Green Screen Getaway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad and I and the Memphis Belle. 

Hexavu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little more grey, we've both lost weight, and one of us grew a beard, but I think we're still going strong. 

Hexagon Hexahere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here it is. Again. 

Back To The Flighture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so we returned to the museum, there was a luncheon for the memorial attendees in the hangar where they display the Hexagon satellite. 

01851

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad's plaque forever emblazoned at the Air Force Museum.  

The One

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It took a bit to find since there were so many of them, but we finally spotted Dad's plaque on this one. 

Wall of Walls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The honor plaques were set inside mounting plates and there were quite a few of them down the walk leading to the museum front entrance. 

Air Force Museum Wall Of Honor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A while back we bought dad a plaque on the museum's wall of honor. They sent us confirmation but we'd never seen it in person. So after the ceremony we walked down to the museum proper and looked for it. 

Second Contact

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we sat down, in another nice coincidence, it turned out the person in front of us was Ronald Kendig another member of Dad's unit and they knew each other. So it was time for more shop talk. It was really cool to see Dad talking to his peers, I don't know that I've experience that before and I enjoyed it.

Launch Crowd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time for the ceremony, and an impressive crowd showed up. 

SAFSP Memorial IX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The motto of the program. 

SAFSP Memorial VIII

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around the memorial were several benches. This one with the various rockets that took their satellites to space. 

SAFSP Memorial VII

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other side of the Hexagon monument. 

SAFSP Memorial VI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This monument stands on the opposite side and is dedicated specifically to Hexagon. 

SAFSP Memorial V

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other side of the 6594th monument. 

SAFSP Memorial IV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This side monument was focused on the group who put most of this together, the 6594th. They were the ones who caught the film canisters or recovered them from the ocean when shot back to Earth.

SAFSP Memorial III

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the back of the center monument, with more details about each component. There's a piece that has not been filled yet, because they alluded to a part of the project that is still classified. So in case someday that gets released to the public, they can add it here. Intriguing. 

SAFSP Memorial II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The centerpiece of the memorial is this large monument with "rockets" on either side. The surface shows the many components of the program and how they worked together. As you can see the surfaces of many of these are very reflective so my pictures are not always the greatest.

SAFSP Memorial

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The center of the memorial square has this granite globe generally stating what the memorial is for and who sponsored it. 

First Contact

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a nice, total coincidence the very first person we ran into was someone Dad worked with on the project, Tom Maultsby. Dad even has an old photograph of them together back in the day. They chatted and caught up and Tom invited us to sit at his table during the next night's dinner.

Monument Dedication

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first of two days of activities, we started off with the ceremony to unveil and talk about the memorial they put in, out on the museum lawns. We were expecting maybe a plinth with a plaque or something, but it turned out to be a large, multi-part impressive monument. 

Dragon Things Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It just so happens our room looked right out over the baseball field where the minor league Dayton Dragons play, and they were in the midst of a three game homestand so we'd get to watch all three games during our stay which was a fun bonus. We even tried to get tickets to the Saturday night game bit it was sold out. Apparently the Dragons sell out constantly, and based on the fact there didn't seem to be anything to do in Dayton but baseball and the Air Force museum we could see why.

Driven To Drink

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad and I, relaxing with a few adult beverages. 

Rooftop Regale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wanted to take it easy after the long drive, and our hotel has a rooftop restaurant, so we hit that up for dinner. It was nice, a good atmosphere and solid wood fire pizza. 

Date With Dayton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad and I are in Dayton, Ohio to make a return visit to the Air Force Museum. This time not just for fun, but to attend two days of events surrounding the celebration of the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Special Projects (SAFSP.) Which is the name of the now defunct organization within the Air Force that created America's initial spy satellite systems. In modern times this has all been absorbed into the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) but the SAFSP, including dad, built everything the NRO now stands on and they are getting a special memorial out at the museum. 

Back Outer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I really enjoyed the first Outer Worlds back in 2020 so I thought the sequel would hit as well, but it just didn't. I don't know why, the story was decent, the voice acting was very good, it just never grabbed me. It always came off a little generic and bland. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

A Hat For A Cause

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normally I wouldn't condone the hatting of my puppy, but they were selling these at Petco with all proceeds going to a special cause. You can never go wrong with Pride and rainbows. 

On Watch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ran into a herd of deer in the park today and Bear decided he wanted to sit and watch them for a while. So we did. No barking or anything aggressive, just curious. Eventually they walked right passed us and then we got up and kept on our way. 

Alexa's Mom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The keynote speaker was Noelle Russell, who now works on the team building Microsoft's CoPilot AI systems. But she was also part of the team that originally designed and built Alexa, and was instrumental in much of what it is today.

Gov IT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first Digital Government Summit, now that I have to do managery things. 

WOTM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May be busy.

The Voice Live

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The entertainment was Wendy Moten, a former contestant on the Voice. She was excellent!

Calligraphy And Croutons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fabric circle table, the food was great the speeches were good. 

Top Notch Thread Trio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad sponsored the table for the Sue Greer fabric circle. 

Another Fan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moonlight & Magnolias, 2026. After missing 2025. 

Dapper Duo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready to head to the Opera Center for some moonlighting. 

Beauties And Bears

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mari all dolled up for the Magnolia ball, Bear approved. 

All Grown Snicker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snicker Snack is an adult now. 18 years. One of the neat things about doing this for so long is many of my posts can reference things that happened in the past and link to them. Like a chain of memories. 

Shiny Art II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another favorite. 

Shiny Art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures don't really capture how vibrant and reflective the art was, or shiny for lack of a more sophisticated term. Here is one of our favorite pieces. 

Shiny Artist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This years featured artists was Patrick Guyton who specializes in metal leaf in his art. They were very striking, one of my favorite installations yet. Right up there with KRE8 from a few years back. 

Shiny Party

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's that time again, the silent auction and artist party before Moonlight and Magnolias. The art was shiny so they had a glitter bar, where you could get all glittered up.

Pawfect Form

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bear has perfected his chew holder technique. I promise every post will not be about Bear forever. But we love him, so there's going to be a lot of them. 

The Dog Whisperer

 

Dad and Bear having a little fun.

DNDNDA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What if? 

Rainbow Butt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one's for Mackenzie. 

Morning Routine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While Mari and I get up in the morning and go through our routine to get ready for the day, a little man keeps a mostly watchful, kinda snoozy eye on us. 

Watching Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to clear out all the windows today to make room for the window washers. Bear took full advantage of a window that is usually blocked by the portable air conditioner with the blinds down. It's almost enough to make us consider putting in a split unit so he can do this all the time. Almost. 

A New Coworker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I first got to work from home I had a special coworker to keep me company. Nobody can ever replace her, but that's not the point of getting a new pup anyway. You don't replace them, you just add to their legacy as part of the family. Having Bear around while I work is just as special. 

Fi Watcher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bear likes to sit on his spot and look out the window. Here he's sporting his fancy new Fi collar we're trying out. Yes, we know we're going a little overboard on him, but we don't care.