Up, Up and Away!

The Menomonie Airfest & Autorama was June 25 at the Menomonie (WI) Municipal Airport. This was the fourth year of the event that had something for everyone - vintage airplanes, aerobatics in the sky, classic cars, pancake breakfast, kids' activities, vendors for the ladies, and - because this is Wisconsin - a beer garden!

Our friends, Larry & Vicki, spent mega hours as organizers and volunteers to make sure this was a great event. (Last summer Larry took us up in his plane for an aerial view of Menomonie. A prior blog post has some of the pictures I took.) Other friends from Menomonie, Jim & Kaye, volunteered during the day.

Rick was at Road America in Elkhart Lake watching Indy car races with his son and grand boys. I went to Menomonie with other friends, George & JoEllen.

A couple of my favorites in the car show section. . .

Red trucks always capture my attention.

As do green cars.

One of the most bizarre vehicles at the show was the Slingshot, sold by Sport Rider, a dealer from Altoona WI. If you have an extra $20K to spare and want the experience of the open road when driving, this just may be the vehicle for you. Here's what the dealer writes about it: 

Slingshot™ is an entirely new on-road driving and riding experience. The open air cockpit of Slingshot™ hits you with a 360 degree rush of sight, sound, and smell. With side by side seating, both driver and passenger experience a front row shot of adrenaline. Its wide stance and sport-tuned suspension will make you want to charge every corner and never let off. With a low to the ground vehicle stance, you can feel the rush of pavement under your seat and in your chest. Slingshot™ is lightweight and powerful, making for heart pounding acceleration. Just punch it and you are there.

All that's needed to drive this on the road is a motorcyclist license.

Another unusual vehicle at the show was the Fairey Gannet airplane. Its wings can fold up. Takes up less space in the hangar, I suppose. 

Here's a video of the plane starting up and its wings expanding. Quite the sight.

The aerobatics were amazing - especially those displayed by the "drunk" pilot. It was a joke perpetrated by the show's organizers and I fell for the pilot's antics hook, line, and sinker.

The show ended with the salute to the missing pilot. I'm not sure how close the four planes are to each other when they're flying in formation before one peels off. Nonetheless, a great deal of skill is required and it's a neat feat to witness - especially with vintage planes. 

George was an aircraft mechanic before he retired so he donned the appropriate attire for the Airfest.

George may have had to answer a few questions from Airfest goers due to his t-shirt's logo!

Next year's Airfest & Autorama will be the last Saturday in June. Maybe we'll see you there!

Birds & Bovines IV - Recap of Our Most Recent Rally

For the fourth year in a row, Rick and I hosted our "Birds & Bovines" vintage camping trailer rally at Ledge Park, Horicon WI June 9-12. Summer did hit us in the face on Saturday but the heat broke by Sunday morning. The rain only fell at night. So, all in all, it was another successful rally. 

Here are a few pictures from our Open House on Saturday afternoon. This time I snapped many interiors of trailers or cute signs. If you'd like to see the outside of some of the vintage trailers from our participants, check out my post from last year. We had quite of our friends return who've been with us for one or more rallies.

This Argosy used to be Rick's but now belongs to Kaye & Jim.
I love how Kaye has camouflaged the trailer's tongue.

Kaye also turned the front couch/bed into a
dining area.

Gotta love BJ's cow that kept with our rally's theme.

This sign for her trailer is from Current.

The grand boys came up with these "Trailer Rules." Probably good for any age!

A few more trailers . . .

This is George & JoEllen's Franklin. Notice the red & black chairs - just
like ones we have - from Aldi's a couple seasons ago.

Don brought his Shasta once again. . .

and his little friend as well. Sorry, Don,
I can't remember your birdie's name!

Rick loved Don & Linda's Award trailer. The air conditioning
vents ran down the middle of the trailer. We won't see this
trailer next year because Don sold it shortly after the rally.

I'm always amazed at how spacious Steve & Tammy's little
Serro Scottie trailer is on the inside. What's nice about a Scottie
is that one can pull it inside a garage to store over the winter.

Bob, the Burger, Norm & Julie's trailer, now has
a diner theme.

Kudos to Julia for her great vision for the trailer's interior.

New this year . . .

This was the first year for Chuck & Janet and their Airstream.

We like the interior - especially the aisle between the beds.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Dave. He figured out that fuses were loose in Rick's Argosy and that's why some of the lights and the water pump wasn't working. In the future, we'll know what to check if we experience the same problem.

Speaking of Dave . . .

The interior of Dave & Monica's Yellowstone features her handiwork.

Trailer folks are inventive.

Skeeter used PVC and pails for his device to
hold everything one needs at the campsite.

I always like how Bill & Anna decorate around their Shasta with lots of flamingos to capture the "Bird" theme of the rally. The big one lights up at night.

And Joan showed off the "Bovine" theme.

I admire the creativity trailer folks display. Derek continues to customize a box trailer so his family is comfortable.

This year he's installed more cabinets.

This year the Washington County Breakfast on the Farm fell on our rally weekend. We took the boys for pancakes, scrambled eggs, and a tour of the cow barn.

The local 4-H kids decorate cows. Neat use of the Star Wars
theme for this one.

Truer words were never "uddered" in cheesehead country,
America's Dairyland.

Hundreds of people are served during one of these breakfasts. It takes a village to scramble the eggs.

Apparently the cows like to have their backs scratched. This device is popular in the barn.

What would Breakfast on the Farm be without the obligatory vintage tractor exhibit?

The littlest camper (Rick's one-year-old grandson), paid homage to our theme with his soft "books."

What better example of pink than a flamingo?

It's great to show the little ones a farm.

One more banner (from Lynn & Brian, new participants).

Probably the best way to sum up a vintage rally experience would be with this graphic - from one our participant's t-shirts.

If you want to join in the fun for next year, Birds & Bovines V will be June 8-11, 2017,  again at Ledge Park. Get your reservations in soon.