and techniques used in their aerial displays in 1946. Since their inception, the "Blues" have flown a variety of different aircraft types, thrilling more than 427 million spectators worldwide.

So many more warplanes to see but we couldn't take pics of them all.  Even though it may look like we did   :)

Moving on to the rest of the museum...

Things you need to know about the Naval Aviation Museum:

• it's in Pensacola, Florida off the Blue Angel Parkway
• it's amazing
• it's free
• you'll need an entire day to see it all, and even then, you may go back for seconds

Naval Aviation Museum: Part 2

Picking up where I left off yesterday, these are pics from our recent trip to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.

The huge hangar houses roughly 150 restored Navy warplanes, plus exhibits, artifacts and tons of history. By no means am I a history buff, but this museum is totally fascinating. As I mentioned in my last post, the sheer number of planes is almost overwhelming; you just don't where to look first.

And it's free.    

The black hat on the plane below is the patch for Strike Fighter Squadron 14. 

From wiki:

The Strike Fighter Squadron 14 (VFA-14) "Tophatters" are a United States Navy fighter attack squadron based at Naval Air Station lemoore. They fly the F/A-18E Super Hornet, and are the Navy's oldest active squadron, having formed in 1919. Their callsign is Camelot, and their tail code is NG.

Since its inception the squadron has flown 23 different type aircraft, had its designation changed fourteen times, operated from 20 different aircraft carriers (and several battleships) and had 81 commanding officers (the 82nd is now in command).

Over the years the squadron has been assigned many different missions, including patrol and observation in its early years, and scouting, attack, fighter, bombing and forward air control missions when it became associated with carrier-based operations. The squadron adopted the classic Top Hat as its squadron patch and called themselves the "High Hats".

Below is a very detailed model of carrier ship, the USS Shangri-la. 

Again from wikipedia (what the heck would I do without this site???)

USS Shangri-La (CV/CVA/CVS-38) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy.

Commissioned in 1944, Shangri-La participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II, earning two battle stars. Like many of her sister ships, she was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, but was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s, and redesignated as an attack carrier (CVA). She operated in both the Pacific and Atlantic/Mediterranean for several years, and late in her career was redesignated as an anti-submarine carrier (CVS). She earned three battle stars for service in the Vietnam War.

Shangri-La was decommissioned in 1971 and sold for scrap in 1988.

The strikes of a Navy ship's bell are used to indicate the hour aboard the ship, and to regulate the sailors' duty watches. Traditionally the ship's cook, or his staff, would shine the bell everyday.

History of the USS Essex aircraft carrier:

It's sunny and 18C here in Ozark, Alabama and time for some tennis... (and this is starting to feel like work) so I'm gonna end here and post the rest of the pics later today or tomorrow.

Totally off topic: Despite regular exercise and eating habits, My fella and I both gained a few pounds and felt really bloated during our two months at the Gulf Coast. Now that we've moved north into central Alabama, we've started dropping the extra pounds and we both feel back to normal. Does 100% humidity make a person gain weight? 

The Naval Aviation Museum is Amazing

We made it to Dothan, Alabama where we'll spend the final days of 2011.

Details on the area and our latest RV park coming up in the next couple days, but first a quick tour of the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. We really wanted to see this museum before leaving southern Alabama so we spent several hours exploring the museum on Tuesday.

My Fella and I agree that it was the highlight of our Gulf Coast adventure. Actually the Gulf Coast Zoo was #1, but this museum was a veryvery close second. I still can't believe there's no admission charge. The sheer volume of displays, exhibits, war planes and history packed into the Naval Aviation Museum is overwhelming. 

Here's what we saw:

Below is the NX44VY, the first ever plane to land on a ship, ushering in the era of Navy aviation in 1911. 

Pictured below is a Felix the Cat Squadron plane. From wikipedia:

VFA-31 or Strike Fighter Squadron 31 is known as the Tomcatters, callsign "Felix", a United States Navy strike fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana. The Tomcatters are the second oldest Navy Fighter Attack squadron operating today.

Seriously, this hangar was stuffed full of 150 fully restored warplanes, jets and choppers ... and these are only the first half of our pics.

Tomorrow I'll post the rest of the museum tour including shots of the Blue Angels, the U.S.S. Shangri-la and the interior of a WWII Catalina Flying Boat.

Heading North

It's our final day at Emmaus RV Park outside Summerdale, Alabama. 

We've been at this park for two months and had a great time since the park has everything we're looking for:

• big rv spaces
• free (usually reliable) internet
• quiet country location surrounded by trees
• safe path for daily dog walks
• safe and interesting areas for my daily walks
• full hook-ups with 50amp service for only $14/day with Passport America... and since the park is still so new, the owners are offering that rate for as long as you want to stay

Despite this, My Fella and I went against our 'can't stay at one park for more than a month' rule and we regret that. Maybe we're nervous that we won't find a park as nice as the one we're at, but one always seems to pop up. And the whole point of this RV-ing thing is to travel and see new places, right?

We'll be on the road early tomorrow morning, but we still have a few things to check out today like the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.

It looks pretty cool from the website ... and it's free.  My favourite kind of local attraction   :) 

If you ever travel down to Alabama's Gulf coast, Emmaus RV Resort is a really great homebase and we highly recommend it. It's not very well known yet so the rates are super low ($14 with PA) but the location is convenient to everything in the area. There are only 3 online reviews so far and one of them is ours, but this park will definitely get busier as the word gets out.

New Year, New Investment Goals

Actually the goals are the same, just bigger.

But it won't be hard to improve on my 2011 portfolio performance, which was very average. 

Our annual dividend income stayed around the $51,000 mark (tax free) which was on target. My non-registered cap gains were on track to hit $61,000 but this one was a huge fail. Mid-year I took a $32,000 loss on stupid stupid stupid Yellow Media and BioExx.

Hmm. I take that back.

Yellow Media is not stupid, stupid, stupid. I am stupid, stupid, stupid for being naive and believing the constant Yellow management assurances that the company and the dividend were 'just fine'. Clearly I need to read Investing for Dummies. Also Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire for Dummies.

Our total cap gains for the year ended up at $28,560. Some investors try to minimize capital gains but we always shoot for the stars. They are a big deal in our portfolio since we earn very little employment income and hang out in a really low tax bracket.

Hoping to find some bargains in the new year I wanted some cash available, so...  I dumped Chorus Aviation for a small loss, sold Canexus for a small gain and sold our entire position of Just Energy for a really good cap gain, plus several months of dividends. I'll buy back into Just Energy in early 2012, when the price is right.

Yesterday was the final day of TSX trading for settlement in 2011 and here's where our non-registered account sits:

• biggest position is CASH, followed by
• Student Transportation
• Data Group Income Fund
• Alaris Royalty Corp.
• Inter Pipeline
• Avenex
• Pembina Pipeline
• BTB Reit

Back down to only 7 companies in the portfolio, with lots of cash on hand. I have no idea what will happen in the new year, but we've got a mitt full of loonies ready to go.

Goals for 2012:

• $55,000 dividend income
• $65,000 cap gains from non registered account

And world peace.

Or maybe we'll just adopt another rescue pup.

Feliz Navidad. And to all, a good night.

You Know That Look Little Kids Get When They Taste Something Gross?

Actually I guess some adults get it too.

We just realized Norman gets the very same look when we brush his teeth.

What a ham.

Totally off-topic, but here's another recent discovery:  When travelling almost anywhere throughout North America, we're usually driving the oldest, cheapest car on the street. But My Fella and I noticed that down here in southern Alabama, our little 2002 chevy fits right in. New vehicles are definitely not a priority around these parts.

Indecent Pics

(Bet that title will get me some major google traffic   :)   

Anyhoo, Shelbert is far too cute to ever look indecent ... But what the heck is going on with her tail?

Dogs just make life better.

Lame Post to Explain Why I Haven't Been Posting

Our little RV family is still laying low here in southern Alabama.

The past two weeks have been busy, but very routine.  Some RV-ers crave constant travelling/doing/seeing, but my personality type demands a regular routine mixed into the chaos of our RV adventures. It keeps me sane.  ish.

When we're not on the road, a typical day includes:

• an hour or so at the community tennis court
• a 5 to 7 km daily power walk, so I can drink beer and eat peanuts
• walking the dogs half a dozen times a day, PLUS a few rounds of squeak fetch
• regular boring chores (cleaning JohnnyDisco, buying groceries, laundry, etc.)
• a few hours every morning and afternoon digesting the business news, monitoring our stocks, and futzing around on the computer 

On top of this I've spent mucho time over the past month communicating with Tiffin Motorhomes. They are based in Red Bay, Alabama and they are the reason our little RV family is here in Alabama; we have to visit the Tiffin mothership.

Won't go into all the gory details right now but we've had quite a few issues with our Tiffin Allegro (JohnnyDisco) since we bought him new in February 2010:

• the furnace controls were wired backwards, and the bedroom furnace didn't work at all
• a bubble started forming on the roof of the coach
• the freezer will not stay defrosted, an inch of ice/snow forms every three months
• the front door sticks 
• the seal on the front door is coming off
• the generator fizzes out when you turn on too many things, it's only firing on one cylinder 
• the electronic drivers side door window opens but won't close - it needs to be pulled shut manually
• several outdoor bins either won't lock or are hard to open

Could this be why we got such a great deal on the rig?   :)  

I should also mention that these issues were all discovered during our first few months of ownership.  Last year we brought the rig back to the dealer in Tucson for warranty work and the only thing fixed properly were the furnaces.

We bought JohnnyDisco in early 2010 while the US economy was still pretty messy, so our new rig was priced the same as the used units that were a few years older. Plus we bought it in Arizona so it was 35% cheaper than the same unit in Canada. And we paid cash which gave us a little more room for negotiation.

We knew there would be some minor 'first year kinks' to work out with a new unit, but we did NOT expect a whole laundry list of problems. 

After a number of frustrating emails were exchanged with several different Tiffin Motorhome employees, I got a call last week from the Big Cheese, Bob Tiffin. He told me all of our issues would be fixed, free of charge.

Mr Tiffin started the company. He is the Father of the Tiffin Family and runs the whole shebang so I appreciate that he's a busy fella. He seems like a very nice man who cares about the reputation of his company. And it's good news that they're fixing everything for free. But to be honest, I'd rather not be in this situation in the first place. My Fella and I would much rather be driving JohnnyDisco around Mexico this winter... not laying low in Alabama waiting to get in to the Tiffin Mothership.

Our appointment is at the end of January. In the meantime, we're making a complete list of everything that should have been repaired properly, under warranty.  And then I'm gonna try forget about this whole hassle until we finally drive JohnnyDisco into the Tiffin service bay next month.

Turns out the free-wheelin RV lifestyle is NOT problem free. It's been a good reality check for us.

And while I'm totally jealous of all the Canucks that did make it to Mexico this year, at least we didn't get stuck trying to maneuver our big rig thru a narrow, crowded street of a tinyteenyweeny Mexican town in the middle of nowhere - like my cyberpal, Mexi-Croft. Good thing you're a good driver, mister... HOLY MOLY.  Oh yeah, and "LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE! That's what she's there for!"  :) 

To end on a high note:  While I've been tearing my hair out over our frustrating coach issues, My Fella has been doing something constructive. Literally.

He made this out of $15 dollars worth of pvc pipe, connectors and rope. 

It's a laundry hanger for the back of the coach and it fits snugly on our roof ladder.

We were looking for some place outside to hang our towels (and other non-controversial laundry) and most RV parks don't allow clotheslines.

These little contraptions are selling for $75 bucks at Camping World, but my own Mr Construction-Pants was able to rig up this copycat model in less than two hours.

Fancy schmancy.

Speaking of Frost...

Woke up to this at the RV resort this morning

At 6:30am, it's 0C ... and yes - that is frost on the southern Alabama grass. 

You can see it much better on our black car below.

Yuck.

The local forecast is calling for sun and a high of 15C today and then high teens and low 20's for the rest of the week. And hopefully no more frost.

updated pics taken at 7:15am