Awesome Day at MacDill AF Base!

   We were planning on visiting MacDill AF Base on Saturday.  But when John heard on the radio that the Thunderbird air show was scheduled for that day, he didn't want to be anywhere near there.  They expect 250,000 people!!  He knew that the Thunderbirds practice the day before.  That is today...so we are going!!  We got up about 8:30, had breakfast, cleaned up and headed for Tampa at 10:30.  It was a bit cloudy, but warm, so we took the top off the Jeep. 

Approaching the Tampa Bay Bridge.  This was the one
that was close a few days ago because of "sea fog".

We're crossing it!

On the other side approaching Clearwater/Tampa area

What do you think...can we take him?!?!?

That's the Tamps Bay Rays baseball
stadium in the background.  Aren't the
palm trees gorgeous!!

 

 

We arrived at 11:30 and the base was really buzzing!  Apparently a lot of people with military ID's were doing the same thing that we were doing!!  We went to the PX first to pick up a few things, had some lunch, and then went out to the hangar/air strip area.  There were lots of planes on display.

These are old planes.

This is a close up of the picture on the plane above.

These are the newest "stealth bombers"

I believe the rest of the aircraft are current.

A close up of the picture on the plane above.

This carrier was HUGE!  Look at the size of the jet engines. 
Compare it to the size of the guy in the red shirt.

The inside of the carrier.

The helicopters were very big, too.  A lot
different than the ones you see flying over your house! 

The wing spread on this plane was unbelievable.
There are even wheels on the end of each wing
because of the weight of the fuel!

We checked a lot of those out and took pictures and then positioned ourselves to watch the show.  We hadn't thought to bring chairs, but luckily, they had set up a bunch for tomorrow that we could use.  OH MY GOSH...the Thunderbirds were absolutely amazing!!

This is a stunt plane that practiced before the Thunderbirds.

No, the pic is not upside down...the plane is!!

The Thunderbirds all lined up and ready to go.

The precision of their maneuvers was incredible!

Straight up in the air!!

The one on the right came back around and
joined the other 4.

Don't you just love how they are flying in front of the sun!

Looks kind of like fireworks, doesn't it?

This was towards the end when the PA system played,
"God Bless America."  It was very emotional!!

    The show started at 2:30 and lasted until 4:00.   It was pretty hot and humid, but the cloud cover kept it from being stifling.  After the show John went to the commissary to get some groceries while I went back to the PX to get some military pins to make into magnetic pins for my craft business. Just before we were ready to leave at 5:00 I heard a bugle call over the PA system.  John stopped the car and just sat there.  I had no idea why, but he explained to me that the bugle represented the end of the day or more correctly...Retreat,  and it was followed by the National Anthem.  Everyone in ear shot is supposed to stop whatever they are doing in respect.  We are never too old to learn, are we?!?  

The Direct TV Blimp was hovering over Tampa on the way home.

We got back to Harvey about 6:00.  Heather called just as we pulled into our parking spot.  She had an appt. with her obstetrician today.  The baby is weighing about 6 lbs 10 oz and she is between 1 and 2 cm dilated.  Accd'g to the Dr., though, she could be dilated and still go full term.  She will just have to keep me posted.   Because it is supposed to rain tomorrow, John decided to go up on the roof and clean off all the pollen and dirt leftover from the Manatee CG.  He figured the rain would rinse all the remaining soap off.  Thanks for tackling that, honey...I know you don't particularly like it up there!!  After going outside and giving him moral support (and making sure he didn't slip and fall off the roof or ladder) I came in and made toasted ham and cheese sandwiches and bean soup for supper.  By this time it was 7:30.  John went thru the 350 pictures he took and then I went thru his and mine and got them ready for the blog.  Then we played a game of 5 Crowns.  John finally won...27-55.  Way to go, honey!  We watched a little TV and then went to bed.  We don't have plans yet for tomorrow because of the predicted rain.