The flying dog

For those of you who don't know, I have two dogs. One is an English Springer Spaniel named Ginger, the other is a Schnoodle named Pepper(part Schnauzer, part Poodle, both miniature. The result: a really small dog). Pepper, despite being our smallest dog, is also our bravest dog. Even to the point of barking at a Great Dane across the street that is being walked by a nine year old. Not only does she have the self-appointed job of protecting us from other dogs, but also cats, seagulls, horses, snakes, rabbits, and vacuums. And...ducks. Especially ducks. For some reason, both of our dogs have an inbred fear and hatred of all birds. Pepper especially hunts them with a zealous determination. This was demonstrated at our last campground.

At the last campground we stayed in, there were many ducks. Much to the frustration of Pepper, they had no fear of leashed nine pound dogs. So, Pepper resigned herself to barking endlessly at the very undisturbed ducks until either she fainted of exhaustion or until the ducks got off our spot. Neither result was accomplished before we left. When we leave, mom usually leaves the window open for the dogs to see out. Pepper was looking out the window at the ducks and making some kind of gurgling noise that was as close as she could muster to a real growl. Something must have snapped. She must have decided to give the ducks one last scare before we left. The window of our truck must be four feet of the ground. To a small dog, that's like me jumping off the top of a one story building. Pepper has always hesitated to jump any distance, even two feet. She did not hesitate that day. She leaped out the window with all four paws outstretched like Underdog trying to get as much hang time as she could before she hit the ground with a yelp. Not missing a beat she leaped up and scrambled all jets to get to those ducks. The ducks scattered like quail. Mom, however, has been trapped in the car this whole time throwing her hands around and calling Pepper's name uselessly. She couldn't simply leap out of the car after the dog because the car doors hadn't been unlocked yet. When she finally did barrel out of the car, Pepper was still barking and running around in circles chasing ducks. The thing about ducks is they will not take flight until they are sure there is no other solution. Why? The main reason is that they are fatter then a stuffed sausage. One of the ducks went airborne and confused poor Pepper. In the few seconds it took her to figure out she doesn't have wings, mom snatched her and abducted her back to the truck. Pepper had no guilt. In fact, she looked rather smug.

Is this normal for little dogs? Or do we just have a special case?

Coragon, quacking off. (haha, get it?)

Smoky Mountains

We are currently parked in the Smoky Mountains. This was one of the main stops on our trip, and, sadly, from here we will also see our last state.

Yesterday we went on a hike in the Smoky Mountains. We took a trail to Abram's Falls. Five miles round trip. The falls are beautiful....once you get there. Don't get me wrong, the trail is one of the most beautiful I've seen. However, when the sign says "moderate difficulty", they lie. This trail is just as hard if not harder then Yosemite trail. The hike to the falls is not too hard, but the way back is very strenuous. When we arrived, it was a near perfect day. The temperature was about 80 degrees and the sun wasn't too blazing hot. Then we started on the trail.

The hike was kind of a new experience. They had log bridges spanning small rivers (along with signs telling you how many deaths have occurred on those same bridges).

At first the hike was a blend of uphill and downhill. There was plenty of beautiful scenery to take your mind off how tired you were.

Then there was a sudden increase in elevation. Not too steep, but slightly strenuous. Then, we got to the top of the mountain. From there we could see all around, and the river down quite a ways in the bottom of a ravine.

From there, the hike was mainly downhill. Due to that, it didn't take us long to get to the Falls.

The falls was a nice place to stop and take a rest, letting the cold breeze cool us down.

Then, unfortunately, we had to start the hike back up the hill. With much wheezing, puffing, heaving, and coughing, we made it back up to the top of the mountain. From there, it was downhill again. We took many more stops on our way back along the riverfront. During one of these, I looked across the river and saw three splashes. A family of river otters chose that moment to start swimming and playing in the water. Otters are some of my mom's favorite creatures. They stayed just out of sight of our camera, but if you look close you can see them under the fallen tree:

Seeing the otters re-energized us enough to finish the trail with smiles. Then we took a dive around the park for a while. I have to say, this park rivals Yosemite as my favorite park. Almost, but not quite. I still love Yosemite the most. However, if you can't go to Yosemite, the Smoky Mountains is a nice substitute.

Mammoth Cave

Despite it's name, Mammoth Cave contains no mammoths. Mammoth merely describes it's size. The name is well placed. This cave has nearly 396 miles of cave, more than any other cave in the world.

We are currently stationed in southern Kentucky. The weather is nice here. A little hot, but that's nice compared to the freezing that has been following us for the past 6 months or so.

A few days ago we took the main tour of the cave to get our bearings a bit. Legend has it that the cave was recently discovered in 1799 by a bear hunter who shot and wounded a bear, who retreated into Mammoth Cave. The hunter followed the bear into the cave, and Mammoth Cave was discovered. When we started thee tour, we walked down 69 steps (that doesn't matter until you come back up). At first the cave doesn't appear to be anything special. I've been to Carlsbad Caverns and Lava Tubes, and those caves were pretty fantastic. Once you walk through the entrance, a large draft of cold air hits you. Air is always coming in holes at the top of the cave and coming out the entrance. The cave is at a constant 54 degrees, but at the entrance it can seem much cooler because of wind. Then, we walked inside.

The cave does not have many formations due to the average dryness. The lack of water means that there are few stalagmites or stalactites. The most impressive aspect of the cave, however, is it's size. If you have ever seen Lord of the Rings, just imagine the Mines of Moria on a slightly smaller scale. Then you have a basic idea of the size this cave.

We saw many interesting things in this cave, but unfortunately we were able to take no pictures. The cave was very dark, and despite our flash we were unable to capture many images. Here are a few of them.

Fat Man's Misery:

We didn't find this too hard. Not quite as hard as some of the low portions of the tour.

Bottomless Pit:

A see-through bridge spans this deep chasm, definitely not for the faint of heart.

Hall of Records:

This area was only covered in the lantern tour, and has tons and tons of smoke-signatures on the roof. Some visitors would pay tips to the guides for a chance to use canlde smoke to write thier name on the roof of the cave.

The main tour was nice for getting the scope of the cave, but the crowd was not as pleasant (over 120 people, a significant number of them hungry, cold, tired and thus cranky toddlers).

The tour we preferred for seeing the cave was the lantern tour. This tour takes you into a different part of the cave, is more informative, and has less people. Unfortunately, it was far too dark to be able to take any pictures, so you will just have to go and see it yourself! If you do get the chance, I would strongly recommend visiting. They also provide horseback rides and trails above ground if you prefer the warm, high and dry.

Overall, the Mammoth Cave National park is a great stop if you're in the area!

Corvette Museum

My life is now (almost) officially complete. I have seen nearly every single model of Corvette in existence. I'm one of those people who stops thinking, moving and sometimes breathing when they see a sports car. I want everyone else around me to share my enthusiasm as well. Say a Corvette passes by, I use what I call P.O.R.S.C.H.E (Pause. Observe. Run. Shout, "Corvette!!", and Hop Enthusiastically).

So as you can imagine, a place like the Corvette Museum is about as close to heaven as you get.

The first thing we realized when we arrived was that we forgot the camera. So we had to buy a disposable camera. So, if the pictures are a little fuzzy, that's the reason. The next thing we saw was this concept Corvette that looks like Speed Racer.

Inside the main lobby was a Corvette that you could sit in.

After seeing those cars, we entered the Museum itself.

The Corvette Museum holds some of the most rare, old, and overall cool Corvettes in the world.

There is a very large section of the museum dedicated to the history and improvements on the Corvette since it's release in 1953. There were many trivia machines spread out through the museum to help you learn (we missed nearly all of them. I'm not THAT much of a fan.)

After we examined all the history of the cars, we looked at the gallery of Corvettes. They had every kind of Corvette through the years, also the most popular. This also included the pace cars from the Indianapolis 500.

Past that, came the non-stock cars. These cars had been improved by their previous owners before being donated to the museum.
Then, unfortuantely, the tour was over. We had to leave. I wept. Unfortunately, they weren't giving away free samples either. There was a way to enter for a chance to win a Corvette (for just $200). Hmm....

New York City

Forget anything I ever said about L.A. being my favorite city. NYC has to be the best city ever. I mean, Hollywood is ok, but the rest of LA can't compare. Don't get me wrong, I still love LA. However, it simply can't compare to New York. Now, New York City isn't exactly the cleanest city in the world, but there are lot more things to do there. Besides that, it may not be as big as LA, but it is big enough for me.

First, we got on the tour bus to ride into the city (since we couldn't exactly take the trailer into NYC. We had to stay outside of the city and take a tour into it). The tour bus took us on a 75 minute drive into NYC. The first stop, Ellis Island. I thought it was very interesting to be able to see where so many immigrants came to start their new lives as American citizens. The museum had graphs of every kind about the immigration into America. What race, where they were from, height, gender, and just numbers in general. Unfortunately, we could not stay long, because we wanted to catch the next ferry to the Statue of Liberty. She really is a impressive monument. However, I have noticed that most statues are a lot uglier up close. For example, Lady Liberty's nose is slightly too big, and her arms look similar to the arms of a sturdy sailor (I guess holding that torch up for over a hundred years really works your arm muscles). We walked around the base and admired the architecture of the statue. The island also gave us a beautiful view of New York City from across the bay.After touring the island, we ate lunch (Great restaurant, by the way. Usually food is extremely overpriced at these kind of places, but this one was very reasonable.) After taking a look around at the statue we took ranger-led tour that explained the history of the island, the statue, and a little bit about other American history as well. Speaking of which, I'm going to do a poll of how many people know what the seven prongs on the Statue's Crown signify. Hopefully, some people will ANSWER IT *glares out at empty room*.

We then took the ferry back to where the tour bus was waiting to take us to Ground Zero, the site of 9/11. After touring the site of the towers, we went into the church where some of the rescue workers stayed while they worked. St. Paul's Church, where we stayed, also was one of only two buildings around the World Trade Center that had no damage from the blast. Not even a crack on one of the windows.

I will give you a little advice based on experiance. If you do what you're supposed to do in NYC, you will get run over. For example, waiting for the walk signal at the street corner. Apparently, New Yorkers don't wait for signals. They walk when they want to. That means anyone standing at the corner like a good boy is going to get run over. Don't look up at the sights, either, or at least wait until you are out of the way. Seemingly, New Yorkers also like to annoy tourists. "Oh, look. A tourist. Let's bump into him three times in a row."

After we left the church, we walked along the streets where the people ran away from the blast. We saw a memorial wall erected to the firefighters and policemen who died in the buildings. We also saw one of the T beams from the building in the shape of a cross that had been dedicated to remembering the victims of 9/11.

When 9/11 happened, I was in the living room of our house watching TV. Then, Mom ran in and turned on the news. I was too little to really comprehend what was going on, but the memory of that day has never gone away. The tour guide said that all New Yorkers are honored and delighted that for one day, no matter where you came from or where you were, everyone was in New York for one day. That everyone all over the world was with them, no matter the race, color, country of origin, or belief.


We met up with the bus again and it took us past Rockefeller Center and finally into Times Square. I did not want to leave. I loved Times Square. All of it. Broadway, and just the Square itself. The square feels very alive. We bought a hot dog and sat at a table in the middle of the square and just looked around. That was probably my favorite part. Just being able to look around without getting bumped. We then went into a restaurant and got some cheesecake (not New York style cheesecake, just New York cheesecake). The chocolate cheescake was delicious. The restuarant also provided a great veiw of the Square.

Then, unfortunately, we had to head home. Time was up on our grand adventure in New York. I was comforted by the notion that we might come back someday. I look forward to it. If you ever happen to be in the area, don't pass up the opportunity to go there. While you're there, be sure to get a hot dog. You can't say you went without doing so. Now I believe I can truly say "I <3>

Lobster cooking

Right now I'm here in Maine. And I would not be surprised, I kid you not, I would not be a bit surprised if there was a lobster flavored baby formula up here. They have lobster everything. Lobster pizza, lobster ice cream (not kidding), and then just plain lobster. I have been fully educated on everything involving or having anything to do with lobster. I have been on a lobster fishing boat, cooked, butchered, and fully demolished and consumed a lobster. Now, cooking a lobster yourself is...well...an experience. Luckily, it is hard to pity a lobster, being a fully unfeeling and thoughtless creature. But...then there are the eyes. Those horrible little eyes. As long as you don't look at the eyes, eating a lobster can be quite fun. First, you have to boil them. For this you need a cooker (you don't actually have to have a genuine lobster cooker. A turkey cooker works as well. And you probably won't burn your house down. Probably.). Luckily, our campground supplied one free. Then, when the water starts to boil, you tie the lobsters up in a bag, and put them in the water. When the water starts to boil again, you cook them for 13 minutes.
Then, you are ready to eat. Personally, the claws are my favorite, but the whole lobster is good too. First, you twist off the claws. Then, to get the meat out, you simply pull down on the lower pincher. This open a hole which you can cut with a knife down the rest of the claw to expose the meat. Then, using a small fork, you can pull out the claw meat. The tail or the lobster, though, is considered the delicacy (now, I consider delicacy to be a relative term. You might say that in some parts of the world, snails are also considered a delicacy). First, you cut down the middle of the tail. Then, you twist the tail off the main body. Then, you tear off the sides and pull out the meat. You will now see green goo. This is a subject of debate. Some that are brave (or just plain odd) enough to try it think that it is good. I frankly don't care. I just wiped it off with a napkin and continued the demolishing of my lobster. Now comes the moment of truth (and no, this is not a Verizon commercial). Are you willing to tear the lobster open and in doing so break the head off? My answer was, heck yeah. Meat can be found in the legs and on the inside of the lobster's sides.
Now you've eaten pretty much every part that can be eaten on a lobster. Now the question is, who found out all this? Who was so desperate for food that they would dive down, find this creature that looks kind of disgusting (not to mention they can break your finger off) and decide, "Hey, that looks really good. I bet there is some meat on the inside of that bone breaking claw!"

Gettysburg

Now, finally, we have seen the biggest battle of the Civil War. I realize I am skipping some events of our journey, but if you would like to know more you can see some of my parent's posts (and some written by me, as well) on their blog.


First thing we did upon arrival was go to the bookstore and buy an audio tour. We have found that these offer a very helpful and educational tour of the battlefield. This case was no exception. The tour was very informative and interesting. I would highly recommend buying these to anyone looking for a short but in-depth look at the battlefield.


First we visited McPherson Ridge, the first skirmish of the three-day battle. We would eventually take a long drive throughout the entire battlefield. Here is a short summary of the story of everything we saw:


First, the Confederates under Lee attacked a division of Federal cavalry. The Union under Meade won that confrontation, but that was the only positive side to the day for the Union. After heavy fighting on both McPherson and Oak ridge, the Union forces received reinforcements and retreated to a fishhook position all along a ridge from Little Round Top to Spangler's spring. With this fishhook formation in place, Meade could send reserves to any point that required them. This strategy is still viewed as one of the most effective military strategies ever. When Longstreet tried to thrust through the Federal lines at Little Round Top and the Wheat field on the second day, he was repulsed. Also, coincidentally, those were also the bloodiest skirmishes of the battle. Lee also ordered attacks to commence on both flanks. These also failed. This made up the main events of the second day.

On the third day, Lee realized he was going to have to break the Union defenses or retreat. He tried both, and only succeeded in one. He decided that the Union center seemed to be the least defended, so he ordered a mass charge to strike the Union center covered by an artillery barrage. This is the famous Pickett's Charge. This strategy would have worked if the artillery had come through. But after the first barrage, the smoke from the guns was so thick that the gunners couldn't see what they were hitting. To save ammunition, they stopped firing. Also, the Union soldiers were expecting the charge and set up a terrible volley of gunfire. Cannons loaded with canister shot unloaded into the enemy ranks. Volley after volley poured from the Union's muskets. Then, once the confederates reached the walls, they were faced by more than twice their number in bayonets. But, once they realized that they were overcome, the Confederate forces ran back down the hill, once again peppered by the Union guns. Of 15,000 that charged up the hill, only 5,000 would make it back down. Lee watched his men slowly trickle back to the safety of the Confederate lines. Lee then made the decision to retreat.

With this, the Union was safe, and the Confederacy broken. Lee would never again try for a campaign into Union territory. Most historians consider this to be the turning point of the war.

When I saw the number of casualties inflicted during this battle (51,000 on both sides), I thought about how unstoppable these two forces could be if they were united. As it was, thousands of Americans died fighting other Americans. Not to say that the Civil War was not necessary, however. The war eventually unified all the states, not just North or South, but all of America. However, it is just a pity that so many had to die to that end.

I have to say, Gettysburg is probably the most well-preserved battlefield. Unlike some of the other battlefields we have seen, Gettysburg is the only place where I have been able to visualize where each regiment was and their role in the battle. This is probably due to the hundreds of monuments erected to each regiment and general that played a part in this battle. Here are a few of these:

Above is the Valley of Death. The name is rather self-explanatory. The name is the result of a Confederate charge up Little Round top that was intercepted by a Union regiment. The Confederates were taken completely by surprise and were decimated.
Above is a picture of Devil's Den, an odd arrangement of big rocks that were fought for almost through the entire battle. The formation served as a command post for the failed taking of Little Round top.

Above and below are monuments to the 22nd Maine, which saved the Union line under Joshua Laurence Chamberlain, who rushed to Little Round Top when he was informed of it's possible taking by the Confederates. He successfully held them back and routed them with a bayonet charge. This decisive action probably saved the Union line.
Below is a statue of the man himself, Joshua Laurence Chamberlain:








Below is a monument to the Confederate Major General Lee, where he was positioned during the famous Pickett's charge. Below is a monument to the Confederate (North Carolina) troops who participated in Pickett's charge, sculpted by none other then the same man who carved Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum. And finally, here is a picture of the Eternal Peace memorial, erected in memory of the entire Civil war, in hopes that such a war may never happen again.

Virginia

So now we are in Virginia, one of my favorite states. Why? Because, number one, it is one of the first colonies established in America, two, the landscape is amazing, and three….they have good ham. But, really, there are a lot of cool things to see here, Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, and others. The first one we saw was Williamsburg.

If any of you have been to a renaissance festival, just imagine that, but colonial times. Colonial Williamsburg is exactly that, with costumed re-enactors, shops, and even merchandise, just as it was back in Revolutionary War times. First, of course, you have to buy your tickets. But once you do, if not for all the field trip groups, you feel like you are back in 1774. You can either walk to the village or take the bus. We took the bus, because we wanted to spend as much time as possible in the village itself . When we arrived, we immediately started to look around. There are plenty of things to see, for anything you might want. There is of course the Governor's Palace, which is very impressive. Inside are hundreds of swords, guns, and other weapons lining the walls as decorations. The size is not overall very large, but it makes up for the lack of size by having lots of windows and mirrors. Once iside, it makes you feel like you are in a very large house. Yet, in every room, there is the royal seal, always above you, to remind you that the king is always more important than you are. There are shops for shoes, clothes, kitchen tools (such as silverware, dishes, etc.), and furniture. Then there are also educational places such as the shoemakers, blacksmith, magazine (no, not Life magazine, it's a weapons armory), and more. I liked the blacksmith shop, and the shoemaker, but my favorite was probably the book maker. If you don't already know, I am somewhat of a book fanatic. So anything that has to do with books is something I'm interested in. The book makers don't print the books, they make the bindings, probably the most important part. Back then, a book was a significant investment, so you wanted your book to last. Thus, the bindings were important. The bookmaker showed us how he makes the bindings, and designs the cover. Then, after we had finished looking at all the shops, we headed over to the main street for the re-enactment. The re-enactment is where they illustrate what the people felt like and did at the time of the Revolutionary war. It was very interesting, the only problem was that it was held wherever that event took place in the village. So when one act was finished, we would all get up and follow the actors to the next place. So we decided to skip a few of the performances we weren't really interested in (for example, some of the things that sounded like a soap opera, "Can their love withstand this trial? Or will they be split…forever?" I half expected someone to be handing out Reader's Digest, "Someone. Will. DIE. Who will it be this time?") but overall it was a very good and educational show.

Then we went to Jamestown. Jamestown is reputed to be the oldest English settlement in the original 13 colonies. First, we looked around the museum until it was time for the movie. The movie was very interesting, explaining the reason the English took interest in establishing colonies in the Americas. Then we headed to the fort, where they demonstrated the hardships the English colonists went through. I got to try on some armor (photo) and we also watched a matchlock rifle firing (photo). Then we headed to the ships, where we saw where the colonists traveled and lived for months (with no shower and almost no living space, by the way). But on our way out we heard about an exhibit called military through the ages, where volunteers demonstrate the weapons and tactics used from Medieval times through the Vietnam war. So, the next day, Dad and I went back. I felt like I was in heaven. There were weapons, armor, and guns galore (photos). But then, after all our fun, we had to leave. I had to be dragged away from the flails and maces, but such things must be.

Then, finally, there was Yorktown. Yorktown was the final battle of the Revolutionary War. George Washington and Lafayette's armies engaged Cornwallace at Yorktown, trying to trap him against the French fleet. Cornwallace placed half his men across the river, serving as cover in case he lost and had to retreat. He did lose, but he couldn't retreat. The French fleet had blockaded the river, preventing either side from meeting and making a defense. Cornwallace surrendered, ending the Revolutionary war.

The first thing we did was go to the museum. At the museum, they have interactive exhibits that tell you the stories of all the people during the Revolution. They also have a very good movie that tells you the stories of the American soldier living in the trenches at Yorktown. Then, we looked at the exhibits some more, which included an actual printed copy of the Decleration of Independance, an in-depth look at all the battles of the war. And, finally, there was a cannon firing demonstration. I was just in the middle of telling Mom how they should allow people who demonstrate knowledge of how to fire a gun to do so (being myself one of these people), when they called for volunteers. I was selected for Primer, the man who primes the powder hole and pours the powder. Now, unfortunately they did not give me real powder. But the package that I had to open with my teeth sure tasted like black powder (sputter cough hack wheeze). Then, after we were done with our non-powder demonstration, they fired the gun for real. Then we headed to the surgeon's tent. A nice place to be. That's where they tell you exactly why and how they amputate limbs (seeing as that was the response to a lot of things, "Hey, where are you injured?" "Oh. I got a cut on my leg." "Where's my saw?"). But, no, really they were surprisingly well-equiped for some things. In fact, some of the medicines that they used we still use today, even though they were unaware of the existance of bacteria.

After we were done, we headed out of Virginia. The climate is agreable, the people are relatively nice (there are always a few meanies), and the landscape is beautiful. There are also many historical places to see, along with those I just mentioned. I would highly recommend a trip to this state.

North Carolina

ONC. Old North Carolina. I say this as a method of agreement, similar to OK. I do this because OK is actually the abbreviation of Old Kentucky. So, whenever you say OK, you're really just referring to Kentucky. Which would be fine with me if I were IN Kentucky. But, right now I'm in North Carolina. Hence my ONC. Though, when I say it as a word I end up sounding like a large goose.

Anywho, as I said we are currently parked in North Carolina. As it turns out, there are a lot of cool things to see here. Kitty Hawk, Lighthouses (not to mention the Atlantic Ocean) are among these.

First we went to Kitty Hawk (for those who flunked out of Fourth Grade history, or those who just forgot, Kitty Hawk was where the Wright Brothers performed the first motorized, non-glider flight in 1903). The first thing you see upon arrival is the aviation monument on top of Kill Devil Hill. We missed the show by about 2 minutes, so we looked around the museum for a little while. They had all kinds of exhibits on the experiments and calculations conducted by the Wright Brothers. The Wright Brothers were originally bike repairmen. I found it amazing that you can go from bike repairer to aviator in thre years. As a matter of fact, their experience with bikes was evident in the motor that they invented for their plane (a chain drive). Those men had to have been brilliant. They had to read and memorize al the formulas (no calculators, computers) from books that they could find in their parent's library. The museum also had exhibits about the progression of aviation after the first flight. I found it remarkable that we went from no aviation to breaking the sound barrier in a little over 40 years.

After the museum, we headed to the actual flight sights. The Wright Brothers made four runs, the last one being the farthest (852 feet). There was a rock embedded in the ground for each landing, one at 120, another at 175 feet, and the third at 200 feet. They had also reconstructed the cabins which Orville and Wilbur lived while conducting their experiments. Then we hiked up the hill (puff, wheeze, gasp) and reached the top. The view was amazing. I wanted to take a shortcut down the hill, but apparently they don't want you on their dead grass (FYI you can't plant grass in sand). When we arrived back at the museum, we were just in time for the informative show. The park ranger came up and talked about the Wright Brothers lives and about the times they lived in. Then, he asked for a volunteer. I raised my hand because, hey, you might as well, right? Well, I got picked because I was the tallest kid in the room (which almost never happens unless I go to a kindergarten). I was handed a little white glove that looked almost exactly like the Hamburger Helper. The ranger then led me to the Flyer. He told me to grab a lever and pull, and not to worry, the guy who owned this plane only paid a million dollars for it. I gulped and pulled. The front elevators of the plane moved up and down. This demonstrated the ability of the Flyer to change pitch. Then he took me to the side of the plane and told me to push one of the fuselages up and down. The wings moved up and down with rod. This was to generate lift. The back rudder was also used to adjust yaw (moving left and right).

fter the show, we headed to the other museum building. Inside they had a flying model of the Wright Brothers plane, and videos of recreations of the first flight at the 100th aniversary in 2003. One of which was a failure.

As we left, I started to think. Man has always considered things that are beyond their own knowledge to be impossible. Flight, space travel, and and even the automobile are examples of this. What else could we acheive when we try to attain the impossible?