Now N Then

This should have gone out yesterday  but somehow I must have saved it as a draft. Well here it is.

Before they started using the new overflow sites basically those in overflow were squeezed into two files of 4 campers each and everyone had to move forward each day. What a pain. Now we get an overflow site and stay there until we get a non sewer site. I do miss the opportunity to chat with overflow neighbors each morning to see how many times they got up to turn the circuit breakers back on. But I do not miss it all that much. We were 8th on the list for a site yesterday and now we are 6th. The hot water tank leaked and now there is no hot water (for showers) in the Rec Hall until Monday. The inclination is to blame base maintenance but they probably can’t get whatever they need over the weekend.

Last night we went to the Gazebo for the Friday night hot dog roast. Bring your own hot dogs everything else is there. Guess this is the last one until after Lent for us anyway. Later three of the campers got out guitars (plus John also brought his Fiddle) and they played for the 25 or so of us who were there. Good time. I really wanted to sing but I thought that it was more important not to drive everyone away.

Gazebo

Gazebo, inside with John and his fiddle

Last Sunday we were invited to our friends Class A (those are the big drive them yourself rigs) for dinner and to watch football: Great hosts, great company and mixed football results:

Campground management hosted a Penguin Day Party. Lots of attendees, Lots of fun and lots of appreciated effort on their part:

Inside of Recreation Hall during Penguin Day party

This is the diving school for the entire military except for the Seals.

Below looks like a sphere but it is really a cylinder. On the bottom is a huge tank and on top there are five compartments where up to 10 divers can live for weeks for saturation diving. In saturation diving divers are brought down to a desired depth (pressure) and kept there for extended periods of time. This permits them to get more work done rather than use so much time compressing and de compressing.

This is the Quarterdeck of the Dive School

The H53 has been around for a very long time although these are the latest versions. These two are used in research and development. Inside, they have a lot of cable that is used to tow “stuff” through the water to detect “stuff” (which could be harmful to ships etc.)(like mines and submarines). The stuff that is towed is experimental and classified.

H-53 in storage mode with rotors and tail assembly folded to save space.

H-53 ready to go

Yesterday 38 of us FamCampers toured the Navy Base on the West side of Panama City. The next several days will cover that tour. We first saw the H-60 Blackhawk below and then the old standby: the Huey bottom.

The course sign behind the 9th green and in front of the club house which in years past had been the general’s house. As you can see the course is on the water.

Another pelican on the 7th hole of the course. A gator used to hang out on that island but he is not here this year.

There is never a lost opportunity for a practical joke or an expression of a sense of humor.  We woke up one morning to find the following monster golf set sitting with our real golf clubs outside our trailer. We correctly guessed the source and found out she got them at a flea market for $1. Instead of giving them back it was decided to pass them on. They next went to our usual golf partners who were in overflow. They were received with the same enthusiasm as we showed and then they also passed them on. Besides the big clubs, there was a big ball and big tee and instructions on how to play monster golf

Wild Turkeys on the golf course

Recreation Center at Tyndall AFB FamCamp