Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Oregon

World War II Birds Take Flight In Madras, Oregon

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by Kimberly A. Cook                  (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Spent last week in Sisters and Madras, Oregon shopping, relaxing, digging thundereggs, and soaking in hot tubs. One fabulous exhibit we stumbled upon is the Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras, Oregon.

Nestled in a refurbished World War II aircraft hangar at the Madras airport were more than twenty military aircraft complete with floor diapers for their oil leaks. They are still dripping oil since most of these rare birds are still flown on a regular basis.

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This B-17G is so big I could have backed up to the highway and still not get all of her in my wide angle lens. Notice the ball turret gunner “bubble” underneath. Very tight quarters.

Aircraft on display include a B-17G Bomber, P-51D Mustang, FM-2 Wildcat and even a ME-109 Messerschmitt. While wandering all around with my camera, I could not locate the Vought F4U Corsair, a favorite of my Dad’s. Found out it was in the shop for a tune up. Guess I will have to go back!

This collection started in the 1970’s by Jack Erickson and then his grandson Mike Oliver caught the airplane bug and serves as the General Manager of the Collection today. Pretty sure he might have been the one leading a tour of folks around the collection while we were there; the red Corvette parked out front a give away perhaps?

Since Madras served as a training base for B-17 pilots during World War II, it is the perfect place to host these fabulous machines. The stories of the men who flew these beauties were nicely displayed in the collection, especially since so many were local boys.

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USS Ranger magic strikes again. “Heavenly Body” is at Madras, Oregon. Priceless! 

The women were not left out either with the role they played building these machines on display. Since USS Ranger magic is everywhere, one of the photos featured the time a B-25J Mitchell flew off the USS Ranger in San Diego, CA harbor to commemorate the Doolittle Raid.

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Here she is!

Many of those Doolittle Raid pilots were drawn from the local area. Think USS Ranger was giving me a sign. If you get a chance, venture over and visit this amazing collection in Madras, Oregon.

Check them out at www.ericksoncollection.com

P.S. Did I mention there is an air show too? Must make another trip…..

 

 

Otterly Adorable Zoo Baby!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                  (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

We are overwhelmed with cuteness here in Oregon. Not only are we awaiting Nora the polar bear’s debut next month, but we have baby otter Ottumn to watch too. Can you feel the love?

Not sure I’d like to learn to swim the way Mom drags the baby into the water, but it’s worked for them for generations. Cute squeaks too!

Have a great weekend and Happy Quirky Friday!

 

Nora Is Here!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                        (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

I may be a day late, but I’m not a polar bear short. Nora the polar bear has arrived at the Oregon Zoo. She’s getting acquainted in her private digs behind the scenes like any big star, before she gets to meet her fans and her new roommate. She’s got thirty days in quarantine and then she might decide to come out and see us in mid-October.

Seems she is specializing in grass stains, sand rolling, swimming, back scratching and mud runs while she adjusts to her temporary digs. She’s one of us already!

A huge polar bear thank you to Ohio for sending us 10-month-old Nora!

Hope you’re having a great weekend and had a Happy Quirky Friday!

 

Oregon Love For Louisiana Kitties!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                     (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

The long weekend messed me up on my Tuesday blog post, but I did get lots of things done that involved furnace guys, cleaning out things and moving rocks. The glamour of it all!

But on this eve of 9/11, it’s nice to know that no matter what the disaster in our nation, we lend a helping hand to our fellow citizens, including the furry ones. A total of 31 cats and kittens arrived from Louisiana yesterday to help make room for felines affected by the flooding there and to bring some furry Southern charm to Oregon.

Remember those we lost on 9/11 and the first responders and construction workers we are still losing to illness fifteen years later.

Honor them by adopting a Southern feline friend in need as an act of kindness.

Have a great weekend and Happy Quirky Friday.

P.S. No Sound on the video. Just cute kitties.

Cranky Or Kind Seagull?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                      (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Back to the beach! Looking at my pics from our early August beach trip, I’m always surprised with what I see afterwards. Take this normal seagull. I took five pictures of him doing his feather cleaning and then a couple of him/her looking out to sea.

Five. Looking closer at the pictures when I got them on my computer, I noticed one photo of a nice, normal kind of happy looking seagull. Fluffy, pretty, bright colors.

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Normal seagull guy on the rocks. So to speak.

 

Then I looked at the other four and saw the feather cleaning shot, couldn’t see his/her face. Then when I looked closer at the final three, I spotted this. Cranky seagull. Or is that just my imagination?

Checked the rest of the photos and three of the five are cranky gull. It almost seems like he knows what I’m doing and he’s not happy being a victim of the paparazzi. Maybe he is a celebrity seagull?

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Cranky seagull! It’s the mouth right?

 

The best advice when taking photos is take as many as you want; you never know what will show up. When I went on a Europe camping trip for three months in 1983, I took 70 rolls of film; one for each day of the trip. Ended up selling a few rolls to my Autotours EX57 buddies, but I used most of them. When in doubt, take the photo.

Then be prepared for something to happen you couldn’t have arranged in a million years. Like this crazy person walking out onto the sea cliff across the bay from me at the same time a small boat was headed toward the harbor. Imagine!

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You cannot plan this stuff, so you have to be ready to take the photo.

 

If it had been earlier or later in the day, the lack of glaring sun would’ve made the colors deeper. But short of hiring people to stand out on rocks, we have to take what pops up in front of us. Literally.

So always be prepared with extra memory cards and backup batteries. There may be a cranky seagull in your future.

Photo on!

 

 

We’re Getting A Nora Bear!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                    (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

So we’re having a heat wave today with red flag warnings, high winds and locusts it seems. Temps to hit about 103 today. So what do I find out from the Oregon Zoo? Nora the Polar Bear is coming to live in Portland! She is a bubble dancer too.

Thank you Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. We will take very good care of her.

And seriously, we will haul in tons of ice for the young polar bear princess. Can’t wait to see her when she gets here. She’s a star!

Happy Quirky Friday and have a safe, cool weekend!