Dayton Airforce Museum

We Got to admit these Yankees do it well . Wether its the roads and free ways, museums and homes and hospitality they can go to the top of the class.

Everret Henderson was an engineer in the Air service and ended up in the secret service during the cold war period so he was the best guide to have at a aircraft museum . He knows all the planes and even the Russian and Japanese models here.

Very comprehensive from each war period ww1,ww2, Korea and Vietnam to Afghanistan and the cold war . U2 and space .

Got caught up in heavy traffic on 65 yesterday and pouring rain making visibillty difficult and the direction for trucks to use the left Lane (Fast Lane) is crazy. Don,t know the rationale behind that but it is a recipe for disaster as we saw on 3 occasions .

Alison comments

Thursday, 6^th August

It has been a privilege to stay with Everet and Nancy Henderson at Zenia, Ohio. Their home is near Dayton which is a very large city that hosts the Airforce museum .

We first met Everret and Nancy in Ukraine. Having retired from the Defence forces, Everret was able to use all those skills to be field director for SEND Int in Ukraine. Their role of hosting so many visitors through their home was so valuable. We, ourselves appreciated Everet meeting us at the airport in Kiev, hosting us, buying rail tickets for us and seeing us on our way to our next stop.

After leaving Zenia we travelled to Eaton to Richard and Jill Studebaker’s home. We were so pleased to meet Richard again and Jill for the first time. Richard is Ian’s cousin, grandson of Evelyn May (McEwen) Studebaker, daughter of Tom McEwen ( leaving Granite in 1903). Richard is Pastor of Fairhaven Community Church. We loved catching up on family, hearing what each of the children are doing. A drive around the district showed us what a lovely place it is to live. So green – it rains here – grass has to cut weekly!!! So lush green, lined by forest growth

On Wednesday, Richard and Jill took us to the Creation Science Museum. Our first impression was that it was of the same standard as the other museums we have seen. There are magnificent fibre glass models of dinosaurs. Three D dioramas of the Garden of Eden telling of the early chapters of Genesis. There are plans to build a full size replica of Norah’s Ark on another site. The theme is `God created the world’ as stated in Genesis.

We were interested in the description of the effect of the St Helen’s eruption on the surrounding areas – canyons made so quickly., and other facts that indicate that the topography can change quickly rather than always very slowly. I would have liked to have spent more time reading of the scientific facts behind many of the displays. But we enjoyed the entertainment of a country gospel singer and a presentation on creation. The gardens surrounding the buildings are beautiful. We watched the children enjoy the `zip’ lines (flying foxes) – 17 lines around the grounds! Ian chatted up a couple of men who were Mennonites having an outing with their families. They were farmers from Kansas., growing wheat and beans- so prices and seasons were discussed.

Today, was our first wet day – driving in heavy rain was very tiring added to that was a traffic jam as a single truck accident had closed one lane. It took an hour to pass through the area. So we stopped early, had a rest and tonight have watched the Republician candidates debates