Wacky Road Trip III Recap

Wacky Road Trip III was interesting and memorable. The crew had many adventures, only two of which I’ll touch upon.

The coolest adventure was the Air and Space Museum with its Blackbird (per The Economist, 3/25/04: ‘The SR-71, an American spy plane, has been the fastest publicly acknowledged aircraft for almost 40 years. It has a top speed of just over Mach 3—in other words, three times the velocity of sound, or about 3,000 kilometres per hour.’). Drool. It just looked so cool. Also there, in this immense hanger outside DC was a Concord jet and the Enola Gay. Of course the Bush/Cheney junta has changed the name to the Enola Straight. (This was the second change, the first during the Clinton presidency was to the Enola Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell)

The most poignant event was our tour of memorials; Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR, Vietnam War, Korean War, WWII, Washington, and George Mason. It is important as a people to pay your respects to those who fought and died ensuring your rights. It was moving to see a WWII veteran at that memorial. The contrast of this old, wheelchair bound man against the backdrop of the immense memorial with its twin fountains and commemorative pillars of stone was moving. I debated thanking him, but decided not to. He seemed lost in thought or reminiscence and I did not want to intrude.