Carhenge Nebraska

Just north of Alliance, Nebraska, along Highway 87, stands a replication of Stonehenge, England's ancient mystical alignment of stones that charts the sun and moon phases.  Stonehenge stands alone on a plain in England. Carhenge, created from vintage American-made automobiles, towers over the plains of Nebraska.  Yes, our parents took us there!

Mount Rushmore South Dakota

First on the left is Washington, the first President of the United States.  The birth of the United States was guided by his vision and courage.

Next is Thomas Jefferson.  He always had dreams of something bigger, first in the words of the Declaration of Independence and later in the expansion of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase.

Then Teddy Roosevelt.  He expanded the union at the turn of the Twentieth Century.

Lastly the greatest President the United States has ever had.  President Lincoln saved the Union and could write magnificently.  We have also visited his house and his tomb in Springfield, Illinois, and the Lincoln memorial in Washington and created a web page on that.

Green Bay Wisconsin

The world's strongest steam engines produced in series were the Big Boys of the Union Pacific Railroad. These mallets with the wheel arrangement 2 5 5 2 had a length of 40.5 m, weighed 545 tons, provided 6000kW, and had a tractive effort of 609 kN. This was sufficient to tow loads of 4000 tons across the climbing slope of the Sherman pass that had a climb of 4.6 %. A Big Boy was even able to keep going a freight train of 650 freight cars that had a weight of 27000 tons and a length of nearly 10 km (32800 feet), after it had been pushed into motion.
Big Boys were not only big and heavy, they also reached a maximum speed of 80 mph which was extremely extraordinary for a Mallet of this size. 
These engines were built during WW2.  Our parents took us up to Wisconsin to see one!

Hot Springs South Dakota

With our Uncle Ben we visited the Mammoth Museum at Hot Springs.

Mammoths roamed the Great Plains of South Dakota during the Ice Age 26,000 years ago. Columbian mammoths weighed up to 10 tons and stood 12 to 14 feet high at the shoulders; they consumed 700 pounds of vegetation a day. Their favorite grasses and plants thrived year-round near the warm mineral water springs for which Hot Springs is known.

The mammoths drank from the abundant pools the springs provided. One watering hole, however, was a death trap. Probing the pond's edge for vegetation and water, the mammoths either slipped or ventured into the pool only to find they could not make their way back up the steep banks that had been made treacherously slippery from pond water percolating up through the soil.

As these huge animals struggled to free themselves, the earth gave way like a mudslide, and the mammoths, exhausted, either drowned or starved to death. The first mammoths that died in the watering hole were buried by mud and sand. Others came, suffered that same fate, and were buried above their unfortunate predecessors. This went on for 300 to 700 years, until the watering hole eventually filled up with earth -- a grave for more than 100 mammoths and other Ice Age animals.

Disneyland

The joy of visiting Disneyland.  Just look at the expressions on our parents faces on this ride!  Roy and Gene kept their eyes closed for some reason.  The acceleration the curves...

Smithsonian National Air and space Museum

Boeing's B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated, propeller-driven, bomber to fly during World War II, and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. Boeing installed very advanced armament, propulsion, and avionics systems into the Superfortress. During the war in the Pacific Theater, the B-29 delivered the first nuclear weapons used in combat. On August 6, 1945, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., in command of the Superfortress "Enola Gay," dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Major Charles W. Sweeney piloted another B-29 named "Bockscar" and dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. On August 14, 1945, the Japanese accepted Allied terms for unconditional surrender.

Here is a photograph of Enola Gay, we saw the aircraft at Dulles.