A little trip up the river.

Last summer, the family and I took a little trip up the CT river in the boat and this is the result:

The Connecticut River Museum undergoing renovations after a fire broke out not long ago.

So, everywhere I go, people always ask me, "Shtove, (Seriously, that's the nickname I've been given here in DHHS, there's a long story behind that) where do you get the name for that awesome blog you write?" (No, they don't actually do that, but wouldn't it be nice if they did?)

And to that I present to all six of the followers following my blog, a behind the scenes view of my Ipod.  Yes, the name of my blog comes from a song, believe it or not, that I don't think I even have.  "Just Another Day In Paradise" is the title of a country song (and a rock song by Phil Collins, but that's the one I'm thinking of) written by Phil Vassar.  (Vassar, Collins, weird, hu?) Well anyway, now comes the deep, insightful, and meaningful part of this post:

In the song, Phil sings about his life and how nothing is going well and nothing is "perfect."  He says "There goes the washing machine," and "Here comes the mailman bringing that stack of bills."  He explains  how much of a mess his life currently is with "kids screaming" and how nothing goes right.  And that's just fine with him because its, you guessed it, "Just another day in paradise," and, "There's no place I'd rather be."  It's real amazing because even though life is so imperfect and can be a total downer and not be all to great, it's the only life you have and you should be grateful for the life you have, however imperfect it may be.  His song can be related to by everyone because everyone has been in the same predicament where life is overall poor.  But, that's not stopping him from writing a song about it.  This song tells me that no matter how bad things get, it could be worse.

Okay, so maybe I didn't talk about what else is on my Ipod, but maybe later.  And yes, "Shtove" really is the nickname that has been bestowed upon me.

Prime Climb

 BSA troop 494 went on another fun trip to a rock climbing gym in Wallingford called Prime Climb.  It's a great big indoor gym where we spent the night climbing the walls.  Everyone had a lot of fun, and here are the pictures to prove it.

Griswold Airport in the winter

My dad and I went on a little snowshoeing trip in the two feet of snow down on my favorite property in town, the old Griswold airport.  It's rumored that it won't be around much longer because they're either going to burn the buildings down for firefighter training or just tear them down, however, the town is taking it's sweet time at deciding on what to do with the 9 million dollar piece of waterfront property.  Mostly everything was where it was left since last time I visited last summer.

My first blog post about the abandoned airport has all of the history if you wish to read up on it again, this will just be about the shell of the airport that is left to rot away.  The woods are growing back over some of the buildings and taking over again.  Because all the leaves were off the trees, it mad e exploring some of the more over grown buildings easier.  Another perk of going out in two feet of snow in the dead of winter is that you don't need to worry about being seen by the people who live in Dud's village, a summer community located next to the airport.

Inside that rotted old yellow cabin

That's dad.

One of the many dilapidated houses 

The hangar/terminal "complex"

I was only able to squeeze my head through the large rusty doors to snap these shots of the largest hangar on the site

I was only able to get my camera through a broken window that was low to the ground to shoot this part of the terminal building.  Behind that orange door is a bathroom.  This building was abandoned long before the rest of the airport was.

Griswold was a member of the National Air Transportation Association.  There was an old sign on the front driveway (Gone now) that read "Action Airlines," which was a small charter company that was not based here, but must have been at one time.  It consisted of only about a couple Piper aircraft that would transport people here to there and back again.

Air conditioners were a reoccurring theme at this airport

The ratty old terminal.  Just look at that ceiling.

On the back there are some really old, out dated, aviation charts

Some animals sought refuge in the hangars.

A workbench in one of the hangars

Choked....

Once again, I was only able to squeeze my head between the metal doors of these hangars to take these pictures.

An old poster hanging on the wall of one hangar.  It's the personal things in abandoned places that give them their eerie feel.

REALLY old, collapsed hangars

These came down long ago

Dad felt being funny and drew in the 17 that's two feet below the snow

Looking out at one of the marinas on the Hammonasset River.

Down the runway

On snowshoes, we were able to do anything.  We were able to go WAY out in the marshland  to the river and around the whole property.  During the summer, that would be completely unheard of.

One light was left at the end of the runway.  We took it home and it still worked!

Flowing water was rare in the subzero temperatures

This little boat was an interesting find

Here it is again under 2 feet of snow.  I think it's been neglected ever since the airport closed.

I don't know what this is, but it's standing in the river.  It crosses to one side of the bank, but not the other.  It has a sign post sticking out of the top of it. It was built out of pieces of wood, a ladder, and various pieces of metal.  It was very hard to tell if it was suppose to be a bridge or a dock at the odd angle it was built at. 

The hangars.  Some doors were removed because some company's getting ready to demo it.

Here you can see the hangar's about to be demolished.  They dug pits to test for any ground contamination (oil spills, etc)  There's also spray paint numbering the beams in the center.

There's still a TV left in the "Pilot's Lounge"

A view of the airport from the balcony of old lady Griswold's house.  There wasn't anything inside, though I was only able to peer in through a couple of windows because it was locked up pretty tight.

A couple classy pieces of real estate

"Embrace aging, it is a privilege denied to many" - Unknown

To me, January 15th is more than just MLKJ day, the day where we remember the birth of Martin Luther King Junior, one of the most influential civil rights activist, famous for his, "I Have a Dream" speech.  It's also more than a day when we remember Chesley Sullenberger's "Miracle on the Hudson," where he landed an Airbus A320 in the frigid Hudson River after a bird strike, and saved 150 lives.  January 15th is also my birthday, and this year, I'm turning 16, a big deal.  Whenever DMV is open, I'll be able to get my learner's permit, and once Connecticut state law allows me, I'll be able to get my license.  I can also get a job, but that may not be too easy now a days.  So, happy birthday to me, and be proud of every year you live!

Here's some pictures of my truck after that 2 feet of snow that coated the state.