[Flyin_Freddie]

Sorry to take so long to get back to this thread, but I've been off on vacation and what with servicing my SPF after Mid-Ohio and LCS, together with working on transcribing the digital video I took during the events to the computer, I've been more'n a little busy. But....back to the recap...

Friday morning looked a little rough...I'll admit some of it was from the gallons of margaritas we consumed Thursday night, but some of the roughness was from the weather, too. It looked like it was going to rain any second, and although I was scheduled to lead a tour group to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, about 60 miles West of us, I decided to not pull my SPF from the trailer. Turns out this was a wise choice. The rains came while we were at the Museum, and I was grateful I made the decision I did.

We managed to get a pretty thorough tour of the Museum...now called The Museum of the United States Air Force, I believe. We didn't get a chance to see their annex, nor their newly completed missile gallery, but saw pretty much all three big buildings. All in all, a very good time. I even managed to find a 105 on display that I may have loaded while I was in Thailand...! Talk about a weird feeling...!!! The history of the aircraft showed it was at Tahkli and Korat while I was stationed there with the 355th TFS. I can't be sure, but there was a distinct possibility that I hung ordnance on that very aircraft. It brought back a lot of memories for me...some I had purposely forgotten.

Following the drive back to Columbus, we again decided not to take the cars to the QS&L. Turns out THAT was a bad decision, as the weather really cooperated and it was beautiful that evening. Who knew? So, wings and cocktails with old friends were the order of the evening.

We left earlier than normal as we wanted to get back to the "Red Dot Inn" to unload our cars and clean off some of the Mid-Ohio brake dust, grime, and what not. The weather was perfect as I unloaded SPF #770 and prepared to clean it up a little. I noticed another attendee was about to use the hose at the hotel (Best Value) to wash his car. I walked over there and was about to ask him the particulars of using the hose...was this okay? did the manager approve of our using it? etc. That's when "Punjab"...either the hotel manager, or owner...told me using the hose was "Ten dollars for ten minutes..."

"What....?", I asked. "Ten dollars for ten minutes of using the hose!" answered Punjab. Needless to say, I was less than enthusiastic over Punjab's pricing schedule. So, I told him..."Tell ya what, Punjab, I'll beat you at your own game...and use YOUR towels in the process!" I still don't think he understood me. But, I'll bet he noticed the then black (formerly white) towel that was laying in his parking lot the next morning! Damn, I don't mind paying for something, but I hate to be blatantly taken advantage of...especially with a little "Mona Lisa" smile on his face! (If I had to make one criticism of the event, this would be it! I mean, hell, here we were filling up almost all his hotel rooms and bringing in MUCH more money that he would have normally made that weekend, and he had the nerve to try and stick it to us even more!!!)

Anyway, got my car cleaned up after a fashion, and spent some "quality" time at the Margarita machine. Once again...(sigh)