We left Sandusky and headed West to Indiana. We’ve traveled through Gary many times between home and Mark, IL, as a kid, and I never knew this even existed. On the Southern-most end of Lake Michigan is a national park and a state park preserving some natural wetlands and sand dunes.
We hiked through the Cowles Bog area. The bugs weren’t too bad. We hiked through deep sand, up and down steep dunes, so the four-mile hike was a bit strenuous. We saw a couple of blue heron in the marsh, but I wasn’t quick enough with my camera.
Lake Michigan
Eventually, after a number of steep climbs, we reached the shore of Lake Michigan. The water was surprisingly warm. We spent a relaxing hour in the water, wading out some distance to a sand bar, and playing frisbee.
Looking back toward the Cowles Bog trail from Lake Michigan
This view gives you some idea of how steep the dunes were near the water’s edge. The largest of these sand dunes is Mt. Baldy. These dunes normally move about four feet a year, but because of tourists trampling the delicate grasses that hold the dunes, Mt. Baldy is moving 26 feet a year.
Looking up Mt. Baldy from the parking lot
They have most of Mt. Baldy roped off. Tourists are supposed to stay on marked trails. You can see the footprints here where people have ignored the signs. The park ranger said each footprint will result in the movement of a ton of sand. In a year or two they expect the parking lot and bath house to be covered over with sand. You can see how the sands have just about covered some trees in this photo.
It was a relatively strenuous day, but we had fun.
We spent the second day of our vacation at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. I hadn’t been to Cedar Point if almost 30 years. When we were kids Cedar Point seemed to be the place you went if you couldn’t go somewhere better. Over the years, I’ve seen Cedar Point mentioned a number of times on the Discovery Channel for having the best, fastest, highest, or some other -est roller coaster in the world.
Now THAT's a handsome family
Both of you who read my blog may remember me ranting a bit about Six Flags New England and how disappointed I was. That’s why we scheduled Cedar Point early in the vacation — so if it was bad, it wouldn’t be the culminating event of this year’s vacation. I told Candy before we started that this was the part of the trip I was least looking forward to. We really had a good time. The roller coasters were fun. The park was immaculately clean. The food was terrific and reasonably priced. The workers were pleasant and all spoke English. Even the patrons were largely well behaved.
For the week of Fourth of July, Cedar Point was giving free admission to active duty military and their families. That was a very pleasant surprise. Since we had the admission money budgeted, we decided to use it pay for Fastlane passes for all of us. That meant we got to move to the head of the line for most rides. As a result we rode everything we wanted before the bad weather rolled in — more on that later.
I remember the Corkscrew, Gemini, and Blue Streak being the roller coasters of choice. At one point they said that the Corkscrew was built in 1976. Wow, did I feel old. These rides are now sort of passé, replaced by Millennium Force (the number one steel coaster in the world several years running), Mean Streak (which might be the best wooden roller coaster I’ve ever ridden), and others.
Halfway through riding the Mean Streak wooden roller coaster, Candy discovered that her glasses were missing (from where she had been shoving them inside her shirt all day during rides). She found them under her shirt, but when we got off the roller coaster, she realized that one of the lenses was missing. We got right back on the ride. Because it wasn’t crowded, we waited for the correct color train and got in the exact same seats. She found her lens! That’s what comes of clean living.
As we were getting off our last coaster for the day, a huge storm rolled through the area. We took cover in a cookie shop — requiring us to spend some cash on giant cookies. We just HAD to do it. I have never been in an amusement park during hail (the size of grapes), so that was a unique experience. After they made the decision to cancel the evening entertainment, we left the park about an hour before closing. The bad weather only served to cut out the kids’ time to re-ride their favorite rides from earlier in the day; we had gone on everything once.
Amusing weather at the amusement park
Cedar Point was a far superior experience to our visit to Six Flags New England last Summer. It was a really nice second day of vacation.
We began this year’s vacation, by retrieving Sam. She had spent the previous week camping in Sandusky at the KOA with her friend Emma and Emma’s family. We got on the road Saturday heading West. They got on the road Saturday heading East. We met just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the Ohio border.
Picking up Sam the Gypsy
After picking up Sam, we continued Westward to Cleveland. We stopped there to see the house where much of the shooting of A Christmas Story was filmed. A fan of the movie bought the house on Ebay and restored it. He also bought the house across the street and turned it into a museum.
Tom and me at the "Christmas Story House"
He’s collected a couple of neat artifacts. He’s also produce a pretty nice video.
Tommy in the bunny suit
Some of the items are not from the movie. For instance, the leg lamp from the movie was thrown away after they broke it for that scene in the movie. He has done a nice job of collecting like items, however.
Daddy is going to kill Ralphie!
He’s also done a really nice job restoring the kitchen and bathroom.
Now THAT is a handsome family
We all enjoyed the visit. I’m not sure that I’d make it a destination, but if you’re passing through the area, it’s well worth a stop for 90 minutes or so.
Our hotel in Sandusky
After visiting the Christmas Story house, we continued to Sandusky. As is our SOP, we stayed in a mom and pop hotel on the outskirts of town. It was quaint and clean. We also had time for a little putt-putt golf before hitting the sack.
I got together with my family yesterday to celebrate several of our birthdays. I received some of the old RAFM Call of Cthulu figures, and a really cool tin litho rocket that my sister found in Spain. My parents got me some sets of figures I’ve been wanting for a long time.
Ming's Palace
FASA makes the coolest palaces and locations from the Flash Gordon comic trips for gaming: http://www.hangar18fasa.com/flash_gordon_42.html The space ships are a little more than an inch long. If you check out the Web page, you’ll see that there are several. My parents got me the complete set of locations.
A couple of years ago, I got my hands on a bunch of plastic space ships that were meant to be markers for a board game based on the 1970’s Buck Rogers television show. The ships are about the same size. I think these all will mix well with the War Rocket figures I’ve been painting as well. I can’t wait to get started on them, but that will have to wait until after Historicon.
As Candy and the kids are in Florida with her mom this weekend, I had a relaxing Fathers’ Day of painting. Actually, I fiddled on the computer and took naps on and off until noon. Then I got up and began to paint.
Captain Mal Reynolds, Inara Serra, and Zoe Washburn
Sergeant Major Miniatures has a set of figures called “The Crew,” which are the crew from Firefly. Since I have my figure for Historicon all painted, I decided to paint these today for fun.
River Tam and Dr. Simon Tam
In high school I used to run a Traveller game loosely based on Alien and The Awful Green Things from Outer Space. The alien creature on the ship went through several stages of metamorphsis. In each stage, the alien was more or less susceptible to different types of weapons. In The Awful Green Things, you randomly determine the kinds of damage that cans of zgwortz, ray pistols, etc. do to the aliens. This works the same way; however, the players have to figure it out again each time the alien changes.
Jayne Cobb and Hoban "Wash" Washburn
I’ll do this as a game for a HAWKs night, but if it is even half as fun as my high school game, I’ll take it to a convention. Of course, instead of using Traveller, I’ll use G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T.
Minions of the Venusians "interviewing" Gianna Naninni
The second game we played at FusonCon was the fourth installment of my Duke Morrison “story arc.”
I have run episode three several times. The “consensus” outcome of these several iterations was that part of Professor Naninni’s anti-gravity ray device was stolen and his daughter Gianna Naninni captured by the Venusians and their minions. In episode four, Duke Morrison and his buddies have traced the daughter and the equipment to a small Middle Eastern town in the desert.
Overview of a small Middle Eastern town where the game took place
The laboratory was on the second story of one of the buildings where Dr. Zillion was attempting to get the device working. Gianna was being “interviewed” on the second floor of another building. Finally, the safe in which the Venusians hold the money they use to pay their gangster minions is in a third building. These locations were unknown to the good guys. The bad guys were deployed within the town. Most of the good guys came from outside the town, on the other side of the wall, across broken ground.
There was a wrinkle for the Venusians. The gangsters decided that instead of working for the money that the Venusians doled out to them in small doses, that they could just steal the safe with all the money. A secondary objective for the gangsters, therefore, was to find and steal the safe.
Initial setup (photo by Chris Palmer)
Getting wind that an attack was imminent, the Venusians deployed on the rooftops. From that vantage they could see the advancing good guys. Now in previous instances of Duke Morrison games, the Venusians, with their Shoot number of 7, have done little damage. I was therefore surprised — and worried — when the Venusians began picking off “Boats” Morgan and his sailors. Boats and his team never reached the wall.
GASLIGHT, however, has a way of evening things out over time.
Duke Morrison and his men scaling the wall into town
Meanwhile, Duke and a couple of his men raced to the wall of the town, where the found a conveniently-placed ladder. There were several entry points along the wall, but Duke determined to scale the wall to approach from an unexpected path.
The explosion created when a rocket man fell off the roof and his rocket pack exploded (photo by Chris Palmer)
At about the same time, Crash Corrigan and his rocket commandos landed on the roof of one of the buildings. After a quick melee with some female Venusians — which Crash and his folks may well have enjoyed, given the shapeliness of the average Venusian female’s figure — they rushed downstairs. During the melee, a Venusian woman threw one of the rocket men over the lip of the building. When he hit the ground, his rocket pack exploded, damaging the Model T that another group of Venusians had just gotten started.
Crash Corrigan wrestling with Dr. Zillion
Crash lost his two troopers in the roof scuffle, but he found Dr. Zillion inside the building, deeply involved in his experiments to recreate Professor Naninni’s anti-gravity ray. Crash dispatched the traitorous Dr. Zillion by throwing him into the machinery. He was incinerated, but so was Crash.
It was about this time that it seemed everyone who tried to fire jammed their weapons, including a Venusian woman who melted herself when her ray rifle exploded.
Some thugs trying to abscond with the Venusians safe (photo by Chris Palmer)
As the battle was raging at the town wall and inside Zillion’s lab, some of the thugs found and stole the safe. They didn’t want to take time to open it, so four of them carried it to a waiting Model T. The Venusians meanwhile suspected the gangsters were not being forthright and after several attempts melted the engine of the car. “Wrench” web had scaled the wall. Seeing the gangsters getting ready to drive off, he leapt on top of the car, fell through the canvass, killed the driver, threw him out the windshield, and then followed him out the broken window. The gangsters then became desperate to get the money, so they set a grenade near the safe and ran. The grenade didn’t blow up the safe, but it made a mess of the upholstery.
A solution to the Turkish problem! (photo by Chris Palmer)
Some Turkish constabulary arrived to restore order. Earlier in the game, Brooks’ minions (minions of Torpedo Brooks) had stolen the gasoline truck from the small airstrip. They had been driving around the town, enjoying the Spring weather, just looking for a target for a dastardly and nefarious act. Just as the turks had eliminated Ugati (Zillion’s sidekick) and Wrench Web was on the verge of finding Gianna Naninni, Brooks ran his truck at the Turkish squad. He ran over a Turkish soldier and left from the vehicle just before it crashed into the wall and exploded, killing two more Turks.
While all this was going on, Duke Morrison had been run over and shot by another group of Venusian, then dragged into a building. Morrison’s loyal troops attempted to rescue him. They were aided by an errant shot from a Venusian female, which missed one of Morrison’s soldiers and hit one of he Venusians guarding Morrison’s limp body.
A satisfied GM (photo by Chris Palmer)
At this point, I judged the game has hit its culminating point. Morrison had been captured. Boats was knocked out. Crash Corrigan was hiding. Most of the Venusians were dead. I called the game a minor Venusians victory. They retained Gianna Naninni as a hostage and captured Duke Morrison, but their lab and Dr. Zillion had been destroyed.
A closeup of damaged German tank platoons advancing on the town
Since my wife and kids are out of town for a few days visiting her mom, I went to War Horse Farm for “FusonCon,” a gaming day with some of the folks from the Frederick, MD, and Gettysburg area. We played Chris’ Look, Sarge, WWII game in the morning and a Pulp, GASLIGHT game in the afternoon.
Long shot of the LSNC: WWII scenario
The scenario involves two German infantry battalions crossing a river in rafts in Russia 1941, while an armored battalion and a recon battalion cross at a small bridge and a ford. The bridge so rickety that only one platoon can cross per activation. When the game starts, one company of tanks is already across. The Russians are trying to stop the Germans from seizing the town and three surrounding hills. Chris has run this game several times, but in this iteration, the Germans came closest to meeting their objectives.
Germans who have successfully crossed the river
All the players had a good time. There was a lot of maneuver. Nearly all the players were new, many recruited by Sam from his unit.
The Russian infantry battalion that started on the board pushed forward to delay the Germans while they awaited the arrival or a Russian tank battalion and an infantry battalion.
The German infantry pushed across the river with little difficulty. The Russian infantry guarding the crossing initially inflicted a number of casualties on the Germans, but eventually numbers — and artillery — prevailed. The infantry then pushed steadily forward. One battalion was heavily engaged on one of the surrounding hills with a reinforcing Russian infantry battalion, while the other German battalion mopped up the initial Russian defenders and moved toward the town.
By this time the town was fully occupied by armored cars and Russian tanks, but there was no Russian infantry in the town.
A German platoon that has taken a hit
The German armor pushed up the road toward the town. The lost several platoons from an anti-tank gun and a bunker had blunted the German advance. The Russians also had some infantry in the woods along the road. At this point the German armored battalion command left the road, pushed through a wheat field and moved to the outskirts of the town. Neither side had any infantry near the town, so the fight became a slugging match between tanks. The town only provided modest cover, since it was only made of wooden structures.
When we quit, the Germans were on the outskirts of the town — in fact they had one platoon of halftracks in the town. They were battling the Russians for control of one of the surrounding hills and were poised to assault a second one. It was time to quit and start the second game, but with another half hour of play, I think the Germans would have won.
You never use an umbrella because the rain will be over in five minutes.
A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.
You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.
Anything under 70 degrees is chilly.
You’ve driven through Yeehaw Junction.
You know that… no other grocery store can compare to Winn Dixie.
You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn’t worth waking up for.
You dread love bug season.
You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren’t Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew, Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Wilma, Irene, Cheryl, Rita, Mary, Alison.
You know what a snowbird is and when they’ll leave!
You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.
‘Down South’ means Key West .
Flip-flops are everyday wear.
Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before.
You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.
You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.
A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.
You know the four seasons really are: Hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.
You’ve hosted a hurricane party.
You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Withlacoochee, Thonotosassa and Micanopy.
You understand why it’s better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.
You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn’t swim.
You’ve worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years.
Today, we celebrate the 237th birthday of our Army.
For 237 years, our Soldiers, Civilians and Families have been the strength of our Nation in peace and at war.
Today, America’s Army is engaged in nearly 150 countries around the world, on 6 of 7 continents, with over 94,000 Soldiers deployed today and 94,000 forward stationed. Our Nation depends on its Army to defend the shores of our homeland, defeat enemy forces abroad, and help with recovery efforts in the wake of natural disasters.
We have the best equipped, best trained, and best led Army in history because of the 1.1 million professional Soldiers who serve in the Active Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve, as well as the dedicated service of our Army Civilians. It is our Army’s competence, adaptability, moral character, and resolute commitment that defines us as professionals and guarantees our long-standing sacred trust with the American people.
I’m proud of your accomplishments, your sacrifice, and your selfless dedication to our Army and to the Nation. Today, on its 237th birthday, we honor our Army and the remarkable men and women, past and present, who have embraced our Nation’s call to service. Army Strong!
Raymond T. Odierno
General, 38th Chief of Staff
United States Army
The Strength of our Nation is our Army
The Strength of our Army is our Soldiers
The Strength of our Soldiers is our Families
This is what makes us “Army Strong!”
The HAWKs have been working on a zombie club project. Many of us have painted zombies. Our next phase is to build a shopping mall. Each of us will create one or two stores which will be assembled into a mall. I’m making a clothing store and a gaming store. Inside the gaming store are going to be some gamers when the zombies attack. Most are from Victory Force.
Gamer in orange and purple sweats and one arguing about the rules
These two are from Victory Force. The game in the Charlie Brown shirt is from a Reaper miniatures pack, called “geeks.”
Gamer in bowling shirt and "babe"
These two figures are part of that same Reaper “geeks” pack.
Trekkie and ACW gamer
These a part of the gamers from Victory Force.
Old timers on motor scooters
These old timers are also from Victory Force. While not “gamers,” these are going to be useful in the mall.
Eureka Miniatures beast men
While waiting for colors to dry, I also worked on these 10mm Eureka beast men, including a couple bases of skirmishers. These are for Look, Sarge, No Charts: Fantasy, Ancients, and Mediaeval.
